National Convention

Day Two

    The philanthropy luncheon was by far the best part of the convention for me. We recently partnered with a new philanthropy, Girls on the Run. The founder of the organization, Molly Barker, came to speak to us and share her story. Her story was very heartfelt and inspirational. Most of the room was left in tears when her speech concluded (I will be posting the video later hopefully). Girls on the Run was started to help young girls build confidence in themselves and show them that they can overcome obstacles to obtain their goals by training together to run a 5K. From the stories we have heard from both volunteers and girl participants, it seems like it truly works. I want to become involved in this after I finish my year as a leadership consultant because I know that as a young girl, even as a young woman, being confident is something I have struggled with. I want other girls to have the resources to overcome their feelings of insecurity and doubt and realize they are capable of greatness. Visit their website: www.girlsontherun.org
    This was also the day we had free time in the evening, so the other leadership consultants and I decided to hit up the beach and a local seafood restaurant. We ate at a restaurant called Tautog's. It was phenomenal! I recommend it to everyone who goes to Virginia Beach. We were accompanied by many volunteers and basically filled half of the restaurant! It was nice to relax and enjoy ourselves.

Day Three

    Today was the day we celebrated the volunteers and their dedication to the organization. I was rewarding to hear the stories of volunteers who have stayed committed for many years. The Red Tie Dinner was a success! I hope that all of the volunteers know that we all appreciate their help!

    We also had the pool party that night. It was awesome to hang out with my chapter sisters for a while. I truly miss my sisters from home! I have never felt like such a celebrity :) . Everyone wanted a picture with me! It was quite the confidence booster! I loved meeting new women and becoming close with them, but I will never forget the support and love that my Eta Eta sisters showed me during my collegiate years. I would have never found the courage to apply for this job and put myself out there if it wasn't for them. I was so happy to converse with them and just catch up like old times. I can't wait until I can see them again in October! I was happy to see Brenda and Andrea as well, two of our chapter advisers. Brenda has shown me what it means to be strong and stand your ground. Andrea has shown me how to stay involved and care. I do miss Sharese too! She showed me how to have spunk :) . The desserts at the pool party were also delicious!

Kirby and I at the pool party

My chapter advisers and my sisters from college with Dot in her bikini :)

National Convention

    I almost don't know where to begin because National Convention was such a crazy week! For those of you who are not aware of what National Convention is, it is a large gathering of collegian and alumnae members of Alpha Sigma Alpha where we make changes to our national bylaws, have educational programs, raise money for philanthropies, and just hang out and get to know one another! The whole week was full of wonderful experiences and meeting wonderful women. I hope to attend every convention after this one until I am 100 years old!

Day One

   The night before we were allowed to meet all of National Council, the Foundation Board of Trustees, and the Convention Committee to pick their brains and hear amazing stories about their own personal experiences. I can only hope that someday I will be able to volunteer my time to Alpha Sigma Alpha and make such a difference in women's lives as these intelligent women have.
   The actual first day of Convention was exciting and "action packed". The other consultants and I started our morning off at 7 AM with a photo shoot! It was a lot of fun; I felt like a model :) Unfortunately it was very muggy out and even started raining during the shoot. Every one's hair slowly began to poof as the day continued on. We did the photo shoot until 12 PM. I was a long morning but it was a lot of fun! Here are some of the lovely pictures we took:

Apparently my face looks really funny in this one...

This is my favorite one

    I didn't add the one of us jumping outside in front of a brick wall, but it was quite hilarious because I was standing right under a drip from the rain and large amounts of water were falling right on my forehead as he was taking the picture.

    Many volunteers and staff members were able to attend pre-conference workshops. We were blessed in being able to attend the workshop for the volunteers at different levels. A wonderful speaker, Ginny Carroll, ran the workshop and really opened my eyes to the generational differences. It was very interesting hearing how other generations view my generation, which I am considered a millennial, and how my views about their generations had changed. I always assumed that older generations didn't understand my generation, without thinking that I should take the time to understand their generation. I never thought that older generations don't appreciate the communication that I appreciate. I prefer communicating through technology, while they appreciate a phone call or a handwritten letter. I am very glad that I was able to learn from this experience. There were moments when my feelings were a little hurt because older generations do view my generation as lazy or that we feel entitled, but I can't blame them. Many of their accusations were correct. But I hope someday to prove that my generation is going to be the generation to change the world (words of Ginny Carroll). I truly hope she is right, as long as the change is for the better.

  After opening remarks had been made and the Convention was officially in motion, we were able to attend a tea party! Everyone looked adorable in their dresses and tea time hats!

The consultants with Dot the Ladybug in her tea party outfit

Week One

Time in the Office

    The first week of work was fantastic, but definitely a little bit of an information overload. We each got our own desks and are able to decorate them the way we want (so if you want to send pictures or notes :] ). We were assigned our own laptops to take with us on the road, and we jumped into learning policies the very first day! We also spent a lot of time preparing for National Convention, which was in Virginia Beach. We spent hours stuffing packets for attendees and getting their registrations bags ready. We had Wednesday off for the Fourth of July and attended a BBQ at the Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity headquarters. The leadership consultants from that fraternity were in attendance, so we were able to chat with them about their college experiences and what they are looking forward to on the road. One of them is actually from Kansas too! Thursday was back to work! Friday was spent the day loading up the truck that was taking everything to Virginia Beach for the National Convention. Of course that had to be a super hot day! We were all exhausted afterwards, but excited for Convention!

Hanging with the Girls

    On Friday we were all exhausted and headed home. We felt very lame, but it was nice to relax and go to bed early. The next morning we woke up early for breakfast and then went on a wild goose chase to find everyone's bank. It was quite interesting! We drove around town following our GPS and Google Map findings of Jenn's bank, only to find that her bank isn't in Indiana! After finally coming to this realization we headed to downtown Indianapolis to hit the mall and meet up with two other staff members, Shannon and Rachel. Shannon is in charge of the Alpha Sigma Alpha Foundation, which is a foundation tied with the sorority that raises funds to put on leadership workshops for collegian members and give scholarships to sorority women. Rachel is our Alumnae and Volunteer Coordinator. She keeps alumnae records up to date and helps volunteers to help collegian members. The mall was amazing! I wish we had malls like this in Kansas! We had a great time shopping for blazers and white shoes for Convention. It was very nice to have a day out with the girls and get to know Suzanne, Jenn, Stephanie, and Melissa better.
    I will admit that before I arrived in Indianapolis I was so worried about how the other Leadership Consultants and I would mesh. I am a more reserved person and I was afraid it was going to take us a long time to bond. Lucky for me, I was wrong! Jenn and Melissa are "chatty Cathys." This was great for me because they would start conversation about anything and everything. They could talk for hours if you let them :) . Jenn is the nicest woman I have ever met. She has a strong faith and is so humble, even though she deserves credit and praise for all of the wonderful things she has done. Melissa has a great sense of humor and she is extremely intelligent. She has great common sense and seems to be able to deal with life situations with ease. Stephanie and Suzanna are a little more reserved but still amazing women (I will talk more about them next blog). I love hanging out with all of them. I have a good feeling that we are going to stay friends for a long time.

Other Thoughts...

    I will admit that time has flown by, but I still have had my moments of missing home and missing my friends and family. I think the hardest thing for me so far has been the thought that I am missing out on my sister starting her first year in middle school. I always wanted to be that older sister who took my sister shopping for back-to-school clothes, was there to talk about problems with friends and the boys she likes. I know that I will only be away for one year, and we can always talk on the phone, but it's just not the same. I hope she understands that I wish I could be there more than anything, but that this job is also very important to me. I have even missed my two troublesome brothers while here :) .

Just some questions I have been pondering on:

-What do I want to do after I have completed my year as a Leadership Consultant?
-Why has God given us the roles in life and put us through the difficult situations we have experienced? What were we meant to learn from these things?

 

Suzanne, Stephanie, Me, Jenn and Melissa in front of Alpha Sigma Alpha National Headquarters before we began packing

 

What is my job?

Job Description

    This year I have been very blessed to be given the position of Leadership Consultant for my sorority, Alpha Sigma Alpha. Many of you are probably wondering what this position consists of, so I thought in my first post I would explain what I will be doing while on the road. I was one of 6 chosen from applications around the nation. We are a smaller organization but still consist of 86 chapters around the country. We are also looking to expand and adding 2 new chapters this year, those are called colonies. In my position I will be sent to the colonies to help teach these new women about Alpha Sigma Alpha and the national Greek council, Panhellenic. They will learn our rules and about our rituals, core values, standards, and recruitment expectations. I will also be traveling to college campuses with chapters that are over a year old, but are having problems and need help to get back on track. Other chapters that I will visit are a year old or younger, and therefore just need a check up to make sure that things are going smoothly. I will submit reports to our National Headquarters after each visit and travel every weekend to a new location, or possibly return to a chapter I was previously visiting to work on some new items.

New Experiences

   I have the great opportunity to meet intelligent and accomplished alumnae who volunteer for the organization, along with bright and energetic collegians who are still active members in the sorority. I am very excited to "see the world" (or the states) and learn more about myself along the way. There have been many great women before me who have had this position and they have continued on as very active volunteers who continue to make a difference in the organization. I can only hope to be as inspirational as they have all been. I am honored to represent my sorority and I hope to do the best job that I can. Everyone wish me luck!

Me, Stephanie, Jenn, and Melissa (Suzanne had to go to a wedding) This is the four of us at our National Convention in Virginia Beach during our Awards banquet