In an ideal world, no one would be suffering from illness and disease, no one would suffer from natural disasters, no one would be homeless, no one would allow greed to control their motivations, no one would ever be hurt by loved ones, and no one would be mistreated unfairly.
In an ideal world, everyone would be happy and completely satisfied with their life.
As much as all of these things would make the world a better place, having a perfect world allows no room for growth, maturation, understanding, compassion, and belief in others-- because there simply would be no need for these.
With no room to serve others, to help those in need, to have issues to work through, or to have goals to work for, there no longer serves a purpose for the fraternal organization.
For the fraternal organization to reach its fullest potential and to make the most positive impact on the world, there has to be something for the fraternal members to be continuing to work for. There has to be a meaningful purpose and goal for the fraternal organization to focus on. How else would the organization reach success? How would the organization be able to measure their accomplishments?
In order for the fraternity to obtain members who are fully knowledgeable, dedicated, and motivated to work for the same values, a new member orientation program should be held prior to the initiation of members. Oftentimes, new members realize their values do not match up with their respective fraternity; implementing a program prior to any commitment would eliminate the fraternity being inhibited by these types of members. The ideal world would still have issues and the need for education and a better world, but the organization would exist with a foundation of members of equal motivation, dedication, and values.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
inspiring words from AFLV...
During our PHA exec meeting tonight, Julie asked us to discuss some of the things we talked about at AFLV. Believe it or not, we have not had any time to talk about what we really learned in St. Louis with just the five of us until tonight...so I thought I would share some words of inpiration with you all...
I went to a Hot Topic session called Inspire Integrity: Learning Values Based-Leadership by Corey Ciocchetti. To be honest, this was not one of the sessions that seemed interesting to me and the only reason I went is because Sam convinced me to go with her. So I went, and I am so glad I did because he was the most inspiring speaker I heard all weekend.
His basic message was about how to lead a life filled with integrity and focus on things that truly matter in life. As officers, its so easy to cross things off our to- do list without actually stopping to think about what we are really doing, who we are impacting, and what kinds of things we are letting slip by with such a busy schedule.
This realization came after a scare with brain cancer where he thought of all thing things he should've done with his life prior to the supposed diagnosis. He was lucky and did not have brain cancer, but he said if certain things are a priority when you are near death, then why isn't it a priority now?
It's not that I never found these non significant, but in the context of his message, he said these are 3 things worth chasing:
- Contentment in your heart
- Relationships- strong, personal relationships only develop if you can be a friend to your friends
- Good character- character is how you act when no one else is looking, and how you act when you are with your friends-- are these two aspects of yourself consistent?
Lastly, this was my favorite part of his message. It's just something to think about and something that makes me strive a little bit harder each day for things I want in my life...
Everyday: Think, Laugh, and have your Emotions stirred
- HUSTLE: to try harder than you are currently trying
- FIGHT: every single day for things that matter
- LISTEN: every day, listen better, and listen more often. It's not all about you.
- LAUGH- just laugh at yourself! because it has the best healing power and truly makes you feel better :)
hahahahahahahahahhhhhhhhahahahahahahahahahahahahhhhhhhhhhhhhahaha
There..now I feel better.
I went to a Hot Topic session called Inspire Integrity: Learning Values Based-Leadership by Corey Ciocchetti. To be honest, this was not one of the sessions that seemed interesting to me and the only reason I went is because Sam convinced me to go with her. So I went, and I am so glad I did because he was the most inspiring speaker I heard all weekend.
His basic message was about how to lead a life filled with integrity and focus on things that truly matter in life. As officers, its so easy to cross things off our to- do list without actually stopping to think about what we are really doing, who we are impacting, and what kinds of things we are letting slip by with such a busy schedule.
This realization came after a scare with brain cancer where he thought of all thing things he should've done with his life prior to the supposed diagnosis. He was lucky and did not have brain cancer, but he said if certain things are a priority when you are near death, then why isn't it a priority now?
It's not that I never found these non significant, but in the context of his message, he said these are 3 things worth chasing:
- Contentment in your heart
- Relationships- strong, personal relationships only develop if you can be a friend to your friends
- Good character- character is how you act when no one else is looking, and how you act when you are with your friends-- are these two aspects of yourself consistent?
Lastly, this was my favorite part of his message. It's just something to think about and something that makes me strive a little bit harder each day for things I want in my life...
Everyday: Think, Laugh, and have your Emotions stirred
- HUSTLE: to try harder than you are currently trying
- FIGHT: every single day for things that matter
- LISTEN: every day, listen better, and listen more often. It's not all about you.
- LAUGH- just laugh at yourself! because it has the best healing power and truly makes you feel better :)
hahahahahahahahahhhhhhhhahahahahahahahahahahahahhhhhhhhhhhhhahaha
There..now I feel better.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
I want a 3.0 for this blog
So this week, we are asked to blog about the strengths and weaknesses of our chapters, our councils, and finally, of our community.
In some ways, it's hard for me to answer what is the strongest aspect of my chapter because by being on PHA, by going to retreats and conferences, and by constantly talking about what changes need to be made, I feel that I sometime overlook what we do already have. I have so many new perceptions on what COULD be, instead of focusing on what is a strength already and how that doesn't necessarily need to change. My involvement in PHA and learning so much at these conferences and other events has shifted my thinking to "What is our strength, and how can we make it stronger? "
With that said, I do believe that the sisterhood at my chapter is a strong point. We may not all agree with eachother on every single topic, we may not always respect eachothers' differences in thoughts, but at the end of the day, if any of my sisters needed anything, we would all come a running. I am proud that my chapter has a strong foundation with sisterhood and understands that we are part of an organization bigger than ourselves. Afterall, what can really be accomplished and remain purposeful and successful if we cannot love and respect eachother with differences set aside at the end of the day?
I believe that my chapter's weaknessess fall under the categories of academics and community involvement. We have strong women in our chapter who achieve high grades and consistently give back to the community, but we also have women that forget the real reason why we are at Ohio State. Academics and education should be our first priority for being at OSU, but it is often farther down on the list. I will be the first to say that with my involvement in other activities, it is schoolwork that often falls last on my list, no matter how many times I remind myself that the process should be reversed. I also think that we can strive to make improvements with our community. As a whole, we could have such a stronger presence, but it appears to be the same women who are involved in everything. I am not overlooking those dedicated women in my chapter who do try to participate in community service activities and to get involved in other organizations, but as I re learned at AFLV, " you chapter is only as strong as your weakest member."
I believe that a strength of my council is that we all share the common belief of building relationships with eachother first, work second. It is impossible to make great strides for our community if we don't understand and respect eachother for their individuality and hard work first. We are all busy busy women, but at the end of the day, I believe that we are all officers of PHA for the right reasons. We all want to make great changes as a PHA council collectively and most importantly, believe in ourselves and eachother to do so.
We are all one big happy snuggie family!
A weakeness of our council is miscommunication. I don't think necessarily amongst the 5 of us, but with us and the rest of the Greek community. It's difficult that we are all on one page, while the rest of the community seems to be on another, and we sometimes may forget this concept. Even though we try to keep the delegates involved, I think we sometimes don't explain things to the fullest extent or really explain the purpose behind everything we want to do. It is difficult to get everyone on board with our new ideas if communication is somewhat of an issue. Then, the miscommunication also falls with the chapter presidents and other officers not getting into contact with us, the delegates not taking the information back to their chapters, people not being held accountable for returning emails, etc, etc. I know we are going to run into these types of issues when working with such a large amount of people, but it is something that we can all work with the presidents, delegates, other positions, and ourselves to improve upon.
A strength of our community? I think this one is easy- there are 3000 of us who are all Greek, the largest collective organization on campus who have such POTENTIAL to make a difference in our community and beyond. We have so many resources available to us that no other organization has-- campus leaders who believe in Greeks, the New Union and its resources, alumnae, and other student organzations who want to pair with the Greeks in order to create an ever bigger impact in and outside of our community. We have the strength in numbers working in our favor, and all we need to do is figure out how to really use this to our advantage.
A weakness that I see within our Greek community is the other half of having so much strength in numbers-- the collectiveness of the Greeks. We all know we are Greek, but we do not always treat eachother like we have this amazing commonality. We do not always associate with people from other chapters. We tend to stick with what we know and who we know. We do not always recognize the potential that we have as such a large group. Even though our four exec councils are starting to become a collective group, we only have so much impact because we are only a small portion of the entire Greek Community.
I'm glad that I was forced to think about these concepts..it's such an easy, natural task to think about everything we need to change and everyone's minds that we need to change. We are so focused on making changes that we do need to stop and recognize those people who are doing a great job in their positions and who are being positive role models in our community...those are the people who are helping us make the changes that we want to see.
In some ways, it's hard for me to answer what is the strongest aspect of my chapter because by being on PHA, by going to retreats and conferences, and by constantly talking about what changes need to be made, I feel that I sometime overlook what we do already have. I have so many new perceptions on what COULD be, instead of focusing on what is a strength already and how that doesn't necessarily need to change. My involvement in PHA and learning so much at these conferences and other events has shifted my thinking to "What is our strength, and how can we make it stronger? "
With that said, I do believe that the sisterhood at my chapter is a strong point. We may not all agree with eachother on every single topic, we may not always respect eachothers' differences in thoughts, but at the end of the day, if any of my sisters needed anything, we would all come a running. I am proud that my chapter has a strong foundation with sisterhood and understands that we are part of an organization bigger than ourselves. Afterall, what can really be accomplished and remain purposeful and successful if we cannot love and respect eachother with differences set aside at the end of the day?
I believe that my chapter's weaknessess fall under the categories of academics and community involvement. We have strong women in our chapter who achieve high grades and consistently give back to the community, but we also have women that forget the real reason why we are at Ohio State. Academics and education should be our first priority for being at OSU, but it is often farther down on the list. I will be the first to say that with my involvement in other activities, it is schoolwork that often falls last on my list, no matter how many times I remind myself that the process should be reversed. I also think that we can strive to make improvements with our community. As a whole, we could have such a stronger presence, but it appears to be the same women who are involved in everything. I am not overlooking those dedicated women in my chapter who do try to participate in community service activities and to get involved in other organizations, but as I re learned at AFLV, " you chapter is only as strong as your weakest member."
I believe that a strength of my council is that we all share the common belief of building relationships with eachother first, work second. It is impossible to make great strides for our community if we don't understand and respect eachother for their individuality and hard work first. We are all busy busy women, but at the end of the day, I believe that we are all officers of PHA for the right reasons. We all want to make great changes as a PHA council collectively and most importantly, believe in ourselves and eachother to do so.
We are all one big happy snuggie family!
A weakeness of our council is miscommunication. I don't think necessarily amongst the 5 of us, but with us and the rest of the Greek community. It's difficult that we are all on one page, while the rest of the community seems to be on another, and we sometimes may forget this concept. Even though we try to keep the delegates involved, I think we sometimes don't explain things to the fullest extent or really explain the purpose behind everything we want to do. It is difficult to get everyone on board with our new ideas if communication is somewhat of an issue. Then, the miscommunication also falls with the chapter presidents and other officers not getting into contact with us, the delegates not taking the information back to their chapters, people not being held accountable for returning emails, etc, etc. I know we are going to run into these types of issues when working with such a large amount of people, but it is something that we can all work with the presidents, delegates, other positions, and ourselves to improve upon.
A strength of our community? I think this one is easy- there are 3000 of us who are all Greek, the largest collective organization on campus who have such POTENTIAL to make a difference in our community and beyond. We have so many resources available to us that no other organization has-- campus leaders who believe in Greeks, the New Union and its resources, alumnae, and other student organzations who want to pair with the Greeks in order to create an ever bigger impact in and outside of our community. We have the strength in numbers working in our favor, and all we need to do is figure out how to really use this to our advantage.
A weakness that I see within our Greek community is the other half of having so much strength in numbers-- the collectiveness of the Greeks. We all know we are Greek, but we do not always treat eachother like we have this amazing commonality. We do not always associate with people from other chapters. We tend to stick with what we know and who we know. We do not always recognize the potential that we have as such a large group. Even though our four exec councils are starting to become a collective group, we only have so much impact because we are only a small portion of the entire Greek Community.
I'm glad that I was forced to think about these concepts..it's such an easy, natural task to think about everything we need to change and everyone's minds that we need to change. We are so focused on making changes that we do need to stop and recognize those people who are doing a great job in their positions and who are being positive role models in our community...those are the people who are helping us make the changes that we want to see.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
OATH
To me, I think an oath is a sacred promise that is held to higher standards than just your normal promise..
It's a promise to yourself and others how you pledge to live and lead a certain lifestyle...
It's a promise that you will work to help others and find ways to benefit people other than yourself..
It's a promise that you are dedicated to the people around you that took the same oath that you will hold eachother accountables for the certain values that you share.
It's a promise to reach out to others to help them realize their potential, to provide them with opportunities, and to help them in grow which in turn will allow you to grow as a person.
To me, it's not so much about what each organization's oath consists of. Chances are they all have some meaning of dedication, respect, education, helping others, etc, all the aspects that allow an organization to grow and be successful. I think what's more important is how an individual who swore to an oath is carrying out what they repeated..
I think that the Greek community often overlooks the importance of the oath they took. This could be because it is not emphasized after the Initiation process, only reviewed when something goes wrong that calls for a review, or people have other intentions of joining Greek life and know that by taking the oath, they are now part of the Greek community.
We obviously know that within the Greek community, there are many issues that should not exist if people simply understood the oath they took for themselves and put effort into living these values each and every day. As we learned at AFLV, the first step for us to be able to make a change is to live out our values through our actions and words. Afterall, We can't preach what we don't practice.
It's a promise to yourself and others how you pledge to live and lead a certain lifestyle...
It's a promise that you will work to help others and find ways to benefit people other than yourself..
It's a promise that you are dedicated to the people around you that took the same oath that you will hold eachother accountables for the certain values that you share.
It's a promise to reach out to others to help them realize their potential, to provide them with opportunities, and to help them in grow which in turn will allow you to grow as a person.
To me, it's not so much about what each organization's oath consists of. Chances are they all have some meaning of dedication, respect, education, helping others, etc, all the aspects that allow an organization to grow and be successful. I think what's more important is how an individual who swore to an oath is carrying out what they repeated..
I think that the Greek community often overlooks the importance of the oath they took. This could be because it is not emphasized after the Initiation process, only reviewed when something goes wrong that calls for a review, or people have other intentions of joining Greek life and know that by taking the oath, they are now part of the Greek community.
We obviously know that within the Greek community, there are many issues that should not exist if people simply understood the oath they took for themselves and put effort into living these values each and every day. As we learned at AFLV, the first step for us to be able to make a change is to live out our values through our actions and words. Afterall, We can't preach what we don't practice.
Monday, February 15, 2010
My favorite AFLV memories!
So I'll get to all this important/inspirational stuff that I learned later, but I just wanted to blog about all my favorite stuff of the trip after reading julie's blog! I had so much fun...and here's why:
1. Minglesticks and Mingle BBM Group
2. Coming up with all the holidays--and dedicating them to Zack and Ina (Ina does not smell) haha
3. Quality time spent in my SNuggie with Sam
4. Green Beans
5. Hot Sauce x2
6. Step Show with side entertainment provided by Ben Hubener
7. Awkward boyfriend waiter and awkward baby momma comments
8. Tyler's Birthday Surprise
9. Meeting the other Big Ten Schools..but we are clearly the best and most fun
10. Pictionary + Ben/Zac/Blake's crazy dance moves
11. Secret/Weird Roomate + Kayla Talks
12. Step Show
13. Eating too much Swedish fish and Chex Mix
14. Bus Ride!!
15. And of course, hanging out with everyone and getting to know all of you while we ate chicken!!
I had so much fun on this trip and I'm really excited to keep getting to know everyone! We need a reunion soon!!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
PHA
So instead of holding our PHA exec meeting tonight, we decided to blog about our values so that we could have some extra time to prep for St. Louis!
So, what are my values? I know that I already wrote about this in another blog, but my number one value is my family. I wouldn't be here without them, and I wouldn't be anywhere today without their support. Friendships are equally important to me because I feel like no matter how much success you may find, it means nothing if you can't share it with the people you love. It is also fair to say I value my education since school is my top priority, and I know that I will be successful someday because of the hard work I put into nursing school. Not suprisingly, I think that why nursing is such a fit for me is because of what the field entails...it's a profession dedicated to servicing others with knowledge, maintaining high standards of practice, respecting each and every persons' differences and learning from them, and using a collaborative effort to treat the patient. Ironically, these values, and many of my own values are also embodied in the Panhellenic Creed.
PHA values...
Scholarship, friendship, service, maintaining high standards, health, diversity,strive to live,and community.
One of the goals this year is to help unify the Exec board, directors, and delegates. Afterall, there shouldn't be a separation because we are all here for PHA and for the betterment of our community, but somehow this always seems to happen. So, we are striving to maintain our commmunity by working together and breaking down the barriers by getting to know eachother.
Diversity is another aspect that PHA strives to live by..this could mean learning to get to know eachother and respecting differences, reaching out to the other three councils, embracing our differences, reaching out to the community, and most importantly, just opening our eyes to what else is really out there.
Strive to live...I think that this in itself is just saying to live life to the fullest ,take the opportunities that come your way, and don't take anything for granted. Although I never classified this as one of my values, this is something that is really important to me because I wouldn't be seeking leadership opportunities if I wasn't striving to live.
I also believe that the core of PHA's success will come from the two values of friendship and community. Forming friendships and bonds with all sorts of people helps build up our community and allows us to see past our own views to actually see and appreicate others' differences. By having a strong community, there is the upmost potential to help service others, support eachother in school, keep eachother accountable to maintain high standards..and through all of this, we will have proven to ourselves how one can "strive to live."
So, what are my values? I know that I already wrote about this in another blog, but my number one value is my family. I wouldn't be here without them, and I wouldn't be anywhere today without their support. Friendships are equally important to me because I feel like no matter how much success you may find, it means nothing if you can't share it with the people you love. It is also fair to say I value my education since school is my top priority, and I know that I will be successful someday because of the hard work I put into nursing school. Not suprisingly, I think that why nursing is such a fit for me is because of what the field entails...it's a profession dedicated to servicing others with knowledge, maintaining high standards of practice, respecting each and every persons' differences and learning from them, and using a collaborative effort to treat the patient. Ironically, these values, and many of my own values are also embodied in the Panhellenic Creed.
PHA values...
Scholarship, friendship, service, maintaining high standards, health, diversity,strive to live,and community.
One of the goals this year is to help unify the Exec board, directors, and delegates. Afterall, there shouldn't be a separation because we are all here for PHA and for the betterment of our community, but somehow this always seems to happen. So, we are striving to maintain our commmunity by working together and breaking down the barriers by getting to know eachother.
Diversity is another aspect that PHA strives to live by..this could mean learning to get to know eachother and respecting differences, reaching out to the other three councils, embracing our differences, reaching out to the community, and most importantly, just opening our eyes to what else is really out there.
Strive to live...I think that this in itself is just saying to live life to the fullest ,take the opportunities that come your way, and don't take anything for granted. Although I never classified this as one of my values, this is something that is really important to me because I wouldn't be seeking leadership opportunities if I wasn't striving to live.
I also believe that the core of PHA's success will come from the two values of friendship and community. Forming friendships and bonds with all sorts of people helps build up our community and allows us to see past our own views to actually see and appreicate others' differences. By having a strong community, there is the upmost potential to help service others, support eachother in school, keep eachother accountable to maintain high standards..and through all of this, we will have proven to ourselves how one can "strive to live."
Thursday, February 4, 2010
ritual is what?
I typed in ritual in my google search, and here's the first good thing I saw from wikipedia:
"A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value, which is prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. The term usually excludes actions which are arbitrarily chosen by the performers, or dictated purely by logic, chance, necessity, etc.
A ritual may be performed on specific occasions, or at the discretion of individuals or communities. It may be performed by a single individual, by a group, or by the entire community; in arbitrary places, or in places especially reserved for it; either in public, in private, or before specific people. A ritual may be restricted to a certain subset of the community, and may enable or underscore the passage between religious or social states.
The purposes of rituals are varied; with religious obligations or ideals, satisfaction of spiritual or emotional needs of the practitioners, strengthening of social bonds, social and moral education, demonstration of respect or submission, stating one's affiliation, obtaining social acceptance or approval for some event — or, sometimes, just for the pleasure of the ritual itself."
I'd say that's a pretty well rounded definition of what a ritual can be, what it stands for, and what it can be. But what are my own thoughts about ritual?
I'd have to say that I'm still a little bit confused/ don't fully understand exactly what ritual means to me yet. I know what we do for each ceremony, I know the words that we say, I know what we teach our new members, but I don't think I have a strong personal meaning for myself. During class last week, I was talking to Rian about her chapter's rituals, and it was pretty amazing to me how strong their bonds and ritual were amongst the entire group of women. To her, having a Ritual Chair was unheard of and would never be the case in her chapter (or so that's what I believe from our conversation). This concept is huge to me...we have one "Ritual chair" who is supposed to "teach" us the meaning and lead the ceremonies. However, I'm not sure we can actually be taught the meaning of ritual...I think it's a concept that we gradually understand and through experiences, we develop our own meaning of what living the ritual is. And, it's not to say that I don't strive to serve others, to better myself, to get an education, or to work hard because I think that I do try my best in these areas. I think that much of these come from my own personal aspirations and being surrounded by women of the same determination. But, I do not think that my Ritual is the top reason for why I find these aspects of life important.
Even though I don't know exactly what I'm looking for or exactly what I should understand about Ritual, I think that I will come to find my own understanding in the next 52 weeks. And with that, I will do my best to pass on what I know to the new members and show my understanding through my actions.
"A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value, which is prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. The term usually excludes actions which are arbitrarily chosen by the performers, or dictated purely by logic, chance, necessity, etc.
A ritual may be performed on specific occasions, or at the discretion of individuals or communities. It may be performed by a single individual, by a group, or by the entire community; in arbitrary places, or in places especially reserved for it; either in public, in private, or before specific people. A ritual may be restricted to a certain subset of the community, and may enable or underscore the passage between religious or social states.
The purposes of rituals are varied; with religious obligations or ideals, satisfaction of spiritual or emotional needs of the practitioners, strengthening of social bonds, social and moral education, demonstration of respect or submission, stating one's affiliation, obtaining social acceptance or approval for some event — or, sometimes, just for the pleasure of the ritual itself."
I'd say that's a pretty well rounded definition of what a ritual can be, what it stands for, and what it can be. But what are my own thoughts about ritual?
I'd have to say that I'm still a little bit confused/ don't fully understand exactly what ritual means to me yet. I know what we do for each ceremony, I know the words that we say, I know what we teach our new members, but I don't think I have a strong personal meaning for myself. During class last week, I was talking to Rian about her chapter's rituals, and it was pretty amazing to me how strong their bonds and ritual were amongst the entire group of women. To her, having a Ritual Chair was unheard of and would never be the case in her chapter (or so that's what I believe from our conversation). This concept is huge to me...we have one "Ritual chair" who is supposed to "teach" us the meaning and lead the ceremonies. However, I'm not sure we can actually be taught the meaning of ritual...I think it's a concept that we gradually understand and through experiences, we develop our own meaning of what living the ritual is. And, it's not to say that I don't strive to serve others, to better myself, to get an education, or to work hard because I think that I do try my best in these areas. I think that much of these come from my own personal aspirations and being surrounded by women of the same determination. But, I do not think that my Ritual is the top reason for why I find these aspects of life important.
Even though I don't know exactly what I'm looking for or exactly what I should understand about Ritual, I think that I will come to find my own understanding in the next 52 weeks. And with that, I will do my best to pass on what I know to the new members and show my understanding through my actions.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Greek Week
I am going to blog about Greek Week 2010, because for the past 1.5 weeks and for many future weeks to come, I'm sure my life will be consumed by nothing more than Greek Week, Nathan McCullough, and Marco. The three of us held about 40 interviews in 2.5 days, selected our exec board, and have a retreat planned all in about one week's worth of time. ahhh!! This past week has been really crazy and its hard to start focusing on greek week when in the past we haven't done much with it until much later, but I am more excited about what's to come than with how stressed I am. We have a great group of people with lots of new and fresh ideas...and this better be one heck of a Greek Week if Nathan and I are putting so much time into it! By the way, anyone have any great awareness topics they think would be fitting for this year's GW???
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Haiti Benefit Dinner
I just wanted to post a quick blog about the Haiti Benefit dinner last night. I talked a little bit with my house mom, Rosie, and she told me about how much hard work and collaboration went into planning such a big event in just 6 days. It's great that we are at a university with the resources and people available to do such a thing. I helped with serving rolls..woo hoo! Haha...actually there is a picture of me in the Lantern rocking my hairnet and getting my roll on :)
One of the best things I saw all night (aside from the runners bringing us more pasta because we kept running out) was at 5:30 pm. It was so awesome to see so many Greeks take over the RPAC and come support this cause. I got really excited when I saw my entire chapter show up but was just excited to look around and see how many different chapters were represented.
Today in my nursing class, I talked to one of the girls that is VP of the Red Cross Organization at OSU. She commented on how amazing it was to see all the Greeks come out to support and had no idea that there were so many of us.
Anyways, thanks so much to everyone that put in so much effort to hold the benefit (especially Zack!) and whoever else helped..you guys did such a great job!!!!
One of the best things I saw all night (aside from the runners bringing us more pasta because we kept running out) was at 5:30 pm. It was so awesome to see so many Greeks take over the RPAC and come support this cause. I got really excited when I saw my entire chapter show up but was just excited to look around and see how many different chapters were represented.
Today in my nursing class, I talked to one of the girls that is VP of the Red Cross Organization at OSU. She commented on how amazing it was to see all the Greeks come out to support and had no idea that there were so many of us.
Anyways, thanks so much to everyone that put in so much effort to hold the benefit (especially Zack!) and whoever else helped..you guys did such a great job!!!!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Installation Ceremony
Today's installation ceremony was really great! I especially loved Sharelle's "Charge" message. It really kind of inspired me to know that all 4 execs really are going to do amazing things in the next year even though we have no idea what these accomplishments will be yet. Over the past month, I think I've been so busy just trying to check things off my to do list and just get done what needs to be done that I forgot to sit back and actually think about the purpose for these things. This ceremony was really inspiring and reminded me again of my purpose here at OSU and as a Greek life member.
The other really cool thing to think about is how we are the first officers to use the new office in the Union! I can't even imagine what kind of traditions we can start and which ones will still be around 50 years from now!
This was a great way to wrap up the week and to get us into gear for our St. Louis trip very soon!
The other really cool thing to think about is how we are the first officers to use the new office in the Union! I can't even imagine what kind of traditions we can start and which ones will still be around 50 years from now!
This was a great way to wrap up the week and to get us into gear for our St. Louis trip very soon!
WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED TODAY??
For our in class assignment, we were asked to go around campus in search of fellow Greeks to ask them a few questions. There were three questions regarding ritual, chapter involvement and priorities. These three questions seemed easy enough to ask, harder to answer, and were even more difficult to hear. The answers sure did shed some unfortunate life on the amount of knowledge and lack of values within the Greek community.
As soon as we were told to find fellow Greeks, my mind went immediately to the O Patio. I even whispered to Sam that this was where we should head first...so we did. I spoke to a gentleman who was not afraid to give me the truth. What did his fraternity spend the most time on? Partying, drinking and girls. What was his motto? "Sex, drugs, and FRATeral." Seriously???! What kind of service did they do? ..uh can't remember is the reply I got. However...he did recite his Creed for me.
So, as for the "Sex,drugs and frateral" comment, I was at first annoyed that he wasn't taking the questions seriously. We all wanted real answers, and he was joking around. But..after thinking about this for a while, the answer he gave me might have been the real truth. Maybe this is what his fraternity spends time on, what they like to do, and don't really care about other opportunities out there. Afterall, he did throw out those answers in .343464 seconds and then asked if he would get in trouble for his answers. Anyways, this just showed me that maybe for some people, the point of fraternity life was only partying, drinking, and girls.
Please only watch the first 20 seconds of the video..
Seems like exactly what this gentleman was describing...
As for the next house I stopped at, the girls were able to give much more service oriented/purpose driven answers. They could not however, remember the words to their Creed and then preceded to say it was a secret.
The next house really made me understand the point of this interaction (at least I think so). I asked them all the same questions, and they could not answer any of the questions with straight answers. They had to think about what their chapter spends the most time on, what their values were, and most surprisingly...revealed that they did not know what a Creed was and that it was probably too long to remember anyways.
So what happened today? I realized that working with the 4 council exec boards, we as the leaders, are obviously not categorized into the general consensus of Greek life. We know our purposes, know our Creed, and find more purpose in Greek life than partying. We are not the reason that Greeks run into so many complications trying to reverse the stereotype. But, we are the minority in our beliefs. This is why it is so hard to build up our reputation and reach out to all the non Greeks because there are too many Greeks living up the stereotypes to the maximum potential. I realized even more that our quest to change Greek life is going to be much more difficult to do because how can we make a difference if individual chapters don't even know their purpose of existance?
The saddest thing I heard all day? One gentleman told me, "IFC makes the rules, and we are here to rebel against them." Now where are we even supposed to start with that???
As soon as we were told to find fellow Greeks, my mind went immediately to the O Patio. I even whispered to Sam that this was where we should head first...so we did. I spoke to a gentleman who was not afraid to give me the truth. What did his fraternity spend the most time on? Partying, drinking and girls. What was his motto? "Sex, drugs, and FRATeral." Seriously???! What kind of service did they do? ..uh can't remember is the reply I got. However...he did recite his Creed for me.
So, as for the "Sex,drugs and frateral" comment, I was at first annoyed that he wasn't taking the questions seriously. We all wanted real answers, and he was joking around. But..after thinking about this for a while, the answer he gave me might have been the real truth. Maybe this is what his fraternity spends time on, what they like to do, and don't really care about other opportunities out there. Afterall, he did throw out those answers in .343464 seconds and then asked if he would get in trouble for his answers. Anyways, this just showed me that maybe for some people, the point of fraternity life was only partying, drinking, and girls.
Please only watch the first 20 seconds of the video..
Seems like exactly what this gentleman was describing...
As for the next house I stopped at, the girls were able to give much more service oriented/purpose driven answers. They could not however, remember the words to their Creed and then preceded to say it was a secret.
The next house really made me understand the point of this interaction (at least I think so). I asked them all the same questions, and they could not answer any of the questions with straight answers. They had to think about what their chapter spends the most time on, what their values were, and most surprisingly...revealed that they did not know what a Creed was and that it was probably too long to remember anyways.
So what happened today? I realized that working with the 4 council exec boards, we as the leaders, are obviously not categorized into the general consensus of Greek life. We know our purposes, know our Creed, and find more purpose in Greek life than partying. We are not the reason that Greeks run into so many complications trying to reverse the stereotype. But, we are the minority in our beliefs. This is why it is so hard to build up our reputation and reach out to all the non Greeks because there are too many Greeks living up the stereotypes to the maximum potential. I realized even more that our quest to change Greek life is going to be much more difficult to do because how can we make a difference if individual chapters don't even know their purpose of existance?
The saddest thing I heard all day? One gentleman told me, "IFC makes the rules, and we are here to rebel against them." Now where are we even supposed to start with that???
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
"I'm trying to sell these bus tickets for some children's tylenol..."
So on the way home from our PHA exec meeting tonight, Sam, Julie, and I were stopped by a woman who look frazzled and worried. This woman said she lived somewhere close to Summit and 4th, wasn't recieving her social security money until next week, had a brain injury which makes her disabled, and works two days a week. She was explaining how her 4 yr old was at home for the past two days suffering from a 104.9 fever and she simply was trying to trade in her bus tickets for some money to buy children's tylenol...
I am going to be a nurse in the near future. This broke my heart and messed with my conscience that I chose not to help her. I didn't have really any money to give her, but I could have given her what I did have. However, I suggested that she call 911 and have the paramedics bring her son to the hospital..she responded that she didn't have enough money and that this would ruin her credit. So, we walked away and she went onto the next people she could find.
These kinds of situations happen all the time. Homeless people approach us for change, we tend to ignore them. But this lady looked like she was about to cry and seemed very worried about her son, despite not utilizing the necessary resources to get help for her son ASAP. So, upon talking with this woman, my first instinct was that this poor woman really does need help..then about 3 seconds later, my instincts tell me that she is lying to get money. But as I walk away, I kept thinking to myself...what if she wasn't lying? What if she really did need help? What if she really didn't have any money and was genuninely worried about her son's situation and how she would handle it? What if this woman's "homeless" appearance is what is stopping me, and everyone she runs into, from helping her?
So, in the midst of interviewing a gazillion people for Greek Week exec board, this got me thinking...so many people seem qualified for these positions, but how do I know from these 20 minute interactions that these people are who they say they are? First impressions mean so much...how do I know these people aren't just good at interviewing? How do we know they are going to actually doing the jobs they say they will? Or, how do I know that the quiet, more reserved people who aren't as enthsuiastic in their interviews are less qualified that everyone else? I hate that we have to judge so much off first impressions and guage how capable someone is based off a 20 minute interview. I hate that I judged in 20 seconds that the woman begging for help was homeless and lying.
It's the same for exec..how do we know that we are all going to do what we say? Yes, we are responsible for holding eachother accountable but in the end, it's up to us as individual leaders to live up to what we said we are capable of during our interview process? What is it that even makes us more willing do put in so much more effort than everyone else? And how do we automatically just trust that everyone is going to do their job to the best of their ability, just because those may be our own personal intentions?
I am going to be a nurse in the near future. This broke my heart and messed with my conscience that I chose not to help her. I didn't have really any money to give her, but I could have given her what I did have. However, I suggested that she call 911 and have the paramedics bring her son to the hospital..she responded that she didn't have enough money and that this would ruin her credit. So, we walked away and she went onto the next people she could find.
These kinds of situations happen all the time. Homeless people approach us for change, we tend to ignore them. But this lady looked like she was about to cry and seemed very worried about her son, despite not utilizing the necessary resources to get help for her son ASAP. So, upon talking with this woman, my first instinct was that this poor woman really does need help..then about 3 seconds later, my instincts tell me that she is lying to get money. But as I walk away, I kept thinking to myself...what if she wasn't lying? What if she really did need help? What if she really didn't have any money and was genuninely worried about her son's situation and how she would handle it? What if this woman's "homeless" appearance is what is stopping me, and everyone she runs into, from helping her?
So, in the midst of interviewing a gazillion people for Greek Week exec board, this got me thinking...so many people seem qualified for these positions, but how do I know from these 20 minute interactions that these people are who they say they are? First impressions mean so much...how do I know these people aren't just good at interviewing? How do we know they are going to actually doing the jobs they say they will? Or, how do I know that the quiet, more reserved people who aren't as enthsuiastic in their interviews are less qualified that everyone else? I hate that we have to judge so much off first impressions and guage how capable someone is based off a 20 minute interview. I hate that I judged in 20 seconds that the woman begging for help was homeless and lying.
It's the same for exec..how do we know that we are all going to do what we say? Yes, we are responsible for holding eachother accountable but in the end, it's up to us as individual leaders to live up to what we said we are capable of during our interview process? What is it that even makes us more willing do put in so much more effort than everyone else? And how do we automatically just trust that everyone is going to do their job to the best of their ability, just because those may be our own personal intentions?
Thursday, January 21, 2010
What makes me ME?
Values are what define a person. It is what separates one individual from another, what separates a good leader from a bad one, and what is the basis for finding self fulfillment. Values develop from an individual's upbringing, education, environment, and current and past issues surrounding them. It is how these individuals learn from these situations and take important lessons from their experience that strengthen their values.
My values are something that I strive to live by each day. My family is my top priority and I would give anything up to make sure my family stayed intact. However, I am sad that I have not always appreciated my family and realized how important they are until I came to college. I value my friendships and my passion for helping others whether they are friends, patients, or acquaintances. I think that finding true friends is something that is rare, and I try to show appreciation to the people that I care about as much as I can. As for everyday values, I also value my education because I know it is my key to becoming a successful nurse practitioner someday. I also hold respect, compassion for others, hard work, and responsibility as my values that I try to live up to. However, there are many days when I fail. There are times when I say something that I know I don't mean, give in to something when I know in my heart I don't want to do it, and waste time doing things when I clearly know I have more important things to do with my time. I say and do things that I know don't represent who I am, and I wonder why I said that particular statement or participated in something I didn't really believe in.
In this really busy time, it's so easy to forget the important things in life. When you're involved in Greek life, working, studying, and trying accomplish a million other tasks, it's easy just to get done what you need to get done. It's easy to forget what is truly important to you. It's easy to only focus on yourself. It's easy to forget your values.
I'm really glad that we are talking about our values because I am sitting here forced to refresh my mind about what makes me different from everyone else. Because my schedule is so jam packed with things to get done, I'm glad that I'm reminded to sit here and pick out the things that really are important to me. And, it's reinforced once again that because we have these positions, we are held to such a higher standard now. We can't be successful in all the changes we want to implement if we don't show the rest of the community that we are living by our values. I would not respect nor follow a Greek leader that was contradictory in their words and actions. So, remembering my values and being forced to really think about them has made me more motivated to bring the best I can to my position.
Watch this funny video below to see how values come in all different shapes and sizes, backgrounds, and develop from personal events.
I believe that as long as a person knows in their heart what they believe in, what they stand for, and live these beliefs through their actions, that in the big scheme of life, nothing else really really matters. This is will lead to self fulfillment and feeling successful in their accomplishments. This speaker couldn't have said it any better..."Success comes in all shapes and sizes, and sometimes it comes in color coordinated socks."
My values are something that I strive to live by each day. My family is my top priority and I would give anything up to make sure my family stayed intact. However, I am sad that I have not always appreciated my family and realized how important they are until I came to college. I value my friendships and my passion for helping others whether they are friends, patients, or acquaintances. I think that finding true friends is something that is rare, and I try to show appreciation to the people that I care about as much as I can. As for everyday values, I also value my education because I know it is my key to becoming a successful nurse practitioner someday. I also hold respect, compassion for others, hard work, and responsibility as my values that I try to live up to. However, there are many days when I fail. There are times when I say something that I know I don't mean, give in to something when I know in my heart I don't want to do it, and waste time doing things when I clearly know I have more important things to do with my time. I say and do things that I know don't represent who I am, and I wonder why I said that particular statement or participated in something I didn't really believe in.
In this really busy time, it's so easy to forget the important things in life. When you're involved in Greek life, working, studying, and trying accomplish a million other tasks, it's easy just to get done what you need to get done. It's easy to forget what is truly important to you. It's easy to only focus on yourself. It's easy to forget your values.
I'm really glad that we are talking about our values because I am sitting here forced to refresh my mind about what makes me different from everyone else. Because my schedule is so jam packed with things to get done, I'm glad that I'm reminded to sit here and pick out the things that really are important to me. And, it's reinforced once again that because we have these positions, we are held to such a higher standard now. We can't be successful in all the changes we want to implement if we don't show the rest of the community that we are living by our values. I would not respect nor follow a Greek leader that was contradictory in their words and actions. So, remembering my values and being forced to really think about them has made me more motivated to bring the best I can to my position.
Watch this funny video below to see how values come in all different shapes and sizes, backgrounds, and develop from personal events.
I believe that as long as a person knows in their heart what they believe in, what they stand for, and live these beliefs through their actions, that in the big scheme of life, nothing else really really matters. This is will lead to self fulfillment and feeling successful in their accomplishments. This speaker couldn't have said it any better..."Success comes in all shapes and sizes, and sometimes it comes in color coordinated socks."
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
"It's no mystery why Greek Life gets a bad rep..."
I was on facebook looking at all of new and exciting Bid Day pictures when I came across this:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?id=1418430017&pid=30856829#/photo.php?id=1434960052&pid=30949623
Please read the comments under the picture.
Unfortunately, I agree with this person that for non Greeks, the Greek community can be very non inviting to the outside world. Now I understand that this sorority wanted to make their new members feel extra special and privileged, but I think that the message is actually hurtful to non greeks, as well as those new members who didn't get into the house of their choice.
In class last week, I remember talking about how non Greeks have a stereotypical view of Greek life and that they don't understand that we truly are different until they become part of our community. I feel like the battle towards changing our stereotype is going to be a long and slow process. Those of us who are not the "typical sorority girl" can prove we are different through our community service, by reaching out to others, and by living by our personal and fraternal values. However, it's little incidents like these that have so much impact and seem to set the entire Greek community backwards towards changing our stereotype. If we really want to change and prove that greek life isn't all about partying, boys, and catty girls, then the only way a significant change can occur is if ALL the Greek houses are on board.
I'm usually an optomistic person, but I believe that in order to improve the Greek reputation as a whole is something that may or may not ever happen at OSU...
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?id=1418430017&pid=30856829#/photo.php?id=1434960052&pid=30949623
Please read the comments under the picture.
Unfortunately, I agree with this person that for non Greeks, the Greek community can be very non inviting to the outside world. Now I understand that this sorority wanted to make their new members feel extra special and privileged, but I think that the message is actually hurtful to non greeks, as well as those new members who didn't get into the house of their choice.
In class last week, I remember talking about how non Greeks have a stereotypical view of Greek life and that they don't understand that we truly are different until they become part of our community. I feel like the battle towards changing our stereotype is going to be a long and slow process. Those of us who are not the "typical sorority girl" can prove we are different through our community service, by reaching out to others, and by living by our personal and fraternal values. However, it's little incidents like these that have so much impact and seem to set the entire Greek community backwards towards changing our stereotype. If we really want to change and prove that greek life isn't all about partying, boys, and catty girls, then the only way a significant change can occur is if ALL the Greek houses are on board.
I'm usually an optomistic person, but I believe that in order to improve the Greek reputation as a whole is something that may or may not ever happen at OSU...
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Mission Statements...
After reading Tyler's blog about Alpha Phi Alpha's Fraternity mission statement and their purpose to serve their members, I got to thinking about my own sorority's mission statement.
Alpha Xi Delta believes "Inspiring women to realize their potential" means we must dedicate ourselves to helping our members recognize and maximize their own strengths and talents. Our Fraternity is dedicated to helping our members develop life skills; to creating an environment in which Alpha Xi Delta members continuously support one another and their community in meaningful, genuine ways; and to ensuring that our members have a fun, socially rich collegiate experience.
I copied this from the national AXiD website. I know that one reason I fit so well with my sorority is that I do have a lot of the same values and goals as what the above statement includes. However, I'm aware that the basic message of every fraternal organization is dedicated to helping their members reach new potential, develop as a person, and give back to the community. Nevertheless, with the values topic we discussed in class and with recruitment refreshening my mind about the importance of rituals, I have been thinking about how my chapter lives up to our values.
Our motto is "Inspiring women to realize their potential." This is a concept that my sorority really strives for, however, I think that if an individual is dedicated to the organization in which they belong, strive for continous improvement, and take on leadership positions, then yes, a sorority will help them realize what they are capable of. But,just being a member doesn't really do anything if the member doesn't want to be involved and seek opportunities. I think that that's where a lot of women in Greek life go wrong and don't realize what Greek life truly can do for them....too many are just in it for the fun and partying... (which is where the whole stereotype issues come into play).
So, I have realized that I don't want to see women in my chapter become of like this if I have anything to do with it. Because I am one of the member educators for the winter pledge class, I think that I can help live up to Alpha Xi's values by presenting these new women with ways to get involved and for them to realize their abilities early in their Greek experience. I've been so busy just trying to sort paperwork and follow the manuals and plan a schedule than covers all the basics that I forgot to really think about how to seriously contribute to their well being and individual development of the new members. So, I'm really glad that we had this topic to talk about this past week!
Alpha Xi Delta believes "Inspiring women to realize their potential" means we must dedicate ourselves to helping our members recognize and maximize their own strengths and talents. Our Fraternity is dedicated to helping our members develop life skills; to creating an environment in which Alpha Xi Delta members continuously support one another and their community in meaningful, genuine ways; and to ensuring that our members have a fun, socially rich collegiate experience.
I copied this from the national AXiD website. I know that one reason I fit so well with my sorority is that I do have a lot of the same values and goals as what the above statement includes. However, I'm aware that the basic message of every fraternal organization is dedicated to helping their members reach new potential, develop as a person, and give back to the community. Nevertheless, with the values topic we discussed in class and with recruitment refreshening my mind about the importance of rituals, I have been thinking about how my chapter lives up to our values.
Our motto is "Inspiring women to realize their potential." This is a concept that my sorority really strives for, however, I think that if an individual is dedicated to the organization in which they belong, strive for continous improvement, and take on leadership positions, then yes, a sorority will help them realize what they are capable of. But,just being a member doesn't really do anything if the member doesn't want to be involved and seek opportunities. I think that that's where a lot of women in Greek life go wrong and don't realize what Greek life truly can do for them....too many are just in it for the fun and partying... (which is where the whole stereotype issues come into play).
So, I have realized that I don't want to see women in my chapter become of like this if I have anything to do with it. Because I am one of the member educators for the winter pledge class, I think that I can help live up to Alpha Xi's values by presenting these new women with ways to get involved and for them to realize their abilities early in their Greek experience. I've been so busy just trying to sort paperwork and follow the manuals and plan a schedule than covers all the basics that I forgot to really think about how to seriously contribute to their well being and individual development of the new members. So, I'm really glad that we had this topic to talk about this past week!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
I love my PB&J!
So the question is...Why did we choose to start a class about Fraternal Change with a service project, and what did you learn about yourself and your peers as a result of our shared experiences today?
Well...I think we started off our class by doing a service project because of the important, life changing concept we started talking about with Pay It Forward. I think that it is really easy for people to hear a concept, understand it...and then do nothing about it. Even if it is such a great idea, many people lack the motivation to participate in something new and shy away from their normal routine. So, I think it makes perfect sense as to why we made 300 PBJs to donate to the Holy Family Soup Kitchen. We heard of a great concept and ran with it! To be honest, I love the movie Pay It Forward, but I probably wouldn't get up and go do something right away for someone else. I'm glad that while making the sandwiches, we had the basic movie concepts fresh in our minds and were actually able to service others. I know that with how crazy everyone's schedules are, it can be hard to do things for other people. This was a great refresher of how good it feels to forget about how much I have on my to-do list and realize that no matter how much I stress out, there is always someone out there with more significant problems than me that I can actually help them with.
I think another reason for starting off our class with a service project is to get us thinking about how we CAN contribute more as a community. A lot of people mentioned during our class that we have so many resources available to help others, yet we as a community, we seem to be doing a minimal job. If we want the rest of the Greek community to live up to our values of service more effectively and have this recognized by the rest of the non Greek population, it has to start with the leaders of the Greek organizations. We have to practice what we preach in order to change the way people think about fraternities and sororities.
What did I learn about everyone? Well first off, everyone was very generous about sharing their peanut butter... and we have a new talent if changing the world doesn't work out how we planned. But really, I think that I am starting to realize that with such a strong group of leaders, we really can start to make a difference if we all work together. We made 300 sandwiches in about 30 min...we could do a lot in 52 weeks. I learned that we all seem to be on board with this Pay It Forward concept and that we seem to collectively agree that it starts with us. I'm not really sure exactly what I learned about myself this week, but part of the reason I wanted to be part of PHA was to learn more about myself and my abilities/weaknesses. I know I have a lot to discover in these next 52 weeks in myself and in everyone else!
Well...I think we started off our class by doing a service project because of the important, life changing concept we started talking about with Pay It Forward. I think that it is really easy for people to hear a concept, understand it...and then do nothing about it. Even if it is such a great idea, many people lack the motivation to participate in something new and shy away from their normal routine. So, I think it makes perfect sense as to why we made 300 PBJs to donate to the Holy Family Soup Kitchen. We heard of a great concept and ran with it! To be honest, I love the movie Pay It Forward, but I probably wouldn't get up and go do something right away for someone else. I'm glad that while making the sandwiches, we had the basic movie concepts fresh in our minds and were actually able to service others. I know that with how crazy everyone's schedules are, it can be hard to do things for other people. This was a great refresher of how good it feels to forget about how much I have on my to-do list and realize that no matter how much I stress out, there is always someone out there with more significant problems than me that I can actually help them with.
I think another reason for starting off our class with a service project is to get us thinking about how we CAN contribute more as a community. A lot of people mentioned during our class that we have so many resources available to help others, yet we as a community, we seem to be doing a minimal job. If we want the rest of the Greek community to live up to our values of service more effectively and have this recognized by the rest of the non Greek population, it has to start with the leaders of the Greek organizations. We have to practice what we preach in order to change the way people think about fraternities and sororities.
What did I learn about everyone? Well first off, everyone was very generous about sharing their peanut butter... and we have a new talent if changing the world doesn't work out how we planned. But really, I think that I am starting to realize that with such a strong group of leaders, we really can start to make a difference if we all work together. We made 300 sandwiches in about 30 min...we could do a lot in 52 weeks. I learned that we all seem to be on board with this Pay It Forward concept and that we seem to collectively agree that it starts with us. I'm not really sure exactly what I learned about myself this week, but part of the reason I wanted to be part of PHA was to learn more about myself and my abilities/weaknesses. I know I have a lot to discover in these next 52 weeks in myself and in everyone else!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
First PHA meeting!
So... I promise I will post about the prompts and other stuff as soon as I can get to it tomorrow. But, today was a big day because I had my first PHA meeting! It was really great to finally start meeting all the people who will be helping us change the world :) So, Julie and I met to go over my new position, and when she handed over her huge 4 inch binder, I had a mild heart attack. But then, to my surprise, I opened it and saw there were about 10 pages inside. THANK YOU JULIE!! haha but seriously, I don't know many people on the 4 councils yet, and Julie is the first person I started getting to know. We talked all about our futures and how we both love little kids and old people and then talked about how we take on too many projects and then realize its time to take some things off our plates...but anyhow, I'm very excited to work with everyone and get to know eachother better! Maybe we should make fluffernutter sandwiches this week as our way of servicing others :)
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Here's to blogging!
Hey Everyone! My name is Amanda Chin, and I'm a junior here at OSU. I'm currently in my 2nd year in the nursing program and I feel lucky to have found a profession that I truly love!! I'm from Dublin and I love being able to go home whenever I want to to get some clean clothes, eat a home cooked meal, and see my family :) I have 3 younger brothers, one of whom is a freshman at OSU as well.
So the big question...Why am I even in a sorority? I know the entire time I was in highschool, I NEVER in a million years saw myself joining a sorority. I hate drama, I hated the thought of living in a house full of girls, and I honestly thought that sorority girls were stupid and catty. Welll.. It sure is funny to look back and see now that one of the biggest and most important parts of my life right now is my sorority. So, the whole sorority idea began when a good friend from HS joined Alpha Xi Delta. She contacted me all through fall and winter, asking me to consider rushing. I came up with every excuse in the book to avoid telling her that I was flat out uninterested. Spring came around, and my friend did not give up on me. She gave all the information about recruitment, what kinds of things she was involved in, talked about her new friends, etc, etc. After all of this, I decided just to check out spring informal recruitment. I thought that I at least owed it to Meggin to see what all the fuss was about since she had spent so much of her time persuading me. Recruitment and COBS came, I went to a couple houses and then went to Alpha Xi Delta just to see Meggin. All I can remember is sitting down and having a real conversation with all of her friends who were so warming and welcoming to me. I went back to a couple more COBs, found that I truly enjoyed getting to know these women, and found myself accepting a bid from AXID a couple days later. I'm thankful that Meggin never gave up on me because joining Greek life has been the best decision I have made while being at OSU. I have met so many great people, met some of my absolute best friends, found my niche at such a huge school, and have been given so many wonderful opportunties (like PHA!!!) that I otherwise wouldn't have.
Well, sorry for typing up a book here..I guess you could say I like to share how I've gotten to the place I am today. So the other big question, how do I feel about this class? Well, not going to lie, but I'm not that pumped for Friday class. BUT, this class seems like it's going to be a lot of fun and I don't think I'm going to mind doing the work for EDU 270. I excited to meet all you awesome people, get a break from my nursing classes, and of course, CHANGE THE WORLD :)
See you all tomorrow!
So the big question...Why am I even in a sorority? I know the entire time I was in highschool, I NEVER in a million years saw myself joining a sorority. I hate drama, I hated the thought of living in a house full of girls, and I honestly thought that sorority girls were stupid and catty. Welll.. It sure is funny to look back and see now that one of the biggest and most important parts of my life right now is my sorority. So, the whole sorority idea began when a good friend from HS joined Alpha Xi Delta. She contacted me all through fall and winter, asking me to consider rushing. I came up with every excuse in the book to avoid telling her that I was flat out uninterested. Spring came around, and my friend did not give up on me. She gave all the information about recruitment, what kinds of things she was involved in, talked about her new friends, etc, etc. After all of this, I decided just to check out spring informal recruitment. I thought that I at least owed it to Meggin to see what all the fuss was about since she had spent so much of her time persuading me. Recruitment and COBS came, I went to a couple houses and then went to Alpha Xi Delta just to see Meggin. All I can remember is sitting down and having a real conversation with all of her friends who were so warming and welcoming to me. I went back to a couple more COBs, found that I truly enjoyed getting to know these women, and found myself accepting a bid from AXID a couple days later. I'm thankful that Meggin never gave up on me because joining Greek life has been the best decision I have made while being at OSU. I have met so many great people, met some of my absolute best friends, found my niche at such a huge school, and have been given so many wonderful opportunties (like PHA!!!) that I otherwise wouldn't have.
Well, sorry for typing up a book here..I guess you could say I like to share how I've gotten to the place I am today. So the other big question, how do I feel about this class? Well, not going to lie, but I'm not that pumped for Friday class. BUT, this class seems like it's going to be a lot of fun and I don't think I'm going to mind doing the work for EDU 270. I excited to meet all you awesome people, get a break from my nursing classes, and of course, CHANGE THE WORLD :)
See you all tomorrow!
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