I met N. at the Freshmen Retreat. It was her first Hillel program and I was excited that she choose to come the retreat even though she had not come to a program before with Hillel. N met many students and became very involved in Hillel. She came regularly to my Lattes with Leah program. N is an example of a student who will become close friends with a fellow and you really have to push yourself to introduce this type of students to others-to ensure that she is still involved in Hillel after you leave.
I met J at Will Rogers Park hiking excursion. J was involved in a campus fraternity (from LA as most UCLA Jewish students) but had not yet gotten involved in Hillel. I obviously took down his information after the hike-he then ended up coming to the Freshmen Retreat and will now be on the HIllel board next year. J is a very funny person and will keep you entertained with great stories about his fraternity and other crazy endeavors he gets himself into.
Most engagement stories occur because fellows go out of their way to listen to students and make students feel comfortable in new situations. Students really do appreciate all the hard work you do throughout the year!