Advice for a College Freshman

This past Sunday, my baby sister, moved in for her first year of college.  Before she left, I reminded her of previous stories I told her about my college experience and informed her that it truthfully was one of the greatest experienced of my life. It is my sincere hope that everyone can look back and say that.

Now, across the globe, colleges are welcoming incoming freshman.  As a freshman, or even a transfer student, it is important to make college a great experience, so here is my advice to my sister and to you.

“ These next four years will past by in a flash, before you know it, you will be like me, out for two years, looking back and remembering how great it was. That being said, the most important advice I can give you is just that, at the end of the day, only you can make college GREAT.  So go and make the next four years something worth looking back on and smiling.  Try new things, make new friends, go to class, travel abroad, learn new things and be OPENMINDED. In the wise words of Matt Nathanson “ Everyday is the start of something beautiful”, consider everyday at college as another chance to make it a great experience.  At the end of the day, look at college as a safe place for students to grow into the people they want to be. This is your chance. College is a brand new slate. You have the world open to you and there is NOTHING you cannot accomplish if you truly want it.  So go find yourself, find your passion; discover who you are and where you want to be, and have the time of your life doing it. “

It is crazy to think I graduated with my MA two years ago, but my experiences during college made it all worth it. Now, I can look back on those memories and smile, knowing that college made me a better person.  I am honored to have experienced the things I have, I only hope that you can do the same

A Letter To All New Graduates:

Hello Graduates:

Hello Graduate!! Welcome to the exciting (yet terrifying) world of adulthood. After years of schooling and preparation, you have finally made it and are now officially a college graduate with the whole world in front of you!!!

Now that you are here, please take a moment to think about all you have accomplished. Take the time to reflect on all the memories you created during college, about what you learned in your field and about yourself, consider how much you have grown and how much growing you still have time to do!!

Now that you have took a moment to look back, now use this opportunity to look forward. What is next? Some of you may have figured that out, some of you may not have, and that is okay!  This is the perfect opportunity to think about what is really important to you, what you want in life, and where you want to end up!!!

You can be anything you want to be, you can achieve whatever it is that you want to achieve. You are a college graduate, and there is nothing holding you back. So go out there, leave your mark on this world and make it a better place.

The world is your oyster, so go get them tiger!!

Sincerely,

The Sorority Girl Thought Team

"Outside" by Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding Can Be Consider a Sorority Anthem!

The other day I was driving to work, nothing unusual, and the song “Outside” by Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding started playing on z100.

So I did what I always do, I sang along.

As I was singing (badly I might add), I realized that I was starting to think about how I felt in my sorority after graduation, about leaving my chapter, at being on the “outside”, an alumni sister, not an active sister. 

While I am sure this song was most like not written to describe the feelings on recent sorority graduates, it really does describe what it is like being a new graduate of a sorority and in many ways tells you what you need to hear about it.

The main statement in the entire song, which is repeated several times, is as follows:

“I'll show you what it feels like
Now I'm on the outside
We did everything right
Now I'm on the outside "

The line “we did everything right, now I am on the outside” stands out to me because as sorority women, we made the right choice to join and participate in our chapters, now that we are moving on and we have to let the women who followed, the women we helped select and mold, take over the chapter as we watch from a safe distance. 

While it is not as dramatic as the song sounds, as alumni we are still very active in our chapters, I know I still am, it reminds up that at the end of the day that our time as a college sorority women is official behind us, and we now have to help our chapters grow and prosper outside the walls of active sisterhood.

Needless to say, now every time I hear the song I can’t help but think of being alumni in a sorority.

Take a listen and let #sgt know if you hear it too!

Five Year Reflection

It is crazy to think that five years ago this past Thursday, I  officially became a sister of Phi Sigma Sigma. It is even more amazing to think that the idea of joining a sorority didn't cross my mind until getting to Pace. Being in Phi Sig has had such an important and life changing impact on my life and to think that for years I didn't know that was what I needed is crazy.

Phi Sig has made my college experience, it shaped me into the women I am today and provided me with more opportunities and growth than I could have ever imagined.

In five years I learned the value of leadership by becoming a committee head, then the Vice President of Administration and eventually the Executive Vice President of Panhel, and finally being Phi Sig's Sisterhood Development Chair.

I also learned the value of friendship and met some of the greatest people you could ever hope to meet, women that have helped me become a better person and who have inspired me, and who still play important roles in my life. I was not only blessed with an amazing big, whose positive attitude and strength was exactly what I needed when I got her but also three amazing and beautiful Littles, three amazing grandlittles, and one incredible great-grandlittle.

In addition to my beautiful linage, I was lucky enough to be pledge mom to the best eight kids a pledge mom could hope for. Beyond that I have met some of my best friends, women who I will stand beside at their weddings and they will stand beside me at mine.

Overall, each sister I have made I have became a richer person for each and every one of them (no exaggeration) has been able to teach me something and has had and important role in my life. Beyond the pearly gates of Phi Sig being in Greek life has made way for some other great friendships beyond the letter, friendships fostered by the common understanding of what it is like to be "Greek".

Perhaps most surprising is what I learned about myself. I learned what I am capable of and how I work with others. I learned who and I am and what things I value.

Overall the five years I have spent as a sister of this amazing organization has proven to be one of the best decisions I have ever made and I am beyond grateful. I hope that those of you who read this can look back at the time spent in your chapter and remember how it changed you because before you know it you will be staring back five years later and hopefully realizing why joining your chapter was one of the greatest experiences of your life!