The end is in sight!!!

This class has really taken me by suprise. The first week I absolutely hated the content and thought it had nothing to do with the reason why I was taking the class. As the weeks progressed I began to make the links to the SFL community. The class gave me insight on many things with in the SFL community that I do not think I would have been exposed to if it was not for being a recruitment guide.

I personaly thought it was cool to take the Strengths assessment. I love things like that! It really showed me things about myself that I normally would have just  over looked. I thought that Claire sending out everyone's strengths was great. It was awesome to see how many different strengths people had and how they were all inter-related. Through out the class I also learned alot about social change. I never really thought change could be that complicated. I thought it was simple...Someone has a new idea....Get people to go along with the change...and BOOM change! ...Not that easy. Throught the social change model, I really learned how to falicate change and make it happen. It showed me how to make goals into reality. And as I am graduating in the spring, the change model can really be applied to other aspects of my life outside of the SFL community. I think it has been a usefully tool that I can have in my bag of tricks for the real world!

I really feel that I have not learned alot about my role as a recruitment guide. I still feel kind of in the dark about somethings, for example, what I am going to be doing each round at the houses..ect. I understand that most of those details can't be talked about because we dont have all the legistics figured out. I honeslty feel that this class has not prepared me for being a recruitment guide aside from the two classes we talked about PNM situations. I would have liked to have seen the course tie more into being a recuritment guide. Maybe Im just not seeing the big picture or something but yea I really can't make the connection to being a recruitment guide aside from going greek for these PNM's is a change and we talked about the social change model

I feel that I can show my sisters within my chapter how to better faliciate change and make it happen. I know through personal experience within the three years I have been in  my chapter we have made leaps and bounds. We have done a total 180 from where we were when I joined. I found it cool to reflect back on changes that were made in my chapter and see if I could apply the things we learned about in class. For example, one change that was made was moving away from the fine system(where you get fined for not attending events) and moving to the points system. I know that it was a big struggle at first and was met with alot of opposition but once the change was made, everyone went along with it. I honestly think it has been a great move for my chapter and I feel that it has increased our retention rates.

Like I mentioned earlier this class gave me access to information about the SFL community that I would not have had access to. Through out this class it has been fun and awesome to see how close our group of 30 something women from different chapters can all work together and become like our own little sorority. I really have enjoyed meeting all of my classmates and loved getting to know them. I love walking down 15th or through the wexner center and seeing everyone. I think that our PHA fleeces make us standout more :) I loved to find out that I am not the only one who has some concerns with things within our community. The day we shared our changes we wanted to see was great! I thought it was interesting to see that many of us had the same concerns. Hopefully with the skills we have learned with this class we can falicilate those changes and make our community even stronger that it is!

As this quarter wraps up and we all kind of go our separate ways, I think that this experience in this class and being a recruitment guide has only made me fall in love with the Greek Community all over again. You know what I am talking about...right after you join and you get your first t-shirt with letters on it  or go to your first TG....This class has only validated my decsion to go greek was one of the best things I have done at Ohio State.


I just wanted to say: Thanks everyone for your hard work..I know that we are going to do great things come formal recruitment !!! Have a wonderful break :)

Change change and more change!!

I think that it is interesting that I am asking myself if I am capable of making changes. The word changes sounds so BIG and SCARY but when you think about it, its something we all do almost everyday. So it is obvious that we, any and everyone are capable of making changes. I feel that sometimes its hard to see the  positive impact a change can have.
Its evident that we, as recruitment guides can play a big role in the change process for a PNM's life. We are some of the first impresssions the women get about the SFL community. It has been awesome to see our group grow and become like our own little sorority. I know for me personally I was nervous about meeting everyone and was wondering how we would all work together, or would we get along..ect.. Seeing how we are now all friends and the begning of our class is filled with our chit chat about our weekends and how our days are is awesome. By having our recruitmentment guide community grow so close over the course of the class, I know that we,all of us can now show a united front to the PNM's during recruitment. I also feel that with our ability to work together and the skills we will learn working with PNM's we will be able to take the social change model to our chapters and hopefully work to make improvements within our chapters. In addition, The skills that we have learned, we can better use them to build better realtions within the Sorority community and make positive changes to better Greek life as a whole. :)

I also think this is funny that we are all talking about change and how we can make changes when we are all in organizations that change quarterly(new members), and yearly(new exc. boards). I guess that change is something we deal with regularly


Bottomline: Change is not easy and is unevidatable.

My Life is a Mutal Selection Process!!!

So I am graduating in the Spring with my degree in Dietetics!!!(I am actually very sad to leave OSU and see all my friends go our separte ways ) After I graduate I have to do a 9-12 month internship in order to take the boards to become a registered dietetian. And if you don't get an internship, you can not take the board test :(..... Part of the internship process is ranking where you want to go and having the internship rank you high on their list....starting to sound familiar? So I am applying and visiting all of these places I would like to go for internships. Its all about the things I've done, the jobs I've had, the letters of reccommendations, ect ...  Aka INTERNSHIPS ARE TAKING OVER MY LIFE!!!!!!!!!  Anyways, I was in Baltimore this past week visting two internships I would love to go to when it hit me while I was sitting in the airport! This whole internship matching process is just like sorority recruitment...you try and go and visit these internships (like house tour round), then you submit your application(kind of like  the ICS creapy profiles we get of PNMS), maybe get an interview(Preference Round) then you wait.......unitl April for match day(BID DAY?)...I just find it kind of ironic that I could relate such an important life changing event to Greek Life...I guess they weren't kidding when they said that its sticks with you for a life time! :)

Strengths!!!

I am really bummed about missing class this past week :(...I missed not seeing everyone , but here goes...


I really loved taking the personality quiz this past week. I really felt that it hit my personality on the head.  It said that I was a communicater, woo, harmony, an includer, and I have discapline. I feel like they totally matched my personality to a tee!
As a communicater the strengths assessment said that I am a very good public speaker and good at planning events. It also said that I use metaphors and am good a getting peoples attention and keeping it. Its funny because all my friends say that I have all of these good one-liner comparisons. I also found the part about planning events ironic because I was my chapters internal social chair for a couple of quarters. I totally agree that communication is one of my better strengths.I feel that as we started to talk about recruitment senarios, this is one thing that I am going to use alot during the recruitment process. I feel that if I am able to explain things well, like each round, to the new women, hopefully it will help them choose a house easier and make the process less stressful for them.
I also think that through the recruitment process, my woo-skills will be put the test. Using my ability to learn people's name is a big componnent in making them feel comfortable. Its funny because all my friends joke that I am the friend that they can never let stray far from the group because I am always striking up a converstation with someone. This trait I feel with my includer skills, will be invaluable during the recruitment process. By remembering all of my grirls' names, it will hopefully make them feel at home and at ease with the recruitment process. With the woo-skill and the includer skills, all of senarios we talked about in class can help the PNM's feel included. My personal experience with the woo-skill is when I went through informal recruitment in the spring of my freshman year. I wanted to meet new people and I had no problem going to check out the sororities on my own.
I really feel that these are my three strongests personality traits that have made me the person I am. Through my pervious experience in my chapter on our invitations committe where I met multiple girls each round and not knowing what to expect walking into different chapters for COBS, I feel that I will be able to help my PNMs through formal.

MONKEYS!!!! :)

When I started to read this chapter of the book, the monkey story really stuck out at me! I can totally relate to the "monkeys on your back" concept/story they used to describe responsibilities within a group. Here at Ohio State, I am a part of may groups for example my sorority, my recruitment guide group, and my classes that I am taking this quarter.

Ill start first with my chapter. Lately I feel like there are lot of monkeys that I need to take care of. The first reason is that we just got a bunch of new girls and I feel terrible that I was not there to meet them and be there on their bid day. I am trying to make a conerted effort to make a personal connection and get to know them as best I can. I really feel bad that I don't really no much about them.I do not hold a specific position,other than being a recruitment guide for my chapter. I feel like more of the monkey is falling my my back now that I am disaffiliated with my chapter. For example, I need to make more time to go ove to our chapter house and hang out with the girls rather than just texting them or meeting them out for the night. I am honestly only at my chapter house for chapter on Monday nights. I really need to work on being there more for my sisters

Next up recruitment guide group! I really dont feel like there are very many monkeys that have come along with this new job I hold. I feel like they have shift from chapter responsibilites to PHA/ rho gam responsibilites. Instead of having to attend things on my chapters behalf, I am doing on behalf of PHA. The work that has been required of us thus far has been equally distributed between my partner and I. I feel like I can turn to her and she can pick up my slack if I need her to.  I am totally loving the experience and cant wait fot it to continue.

Thirdly, my classes....uggg!!! They are the biggest responsibility(MONKEY) on my back right now. I am graduating in the spring and they have been my total focus this quarter and until I graduate. I need to just keep getting great grades and applying for internships/jobs AHAHHHHH!!!! *** Human Nutrition 610(Cellular Metabolism) will be my death this quarter!  Honestly this is the biggest stressor in my life and I feel like I am constantly having to take care of this monkey...its like a baby that will not grow up!!! This one I can't put on the back burner and wait, the time is here and now!! I guess the part that kind of sucks bout this monkey is that 90% of it is on me! I really can't ask for anyone else help like I can with my recruitment guide group or my chapter. O WELL!!! what doesnt kill you will only make you stronger

I loved how the book used the monkey analogy to describe a person responsibilites! I could totally relate! Somedays it feels like there are no monkeys and other days it feel like there are a million monkeys on my back. I have learned throughout the years though, to just breather and prioritize to help the monkeys go away :)

Citizenship

 When I first read the prompt, I had a really hard time trying to figure out which words meant the most to me. I honestly feel like all of these words are important for making citizens within a community. These are the three words that I felt most drawn to........I think that being involved on campus makes me a citizen of Ohio State and Greek life. I guess I never thought as a citizen more than a than a "do good-er". I think that the multicultural aspect of being a citizen is a major part being in a community. I feel the mean of multicultural goes beyond eating Chinese or Mexican or Italian food or even speaking that language. I feel that it is embracing other cultures. I know through being in my sorority, that has opened up my eyes to different cultures, whether it be different religions that girls in my chapter have or cultural things like food or traditions or sayings. I feel that being in a chapter this has really opened up my eyes to everything that is out there. I was just thinking of simple things we do like go to diversity events or volunteer. I mean my chapter always goes to the Mid Ohio food bank around Thanksgiving time and I really do not know if I would venture there by myself if I did not have friends that were going. The next point of citizenship that caught my eye was empathy. I automatically think of something sad or bad happening to have empathy. However I feel it takes on a different meaning. I feel like the word empathy is more like understanding. I think it is important to have and open understanding of people within your community . I know that this is very evident in the Greek community. We are constantly working on projects to help people in our community or outside of our community through our philanthropy projects. The last word that really stuck out to me was empowerment. I love this word! I know we have all seen how if we all band together we can really make big changes that can propel further changes.  This is going to sound so cheesy but it is kind of empowering to be the group of women who are chosen to guide and advise the PNMs. I feel that all the chapters in the Greek Community are putting alot of trust in all 30 something of us to help them fill their houses or be at campus total! Not to mention that it feel awesome to say that I am friends with someone from every chapter...  AHHH  I am soo excited for recruitment!!!




Ok this one was a little harder :)

Why o Why??

1. I chose to become a recruitment guide because I feel that I can relate to the PNMs. I went through formal recruitment in the Spring of 2008. I did not have a rho gam to help me along in the process and I was really torn up between two houses and really had no one to turn to about it.Everyone else on my floor either didn't go through recruitment or had already joined houses and did not really know how I was feeling I don't want any other PNMs to feel the way I felt.

2. I feel that a rho gam is someone who can help guide and be a shoulder to lean on during the stressful time of recruitment. Its like being an older sister or a Big to a PNM. I have been on my chapters invitations committee and I know how hard it was to let girls go or not have them come. I feel that since I have the knowledge of how recruitment works on the inside(from a chapters point of view) I can help PNMs find their best fit.

3.I think my job as a recruitment guide is to help PNM's find where they will best fit in and guide them through the most stressful two weeks of January. In addition, I think that it is important to help build relationships among other chapter in the PHA organization as a whole. Lets me honest, we pretty much face all of the same problems; whether it be grades, a stereotype, or making a successful name for our chapter on campus.

4. I think that recruitment guides are a key element in Greek and Sorority Life. We not only get to meet women from other chapters and help the Greek community grow but we can also help quash stereotypes that may come from our own chapter members or other Greek organizations. I am so excited to meet and know at least one woman from each chapter. I feel that we as recruitment guides can be the bridge to better communication and interactions among PHA!!!