Going WEST!

Flights today: 2
Travel time: approx. 12 hours
Travel path: Raleigh Durham, NC to Pittsburgh, PA to St. Louis, MO to Columbia, MO
Baggage fees: $50 today, to date $100
Baggage weight: 66 lbs, (down from 72 last time!)

Today I will go west of the mighty Mississippi, how exciting is today!

Yesterday I finished up with Delta Theta and had our chapter retreat. 9 women came out of 30, but I have to be understanding since it is Labor Day weekend and alot of families have traditions planned. I think it went really well. I got all arts and crafty and painted a wishing well poster with the chapter Secretary, I think they really liked it.

I'm excited to find out what is going on in Mizzou, it seems like alot!

Fried Pickle Chips and more of NC

Have you ever heard of fried pickle chips? Pickle chips that you would put on a hamburger, but fried and served with a chipotle mayonnaise type of sauce. The restaurant served them as an appetizer. It was surprisingly delicious.

Preference was amazing, and it was great to be able to see what Sisterhood meant the women at East Carolina University, their stories were heartfelt and touched me just like I'm sure it touched the Potential New Members. Made me miss my chapter sisters, and remember how much has changed since the day I accepted my bid. How much Sigma has given to me, the opportunities and the life long friendships.

The next day, Sunday was Bid Day. Never in my life have I heard that much excitement, not even at a cheerleading competition!! All 9 Panhellenic sororities went into an auditorium on campus an while the Potential New Members filed in, ready to chose which organization they want to become a part of, we sang the Greek Alphabet song. Then each Panhellenic Recruitment counselor revealed which organization they were apart of and each Potential New Member walked across the stage and basically jumped off stage into a group of their soon to be sisters. Each organization got SO excited every time that a new member chose them. It was great! Everyone organization had a different t-shirt, it was like color wars, and there were even signs so that the Potential New Members could recognize the crowd. I loved it! I wish I had been a part of something like that.

After being on campus in the auditorium each group walked back to their house. There was a photographer waiting on the front lawn waiting to take pictures of the New Members with the rest of the chapter. I had never seen a photographer come on campus to capture anything except for composite pictures, but what a great way to remember the day that you accepted your bid and exactly what the chapter looked like at the moment that you joined.

There was pizza and cake for everyone and it seems that after everyone left the house plans were made to go to a near by apartment complex that many of the sister live in to go lounge by the pool. This is when I got busy packing and making sure I had left Maggie's room in good condition.

Maggie and Kesiah drove me about an hour to meet Jessica, the next Chapter President. Jessica and Jordan came to pick me up and take me to my next school. It was a very full Sunday for me! After having Bid day and a lunch with the chapter, I traveled and then had a dinner with the chapter officers and advisors , and then a chapter meeting!

When I got on campus I got to see the guest house that I was staying in, it is so awesome. I literally have an entire house to myself, 2 bedrooms, 2 bath, living room, dining room, office and kitchen! Most comfortable bed I have slept in since the hotel in Indianapolis! Jessica and I also went grocery shopping on Sunday night so it was great to be a little more in control of my food intake. I was craving baby carrots, cereal and diet coke, its still my only vice!

This week seems a little less busy since Recruitment is not going on here, I will be meeting with more chairpersons, so, it feels like this is more what a "normal" visit will look like for the rest of the year.

Lunch Date with Laura Sweet

So, today I had my meeting with the Greek Advisor, Maggie very nicely the day before had shown me where to go, by the way, this camps has a bowling alley in their Student Center! I couldn't believe it! I had my meeting with the Greek Advisor and Panhellenic advisor, and then Greek Advisor asked me if I had seen Laura Sweet, our National President since she works on campus, and I said that I had met her in Indianapolis at a conference. So, he suggested that at the end of our meeting we stop by her office.

So, we did! And Laura greeted me with a hug, invited me to sit down down and asked me to lunch! I had planned on eating lunch at the house but she invited me to go out with her. So of course I could not say no! We went into town a little bit, there seem to be alot of cute restaurants and shops. We talked a little bit about Indianapolis, apparently the toast the the Leadership Consultants gave to the guests at dinner went over really well, Laura is still hearing about it. We also talked about our colonization going on at University of Missouri-Mizzou, she will actually be traveling there the same time I will be! She dropped me off at the chapter house, it was so unexpected and made today really great, how many days in your life do you get to have a private lunch with Laura Sweet!

Today is Philanthropy day, and is being held in the Chapter House. At this round there is food, delicious looking brownies, cheese cubes, vegetables and dip. There are also coloring books to put together for the Sigma Serves Children initiative for the Sigma Sigma Sigma Foundation, it supports play therapy programs for terminally ill children. After today the coloring books that were created will be sent to a local children's hospital.

Tomorrow if Preference. I'm really excited to attend this ceremony and see how this chapter performs it. This is when many Potential New Members make their decision about which sorority they would like to belong to. Some members will give speeches about what the organization means to them or how it helped them through a hard time, I was warned that there may be crying both from sisters and PNMs.

A glimpse at "Formal Recruitment"

Coming from a school were the Panhellenic sororities merely just got together in one room early in the fall and introduced themselves to all of the women who were interested in joining, this is a completely different, magical, decorated, spirited, world and a long long way from North Jersey. Yesterday was the beginning of formal recruitment where 9 sororities set up ballrooms in the local Hilton hotel and Potential New Members (people interested in joining a sorority) came over from the campus in buses to meet everyone and see what its all about.

Preparations for Open House day begin long before, ordering matching t-shirts, coordinating that everyone will be wearing the same t-shirt (turquoise with black and white polka dot letters) with black shorts, black wedge heels and silver jewelry. During the Open House everyone will also be wearing a name tag shaped like a sailboat. In the room were posters with photos, Carrie Underwood poster, picture frames, wooden knick nacs with Sigma letters or a sailboat, filling tables. It was amazing, like nothing I had ever seen before.

Today is Open House day. Preparations were taken last night to make sure that every ones things were unpacked, that the rooms looked lived in even though it is before classes start and that the rooms are presentable with Sigma insignia incorporated into each room (something purple, or a sailboat, or with letters, or pictures). Today everyone looks stunning in a blue strapless dress with tan heels (wedges were preferred) and gold jewelry.

All of this reminds me of a Broadway show, everything is exact, they have costume requirements, entrances, and who they are they are supposed to speak with, its amazing how much organization and planning go into these few days to make it look seamless. Its great to watch from the outside to see how everything is coming together, and surprising that more sorority women dont own event planning firms after their experience with recruitment!

Arriving in NC

This morning began bright and early, leaving the MLW house (sniff, sniff) then Celinda, Tiffany and I hopped into a mini and drove to the airport. It was during the car ride when Tiffany and I discovered that we were actually on the same flight to Charlotte and then both had different connecting flights, so it was nice to have someone to go through security with and wait at the gate. When checking in I discovered that my bag weighed, 72 pounds! And that I was going to be charged $50 for it being "overweight". It has my whole life in it... for the next year!

It was interesting waiting for the flight to take off, just noticing what was around and not really knowing what to expect. I originally had about an hour layover in Charlotte, but since my first flight was delayed I wasn't really sure I was going to make it. My second flight was supposed to leave at 1:00pm and the first flight pulled into the gate at exactly 12:54, I had 6 minuets to save my travel plans! I waited for my carry on to come out from under the plan and made a mad dash to the gate I was departing out of. Apparently my second flight had been delayed by about 15 minuets, thank God! The plane was boarding as I ran up and asked desperately "is this going to Greensville?" So I made it... but my luggage did not. Last night when packing I was most worried about where all my stuff was going to go and didn't really think about taking particularly heavy things into my carry on, or obviously, what would happen if my luggage did not arrive when I did! In my carry on I have one extra outfit... and work items, thats about it. As of right now, it has apparently gotten to the airport and is on its way over! I just didn't think about packing extra contacts case, or bringing my makeup and little things that would make my life while waiting for the baggage so much easier. I'm sure I will never pack like this again!

I took a small tour of ECU and it seems really great. I'm in a sorority house! whoo!! I'm actually staying in the presidents room, its great to be able to see what really goes on and not just imagine, I so wish I had a chapter house. Recruitment preparations are in full swing, the first rounds will be held tomorrow in a hotel! Its going to be so much different that anything I am used to seeing, I'm excited.

Really getting ready to leave MLW

It feels like I have been at MLW house all summer, and that I'm finally getting used to how things work and its time to leave! Today will be filled with running around getting ready for the road, last minuet items from Wal-mart, to the bank to get quarters for laundry and things like that. This past week has flown. Mostly communicating with chapters to make sure everything is going well and as a group creating materials that we will need on the road.

There is so much unknown about the road. I never really took alot of family vacations but I'm guessing you always had a really good itinerary. I just know that I will be going to a campus, having a few meetings, but thats all I know for sure. Can you really prepare for the semi-known things? Part of me still cant believe that I am really here at this point, done with training and ready to go! How can that be possible? ha ha! During my first visit they are in full on recruitment mode, the second day that I am there will be their open house round, happening at a hotel ballroom because I think there is no facility on campus that can hold that many people. Its going to be like nothing I have ever seen before, hopefully it will prepare me for meeting hundreds of people at Mizzou, I will be there recruiting and doing interviews in a few weeks.

I feel bad that I havent really reached to all the people that I care about I've been so caught up in getting work done and trying to "get ready" for the read if that is even possible that I have not been as good a friend as I would have liked to. I hope that it gets easier and not harder while I'm on the road. It seems that people have received the sorority's magazine The Triangle this week. In the most recent issue there was a profile of all of the LCs with pictures, and I got quiet a few texts that said something like "ahh! you're in the triangle! thats so cool" I think its cool too! : )

Its almost time...

This week was a lot of training and information and the real beginning. Emails were sent out to chapters, and preparations were under way. Friday was our post training test to make sure that we knew everything that we are supposed to know and after wards the staff had a "graduation" ceremony for us, it was so sweet. They had each of us walk down the stairs of MLW House and called our names one at at time. They decorated the dining room with balloons and gave us congratulations cards, it was perfect and a great surprise and way to end the week.

We knew that a bbq was planned but we didnt know that it was in our honor for graduating! It was great. For part of the bbq Tiffany and I walked around MLW house to look at the bricks that line the walk way. I didnt know but you can buy a brick and have it engraved. There are bricks for the founders, for alumnae chapters, collegiate chapters and even some in memory or honoring an individual. Well... for my chapter there is only one brick! And it is from the founding president of my chapter Terri and her sister Michelle who was an alumna initiate. She did great things not only for my chapter but also for the organization, and she is humble too when I asked her about her experience in the sorority she neglected to tell me that she was director of our networking program for 5 years and also our merchandising director. You go girlfriend.

Today was a day off after a long week. We went out as a group and drove around a little bit, there were a ton of yard sales in and around Woodstock today. We went to a pizza place, Brothers Pizza, not as great as Jersey pizza but pretty good. Then we decided to pamper ourselves and get pedicures, it was amazing to sit back in a massage chair and have my toes magically transform to "Its berry daring" pink.

I cant believe its only been a few weeks here and in a few days I will be leaving for NC : ) very exciting.

Hello America, here I come!

I got my schedule!! I officially know where I will be going for the next year, very very exciting stuff! I will be in NC, MN, PA, VA, NJ, RI, MO, KY, LA, WI and KS! I will be all over the place!

My week in Indy was great, it started with Risk Management on the Road workshop, where I met many other Panhellenic consultants, after that in the middle of the week was NPower, all about how to create effective workshops. There were some of the same consultants as RMOTR, and some new ones. It was great to network, see which of us were going to the same colleges at the same time, know that there are other people out there who are going through the same thing that I am.

The highlight of the week though, was meeting national officers and advisers at Phired Up, a conference based on the book I Heart Recruitment. I think I was the most excited of all of the consultants, I could not hide my facial expressions and always got wide eyed whenever it came up that we were going to meet them! I got to meet our national president, collegiate vice president, alumnae vice president, it was amazing. And it was also my birthday on Friday : ) I was showered with text messages, voice mails and face book messages. Our National Pres and Colligate VP signed a copy of our history book and I was presented with it as a birthday present it was amazing!!! We also got to explore downtown Indianapolis, do a little shopping, where I may have purchased a birthday present to myself, I couldn't resist!

Now, we are back at Walton house enjoying a Sunday to ourselves before the work begins again tomorrow.