Last Day in the Office

    It is our last day in the office and we are all excited to start our journey on the road, but sad to leave each other for such a long time. We are all told to trust our training and believe in ourselves because we are smart, young women who are capable on taking on all of life's challenges. Well, I choose to believe it! I couldn't believe how quickly I bonded with these five amazing women. They are all so intelligent and all have amazing talents. Each woman has taught me something different and I hope to carry those lessons with me on the road. I know we will stay friends for many years, and I couldn't be more excited!

We wore all black to "mourn" our last day together until November.

Sisterhood

    I have been reading the posts on Facebook from my chapter sisters, about their sisterhood and excitement during recruitment. It has brightened my week to hear all of those wonderful things from them! It does make me miss my chapter and wish I could see their bright, beautiful faces, but I have also accepted that I have started a new journey. I will always have their sisterhood and love to support me in my travels and what life has to throw at me. I am such a proud alumna and I hope they continue to stay strong in their sisterhood and remember what the sorority is all about!

See you in October!

Headquarters BBQ

    After FEA Field Staff it was back to work! We started back to office with training, but on Tuesday we held a BBQ for all of the consultants in the Indianapolis area. It was a hit! We had over 100 people attend. It was awesome to get to show off our beautiful headquarters and socialize with the consultants a little more. We even got to meet some consultants who were unable to attend the FEA Field Staff conference. We still didn't have our schedules, but we were able to discuss where the others were visiting. I even got to talk to and Alpha Gamma Delta who is visiting Pittsburg State University! I told her she needs to make sure to hit up the Mall Deli! It is cool to hear who is visiting your college. It was definitely a fun end to July, and a great way to build more relationships.

New Consultant

  And how could I forget our new addition, Jordan! She is a Texas girl who attended school in Arkansas. She has been the perfect piece to our puzzle. She definitely has that southern sass, and has dealt with being thrown into the mix with such poise. And she is my new roomie! Jordan will be working with our colony at Boise State University. She is going to do amazing! (Jordan is the one in the white sweater on the far left)

FEA Field Staff

    FEA Field Staff is a conference put together for leadership consultants from different greek organizations. There were leadership consultants from different fraternities and sororites; some travel all the way from the southern states to attend this conference. There were over 250 consultants present! It was a great way to network and introduce ourselves to other consultants that will be traveling to the same colleges that we are traveling too, and just make new friends in general. We got to listen to some fantastic speakers during the three day conference and to attend some helpful workshops.

Favorites

    Some of my favorite parts of FEA were:

• Learning about social excellence and how to facilitate deep conversations with strangers. Practice makes perfect! I have always know that I am a shy individual and that talking to strangers makes me uncomfortable, but I was able to step outside of my comfort zone a bit and talk to people and get to know them on a different level. I will still need to continue to work on this skill, but I can do it!
• Learning about cliques and bullying. Everyone assumes cliques are bad, but that isn't necessarily true. We develop cliques because we want to surround ourselves with people we are comfortable with, and that is OK. Cliques become harmful when they start to bully.
• Learning the importance of remember someones name and connecting with them. I never thought how important it is to remember someones name. I know that when someone remembers my name that I feel important to them, but I have never thought that others would feel the same. That should have been obvious to me! I now focus on learning names.
• Becoming friends with the Alpha Sigma Tau women. They are amazing women and we were able to create some great bonds while at FEA. We have continued to hang out after FEA and stay in contact!

    I just highlighted my favorite parts of the FEA Field Staff conference. I could spend days talking about all of the information I learned, so I thought I would shorten my entry to just my favorite parts. And it didn't hurt to be surrounded by cute fraternity men :)

Risk Management on the Road

    We were able to attend a conference called Risk Management on the Road this past month. We had some amazing speakers come to talk to us about our upcoming travels and the trails we will encounter. All of the speakers had great messages to share, but there was one that really resonated with me.

Real Beauty

    A woman from Chicago, named Stacey Nadeau, came to share life changing experience with us and remind us that women coming an all shapes and sizes and that is perfectly OK. While Stacey was in college she was scouted to be a model. She thought that was impossible since she is a size 10 and had curvy legs. She decided to go to the model auditions anyways. It turns out, she was being scouted for Dove's "Real Beauty" campaign. This campaign was to change advertising and photo editing forever. They wanted to use women of all shapes, sizes, ages, and ethnicity without editing their images to distort their bodies or faces. This was something that was unheard of in the advertising world, but Stacey was about to be a part of a major change.
   She appeared on TV shows, such as Oprah and the Today Show. They were interviewed and ridiculed, but all of them truly believed in what they were doing. They were changing the image of beauty. They were getting people to talk about what beauty really is and how the media gives women these unrealistic expectations that even movie stars cannot live up to. I wanted to share her message with everyone!
   What Stacey was saying, about insecurity and unrealistic expectations, was something that really hit home for me. I have always felt insecure about my body and have constantly ridiculed myself for not being "perfect". After listening to her speak, I realized it isn't about looking like the women in the magazines or on the billboards, it is about being happy and healthy. It is about eating right and exercising, but understanding that I can enjoy some ice cream every once in a while and not feel guilty. I need to stop "fat talk" and stand to accept who I am. I think that is something that every woman, young and old, should know. That losing that ten pounds to be a size 0 isn't going to make us happy. Another thing is that women need to stop judging each other. We need to help one another in changing the image of beauty to something more realistic. If we judge one another, and expect for women around us to look like models, we will never make change.
   I hope Stacey's message is spread and the Dove campaign continues to be successful in their movement for change. I think every campus should hear her speak! For more information about Stacey and her journey you can follow her on Facebook, Twitter or visit her website: www.staceynadeau.com

Stacey is the woman on the far right. This is the picture that started it all!

National Convention

Day Four

    It is amazing how the sorority is something that women care about for the rest of their lives. During our awards dinner that night, I was able to hear stories of women who have become successful because of the support of their sorority sisters and who were able to over come major obstacles in their lives because the sorority gave them the support and life skills to over come it. I am so proud to say that I am a member of this accepting, generous, and fun organization. I couldn't have picked a better bunch! At the awards banquet, my collegian chapter was awarded the Crown of Excellence Award. I could not be more proud of my chapter sisters and the volunteers that helped them to grow into the wonderful women and chapter that they are today. I know that everyone worked very hard and that my chapter was very blessed! I had a wonderful time while I was there, and I hope the women to follow will love being a part of it as much as I did. After the Convention concluded we packed up and awoke early the next morning to begin our long drive back to Indianapolis. It was an amazing week filled with learning and sisterhood that I am so happy I got to experience!

Dede and Jean: both past national council volunteers and two of the oldest attendees of National Convention. They have been friends for the past 65 years and have attended every National Convention and local sorority event since becoming friends. That is amazing!

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