For four weeks in July, I worked for change; I worked for humanity; I worked for social action. Everyday, my group of friends and I woke up early, boarded the train, and marched off to our locations. Some of us were counselors’ in a kids day camp in a depressed neighborhood of San Francisco, some of us sorted food in a food bank on the outskirts of town, and even more of us worked at the Jewish Home for the Aged, where we looked after elderly folk, providing them with company, assistance, and our contagious smiles.

It was over the course of that summer that I discovered my passion for social action. Never before had I been confronted by the issues that, as I came to learn, truly plagued the lives of individuals that were not equipped to face them. It was over the course of that summer that I learned about my job and responsibility to ensure that these people did not fall victim to the atrocities resulting from violence, discrimination, drug use, and illness.

The Bay Area Mitzvah Corps program taught me how to think, breathe, and live, in a completely different way than before. It opened my eyes up to a world that was unfathomable prior to my experience on this program. Finally, it was as a result of the BAMC that I grew, became, and am the person that I am today.

Zach Newburgh is currently a freshman at the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.