I stood in shock as I read the news on my phone. Tears started to stream down my face in the grocery store before I even could process what happen. Someone I knew had committed suicide.

In the fall of 2015, 33 teens were on a semester abroad in Israel. I was one of those teens who had decided to leave my friends and family for four months. I learned that I had left my friends and family for a new and different type of family, who happened to also be my friends. The 33 of us were close from living together, studying together, and traveling together. We had hard times and weird times and good times, but what mattered the most is we had people to be there for all of it. On December 29th 2016, the 33 people turned into 32 mourners.

Our friend Noah had committed suicide, one year after we had all separated from our trip. It is easy to say that Noah was one of the most brilliant people we had ever met. He manage to debate every person over something at least once on our trip, and pretty much always won. He made us feel comfortable, and gave us so much to laugh about. Noah was different than most people, but only in the best way. Without Noah, our trip and our lives would never be the same. Our group has been reflecting over our favorite moments with Noah, and they all are moments I would give anything to go back too.

You never know how many lives you will impact by just being you, so do not let anyone stop that. Remind people of how much they mean to you, because you never know what could happen. I wish I could tell Noah how much he has helped me grow as a person, and how impactful he was. Rest in peace Noah, your impact will last forever.