Spring Formal Recruitment!

Recruitment for Kappa Alpha Theta – Delta Iota chapter has officially started! There are about 190 girls going through recruitment, some of the highest numbers in recent years. I had a conversation with a girl who is a Freshman vocal performance major who is in choir and we hit it off. I really hope she joins Theta because she was a great conversationalist and really nice girl.

Here’s what I have to say about college and Greek life. Greek life has opened so many doors for me as far as friendships, service opportunities, social events, and networking opportunities. I don’t just have friends, I have sisters, women I can relate to on a deep level as far as values, interests, and ideals. While you are college, I strongly encourage you to go through recruitment. Boy or girl, it doesn’t matter. I know men in the fraternities here on campus who wouldn’t have it any other way and women who would be lost souls on campus without their sisters. For me, it’s something to look forward to. I get the opportunity to have someone to talk to, someone to comfort, and someone to comfort me. I am a sorority member and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Revamp

It’s time to revamp this blog, breathe new life into it. I originally started writing it as both a way for family and friends to know what I was doing at school and so teens/young adults getting ready to or already in college could use it as a way to get tips from a girl on the inside. However recently I’ve been slacking as far as posting timely blogs and giving out tips. So I’m going to change starting right now.

It’s finally 2012! I’ve been home for winter break and I go back on January 11th to get ready for Theta’s recruitment. I’m so excited for the new year, a year that’s going to be full of possibilities and opportunities. My grades were posted online today (not publicly) and I have to say I was a little surprised by a couple of them so I emailed the professors to find out the breakdown of the grade. I’ve gotten a response already which was nice, even if the grades weren’t changed. So this my newest tip: Ask about a grade if you’re not happy about it. Even if it doesn’t get changed, you’ll know how you got it and why it is the way it is. It may not always be what you want, but it may give you peace of mind about it.

Class Canceled

Hello world! Today is Monday and I am way more awake then I thought I would be. My 10 am class was canceled so now I don’t have class until 1 pm! This is good because I have an assignment due tomorrow that I can work on before and after class today. Part of it has to be done in the library so I’m hoping to do that part after class at 3 pm. That means I am going to be continuing to work on the non-library part now. So…what am I doing writing this??? Well lets just say I’m procrastinating a teeny bit. I’m working on it slowly but surely. The assignment is going to be about 4-5 pages long when it’s all said and done and I’m almost done with page 2. That’s almost half way! I’m going to be fine.

Back To Normal

Recruitment is over!!! We got 23 new Thetas which I am very excited about. Recruitment ended well and bid day was fun. We went to this place called Pump It Up which is basically a huge room full of inflatable things like a slide, obstacle course, and bouncy house. It was nice, the only thing is that I think it might have been a little overwhelming for the new members. I think the more we time we spend with them, the more acclimated they will become. Now I’m in the Theta living room (OK actually the library which is just off the living room) working on my novel because I’ve done all my other homework. My roommate Kelley is reading Vogue magazine in my lap and one of my Theta sisters Elizabeth is trying to do homework next to us. It is cozy and warm.

Recruitment

Recruitment is finally here! We’ve had two groups of girls go through so far and it’s been a really positive experience. The girls I’ve talked to have been really nice, full of life and sparkle. We have five more groups of girls going through and I’m excited to continue meeting people. Tomorrow we have what’s called Philanthropy Day where some of the girls come back and we make cards/mugs full of candy for the volunteers of our philanthropy CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates). Right now we are waiting to get a new set of girls to meet. Some girls are talking about a magazine where there is an article about one mother’s really harsh parenting tactics to make her children exceptional people. They are also talking about really attractive men such as Ryan Reynolds and Robert Pattinson. I like being able to listen to people in these situations without people knowing I’m listening. It’s great.

Gearing Up For Recruitment

Tonight is the night before recruitment. Tomorrow we start talking to girls, trying to find girls that would be the best fit for our house. We want to replace ourselves with exceptional girls to keep our Theta chapter going when we graduate. In the morning we start getting parties of about 20-25 girls and we each converse with a couple of girls. I think we’re going to get about 7-8 parties so it’s going to be a full day. I’m really excited to meet new people and learn about them. I’m sure it will help me later in life when I need to converse with people I have never met before.

On a school note, I’m really excited for my Intro to Writing Poetry class and also my British Literature II class. Both have good professors and they are subjects that I’m really interested in. My two passions are English and Biology so being able to take English classes this semester is going to be a real treat. I’ve been working for my Biology degree for about a year and a half so now taking three English classes and one Biology class is going to be a great break from so much science. I’m really excited.

Homework Already

Hello there! I am writing to say, I HAVE HOMEWORK ALREADY!!!! This is only day two of classes and I’ve written a mini paper for English tomorrow and I have other written assignments due Friday. Now I’m not complaining because I really like English classes, writing, and reading. Apparently the older you get, the more work you get earlier. I guess it’s nice to hit the ground running so you don’t get bored. In other news I deactivated my Facebook account temporarily for recruitment. It’s been a little weird not going on to check it once every hour or so. I think it’s made me more productive. I’ll be able to use it again in about six days.

Back On Campus

I’m back on campus now! Winter break is finally over and I am ready to get back in the swing of things. I had one class today at 11 am and when I got there found out my professor is still out of town. A guest professor took roll, handed us our first assignment, and then told us we could leave. I was there all of ten minutes. Such a good way to start out the first day. Now I have choir at 5 pm and nothing else after that. My assignment is also kind of easy so that is nice.

Before I started classes I had been doing Polish Week with my sorority since last Wednesday. Polish Week is what we call the week before recruitment when we’re getting ready for recruitment. We needed to clean up the house and do some bonding things. It was nice, but I’m glad I got to start classes today and meet other people. I probably will meet more people tomorrow though.

Crossover

So today is Saturday 1/30…ok techincally it’s 1/31, but whatever it only happened a minute ago. Anyways today was crossover which is the boy’s bid day for fraternities. It was fun because they dressed up in costume and each pledge one at a time ran to their house and the active members helped them crowd surf. After that a few other people and I went back to our respective living areas to relax because we got up super early. Then we went shopping for crazy clothes for our “functions” from Goodwill. It was quite the success. We came back and had dinner/coffee in the SUB and then my friend (Anna) and I went back to Todd/Phibbs (dorm) to chill before we went out for the night. So Anna, another friend from my floor (Rachel), and I went back to the SUB so Rachel could eat. We went to a low key party that was just getting started and then was hanging out at another house for fun. There was a lot of laughter and dancing. All and all, the night was a success. I had a great time!

Quick Announcement

I’ve been alerted that I haven’t formally announced what I am rehearsing for! How rude of me! Let me explain. Until opening night on March 24th I will be rehearsing for the musical Anything Goes at the college. I am in the chorus and I am female passenger #1. Exciting right? To be female passenger #1 means I get one whole line! I’m thrilled to be part of the production with a lot of talented men and women. So there’s just a little tid bit of information since I for some strange reason hadn’t formally announced it!

Busy Busy Busy

I am one busy person! Just tonight I have choir from 5-6:20pm, rehearsal from 6:30, and homework. Starting next week I will have rehearsal at least three days a week, sometimes four depending on the week on top of choir, Invisible Children meetings (which I am probably not going to make until the musical is over), Greek Life, applying to be a RA, and four classes with two labs. Ok if you decide to do as much as what I am doing PACE YOURSELF SO YOU DON’T GET TOTALLY OVERWHELMED AND FRUSTRATED. It’s definitely a balance and sometimes you have to choose what will work best for you at the time. Sleep is so important and so is school work so you can’t give those the shaft. It will come back to kick you in the butt later. AT THE SAME TIME THOUGH, BEING BUSY CAN BE REALLY FUN. I’m sure I will not have the opportunity to be bored at all this semester whch I like because that is a terrible feeling. It is also good for me because I will see people that I love seeing and are friends of mine more often now than I did. It will strengthen bonds and friendships that way.

And The Winner Is….

KAPPA ALPHA THETA! As of last night I am now a new member of Theta and I’m really really excited about it. I think it is going to be a really fun, positive experience. Last night we went to the house and talked, mingled, had pizza and played a game where we were in teams and basically ran around the house. It was great. I also now have a new pansy plant for my room. We shall see how long it stays alive. This is a quick post for I am now off to workout (we had costco cake last night!) and then I have our first rehearsal for the musical Anything Goes. Just because recruitment is over does not mean my life gets any less busy!

Today Is Finally Here

It’s Tuesday ladies and gentlemen. The bid day. If I don’t receive a phone call or an email by 3-4pm I am going to assume that I have received a bid to the sorority Kappa Alpha Theta and I will be happy. I trust that the sororities know who would fit into their house and after going to dinner at Theta last night I realized that they are a great group of women that I can easily talk to. It was nice having dinner with them and sharing in some of their traditions. Everyone that was invited back had a flower and we each put our flowers into two community vases symbolizing that every flower is unique, but their beauty is magnified when they are all put together. We also tied our nametags to their symbol the kite on the way out which I thought was very special. Tonight everyone will get an envelope if they recieved a bid and then go party and hang out with the house they receive. It should be fun and exciting. Lets keep our fingers crossed that I get one!

Philanthrophy Day

Today I had to get up so early for recruitment! I got up at 7:45 on a Sunday morning…Who does that? Sororities and possible pledges do! I got invited back to two sororities today, Kappa Alpha Theta (Theta for short) and Alpha Phi (A-Phi for short). Today I learned about both their charities and we did arts and crafts. I went to Theta first and I talked to some really nice girls while making thank you cards for volunteers that support the sororitie’s cause. After that I went to A-Phi and we made bracelets for their Red Gala Ball to support woman’s cardiac care. I had so much fun at their house because I was able to talk to some women that I had already met and we formed deeper connections. Even though I was invited to two houses instead of three, it was still nice and now there are less sororities to think about. It will make deciding and ranking a little easier. Now it’s off to do homework and relax. This process is exhaustive!

Activity Day

Today was activity day for recruitment where we got into our Rho Gamma groups and went to every sorority house to talk to some of the girls and play a game. It was really fun and exciting, but really tiring at the same time. My cheeks hurt from smiling and I’m pretty sure I’m losing my voice. At the same time though, I loved every minute of it, meeting new people and getting involved. We had to rank our sorority preferences from 1-4 and I had two that I really liked so it was hard to place those in a 1, 2 order, but I think it is good that we get a preference too not just the houses. Tomorrow we go back to up to three of the houses we visited today and learn about their philanthropies. For those of you who don’t what that is, it is their charities and events the chapter does to support the charity they represent. So that should be a good day too. I have to get up earlier tomorrow though…don’t know how I feel about that!