Welcome to my blog! I'm glad you found your way here, and hope you stick around to see what is yet to come.
You probably want to know who I am before you commit to... follow me on this silly journey. And for that, let's start at the very beginning. (I hear thats a very good place to start).
Graduating high school in 2005, I knew the next year was going to be a big transition. I applied to a few colleges in the state of Georgia, accepted by all but one, my first choice school, UGA. I'm a pretty optimistic person, and made a plan to spend a year making myself the most attractive applicant for the next round of admissions. I registered for classes at Kennesaw State University (KSU) Fall of 2005 thinking it was my transition school. Little did I know this school would become my home, and lead me to the sisters I never knew I had.
At KSU, I declared a Theatre and Performance Studies Major. Rehearsals took up every night of my first semester in college, and I missed Formal Recruitment entirely. When I went to the Greek Life office to withdraw my name from the potential new member roster, I remember meeting two sorority girls who didn't seem like the stereotype manufactured in my mind from high school TV and movies. They were genuine, down to earth, and weren't wearing pearls (is that even legal in sorority world?). I remember thinking I liked them, whoever they were, and didn't feel the least bit intimidated by them. I felt like I had known them forever.
As soon as formal recruitment ended, I got calls and texts from the sisters of the Alpha Epsilon chapter of Delta Phi Epsilon. They invited me to dinner, walked me to class, and even took me to a mixer (which I am pretty sure I shouldn't have been at since I wasn't a sister, but that made me feel even cooler). When I was invited to informal recruitment, I was already sold. No other sorority on campus made this kind of investment in making me feel loved. Without these sisters, now alumni women, I could have never gone through informal recruitment. Who knows?! Maybe I would have waited a year, rushed Formal Recruitment style and ended up in another sorority? Oh, who am I kidding. I'm a Delta Phi til the day that I die!
After initiation, I took every opportunity to give back to this organization that pushed me to grow as a student, forward thinker, co-worker, and leader. Positions I held as an undergraduate include Social Coordinator (ran for this position at my very first chapter meeting. Talk about pressure!), Special Events Coordinator, Vice President of Recruitment, Vice President of Academic Affairs, Vice President of Membership Development, Sisterhood Coordinator, Sergeant at Arms, Standards Board Member, Alternate Member at Large. And no, I wasn't a Van Wilder. All positions were held in 4.5 years while also working up to 4 jobs at a time and maintaining my two full-ride scholarships. I worked hard to be active in the sorority, so now no one can tell me it can't be done.
Oh, I didn't stop at graduation. There are incredible opportunities for growth as an alumnae member of a sorority, and this blog will show you what I mean. Today, I serve as the Chapter Advisor for the Phi Lambda chapter of Delta Phi Epsilon at Emory University. I'm also in the process of chartering the Georgia Alumnae Association, of which I was fortunate enough to have been elected the first President. My heart is full, as is my calendar, but I'm still hungry for more.
And that was the impetus for this blog: to share my enthusiasm for alumnae life after the wonder years of the collegiate experience.
I hope you read on, share, and feel free to connect with me.
And...To all my DPhiE sisters, YITS.
- Olivia
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