A Better You for the New Year!

Every single year people promise a variety of things to better themselves in the New Year. This year I am going to make my goals realistic. I am going to try extremely hard to make sure I can live up to my expectations. 

1. Try my best to get to the gym every week.
I want to try and get there at least 3-4 days a week. Even if I can get there for a 30 minute cardio session, that is better than not going at all.

2. Be more confident.
I tend to be a little worried about perception, but who doesn't. This year I want to grow to be comfortable in my own skin and the person I am.

3. Give up fast food!
I am not talking about the pizza you go get at 2am after a long night out, I am talking about McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Taco Bell... etc. Although that food might be good in the moment it really isn't good for you. I tend to grab that quick on the go but nope, I am going to try the whole "self-control thing" and go without it.

4. Stress about the things that only matter.
I am always stressed about something, whether it is about perfecting a lesson plan for teaching a class or if it is someone sick in my family. I continue to work hard on anything I do and just know when it is good enough. 

5. Spend time with loved ones.
This could mean your family at home, which I always try to do. This can also mean your friends or sorority sisters at school. You do not need an event to bring you all together. Go out of the way to hangout with someone you lost touch with over the years or a sister you never got to know too well. Make your experience a great one!

6. Try to focus on the NOW!
Come Spring 2015 I am graduating. It is finally starting to set in and needless to say it is one of the most uncomfortable feelings in the world. I love where I am now, I have the best sorority sisters, friends, and I love being at Kutztown University. I do not want to graduate just yet, especially because WHERE WILL I BE IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS! I always begin to stress about where will I be? Will I be alright there? Will I love my job? How far away from my family will I be? And all of these questions will drive me insane. This is my senior year of college, and my last semester. I am going to make it count!

Student Teaching

     These past few weeks have flown by. I have a third grade classroom right outside of my town of Kutztown. These kids all have grown to be people I look forward to seeing day after day. Being on Thanksgiving break and not seeing them for five days felt beyond strange. I didn't like it at all. It is nuts to think that a little more than a month ago I did not know any one of these twenty one beautiful kids. 
      Every single one of them has a spark. This spark is for their character, their passion, their drive, and their learning ability. No, we are all not perfect, but it doesn't matter, with these kids they can be. They try so hard and push to make everything they do the best they can do. I loved working with the whole class teaching pronouns, and about holidays or working one on one trying to improve students multiplication. 
      These twenty one students help prove to myself that teaching is the job I was always supposed to do. I came into the classroom with doubts, and being unsure that I had worked three long, hard years studying something that I didn't know was for me. I learned how much of a true teacher I am. I have discipline, I have strength, I have patience, and I have lots and lots of love. I couldn't see another future for the rest of my life other than teaching. It is such a rewarding career and one I know I will look forward to for the rest of my life.

My American Holidays Text Set 

The Realization of a Senior

     

      It is around this time every year that all the sororities begin to give their new members all their lovely Bigs. Tis the season for love, smiles, laughter, and lots and lots of pictures. This past Thursday was our chapters Big/ Little reveal and all I did was cry... I smiled on the outside and started crying when it was over. 

       I became a Great Grand Big... like what? I am old, I am a senior, I am almost done with college! This is so unbelievable and I am so stunned by this fact. Today was my first official day in the classroom to something similar as Student Teaching. It is finally hitting me the fact that by this upcoming Spring I will be graduated. I will be a real professional, with a diploma, with the potential to have a real world job. 

        Recruitment, Big/Little reveal, Initiation and much more will become part of my memories. I love my sorority, I love my chapter, and I love college. I can't wait to become a teacher but becoming a real independent woman scares me to death. Until then I will just sit back, hangout with my sisters, love my GG babies and have the time of my life!

Until next time,
xoxo Brooke

 

Senior Year of Formal Recruitment

     Being a senior is a very bitter sweet time, especially right around recruitment time. Fall is our formal recruitment at my school and I am so sad that it is over. We have Meet the Sisters, Philanthropy, and Preference round all happening and then it is a blur. Preference round was when it all hit me that I am a senior and this will be my last moments as a sister and college student of Kutztown University. I couldn't help but cry when my sisters were talking about what my sorority means to them and how much our chapter has grown in the years I have been apart of it. My sorority is definitely not the same sisterhood it was when I joined, but isn't that a good thing. With every new person who joins our chapter we grow, change, and mold to the people who are now part of our amazing sisterhood. We pride ourselves with this quote a lot, "Individually unique, together complete." With my chapter of Phi Sigma Sigma, Zeta Omicron I am proud to say that none of my sisters are exactly the same but we do come together for the same purposes and strive to better ourselves through schooling and being involved.
     Bid day was amazing and we got an amazing group of twenty three beautiful women to welcome into Phi Sigma Sigma. With College Panhellenic Council we also raised our total at our school from sixty five to seventy five women. I am so excited to live this last year in college to the fullest and continue to watch this great sisterhood continue to grow and thrive. All sisterhoods have their ups and downs but it is how you work through them that make the sorority stand strong and true. Together we can have it all!
     

Why Should You Join a Sorority?

1. You get to meet a ton of great girls, who can possibly be your sisters.
2. It teaches you to work together.
3. It will allow you to break out of your shell.
4. You get involved with your campus community.
5. Gain connections with other Greeks.
6. Getting a BIG sister!
7. Formals
8. Opportunities to step up and be a leader in Greek life or PanHellenic.
9. Lifelong Friendships.
10. Home away from home. Place of belonging.
11. Emphasizing academics.
12. Teaches you to aim high in all your goals.
13. Always have someone to hangout with and grab dinner.
14. Networking, with people in Greek life and your own sorority.
15. Philanthropy involvement.
16. GREEK WEEK competitions
17. Hold officer positions.
18. Taking a LITTLE!
19. Making memories to last a lifetime!

Stacy's Got Greek

               The is a small, family owned business bases in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. They travel from school to school, all over Northeast and Southeast Pennsylvania selling sorority and fraternity shirts and various clothing items. Everything is hand made and there are a variety of great patterns. They also do group orders within the company.

               On April 23rd, 2014 Stacy's Got Greek had a Fashion Show after the trivia part of Greek Week sponsored by Kutztown University's United Greek Council. Two students were chosen from each chapter to be dressed up in items of Stacy's hand made designs. It was a success and she even donated a part of her profits that evening to the UGC's Philanthropy the Animal Rescue League of Berks County. 
                 To visit her website please click here!

Letter to the Incoming Freshman

               College is a whole lot more than I expected. I thought I was going to school for a degree but what a am receiving is a whole lot more! Freshman year I walked into a co-ed dorm with a car full of stuff. I met people who made a huge impact on me. I wouldn't trade living in a dorm room for anything because I had met so many people. I had a roommate who I didn't really know because we met online, I had a friend who I met at connections, and I had friends of friends. We had a group of people we would hangout with whenever we weren't in classes and it was great. That ended when one, two, three, four of them decided to drop out or transfer schools. It was the best and probably worst year having the highs and lows not so far apart. Those of us who stayed... well the three of us from the group remaining became distant, except for me and my roommate who are going on three years living together out of four.
                One of the best decisions I made my freshman year was going through Fall recruitment. I was beyond terrified but I walked into rooms of girls with open arms and I was so happy to find my home away from home. These are the girls I leaned on for the problems with friends, or a bad breakup with an ex boy friend. This is something I will never forget and always be apart of!
                Sophomore year of college I lived with 7 people including myself. This was one of the worst ideas I have made in college, because the amount of drama that came with living with some of my friends wasn't worth the friendships lost or broken. When you make a decision on who to live with the following year make sure you agree on stuff like when you go to bed, ideas on drinking or going out, and anything else that you know you value like shower time! When you have this many girls in an apartment, the hearsay it doesn't make for a great outcome. While we are all on speaking terms now one of my biggest regrets is not being as close to them or fully mending those wounds. 
                 Junior year I lived off campus in an apartment. I lived with my freshman roommate and a random girl. It wasn't half bad, we had our own place, kitchen, our own rooms, and our own bathroom! It went way better than any other year, I made new friends, I had a blast!
                 Senior year starts this Fall, my story hasn't been written yet. I am so excited to move in to an apartment off campus on Main Street with two of my sorority sisters. We may not have our own bathrooms or a gym right next door but we have each other and all the possibilities in the world. Lets see how this chapter ends, even though I never want it to!

How do you choose the right sorority for you?

            It is half way through summer, which means for most sorority girls it is almost recruitment time! That means fun florals, bright colors, Greek lettered shirts, and lots and lots of sister time!
            Fall of 2011 I had no clue what the hell I was getting myself into when I walking into the Student Union Building planning to go through recruitment. I talked to so many girls and forgot most of their faces. I remember the second night I walked into a room and a girl walked right up to me and asked me "Brooke, how was your day today? I am so glad you came back out!" I was astonished! Why would this awesome, fun girl remember me? There were hundreds of us, and I even forgot their names but lucky they had name tags. Finding your sorority should be the girls that you leave an impression on and that they leave one on you. Don't get me wrong the day I chose what sorority I wanted to put first on my preference card was scary... It was like deciding if you liked a guy and he liked you back. Will Phi Sigma Sigma want me to be a sister of there amazing sorority? Not going to lie and say I wouldn't have been completely devastated if they decided to pick another girl over me but the next day at bid day I was beyond pleased to be holding a Phi Sig bid!
             When going through look for a group of girls you can connect with, sometimes all that glitters is not gold. Although there may be some cool sororities with fun colors, you have to find the best sorority for YOU. They are also trying to find the best potential sisters for them! My suggestions is try to find a connection with their philanthropy, an event, mission, creed, values, some of their sisterhood events, one of the sisters... there is so many different things potential new members can do to find their home away from home.
               One final piece of advice I would give a potential new member who is going through recruitment, is to research. Research about all of the sororities you are going through especially through their national website. Also, if your friend from another school said a Zeta Zeta Zeta sorority was horrible at hazing and they are always mean doesn't necessarily mean the one at your school will be the exact same way. Just like how every class in high school club is different, doesn't mean they all act the same way and all run their meetings the same. Talk to upper class men or different faculty on campus... they usually have a pretty good perspective but do not use Greek Rank. I personally think that it is very negative outlook on the Greek community and that it is also not very accurate... I mean at all.
              But go through recruitment & walk your own path... and if you don't like it you can create a new one, with it hopefully leading to the sorority of your choice!

Welcoming to the Blogging World

Hey everyone! 
        I figured I was going to start my own blog because I love to write and I have gotten great feedback on my contributing articles I have written for different blogs, like Little Problems. 
         I am going to be a senior in the Fall at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. I am an Early Education major and a sister of Phi Sigma Sigma. I am Vice Archon of my chapter and Vice President of United Greek Council. I am one of those girls who is involved in everything, and rarely gets overwhelmed by it all. Being a busy person makes me make time for the important things in like... school, sorority and work... Did I mention sorority?
          Being a sister of Phi Sigma Sigma has taught me a lot throughout my college experience and I am dreading the day where I switch from sister to alumni. Just the thought of that HUGE switch makes me twitch. I am planning to blog about my college experience, sorority experience, and fears for the big bad world. Keep checking out my blog to see if I am going to sink or swim in the real world we call life!