Citizenship

Joining a Sorority was one of the greatest decisions I've made since being at OSU. Not just because I've met so many great new people, but also because it's opened me up to SO many great organizations and events throughout the campus. Not only can I meet amazing people in Alpha Gam, but I've also met fabulous people throughout the OSU community.

Being a good citizen means being there for other when they need you to be. Last night, during our chapter meeting, we had elections. It was a tough time for some of my sisters, and yet an incredible success for others. However, we all had to realize there were going to be major changes occuring throughout our chapter within the next year. And we all had to congratulate each other and be proud of each other for our amazing accomplishments. 

To me, being a good citizen means being there when others need you. Thats what Alpha Gam is for me, and thats what I hope to be for others around me.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, good luck on your finals, and have a very safe holiday season!

Last Week's Panel

It was an honor to have such wonderful men and women in the Greek community come and talk to our leadership class. I'm sure they were curious about what kind of questions they were going to be asked and what exactly a "panel" would entail. However, I feel like they really enjoyed themselves.


One major point I took away from this experience was when one of my classmates asked,

"What's one piece of advice you would give to current Greek students at OSU?"

One woman, a Chi Omega, responded that she believed the major piece of advice she would give would be to become more involved with the entire community, not just your own. She mentioned how one of her favorite memories at Chi O at OSU was when they would have a sisterhood with a sorority in another council, Alpha Kappa Alpha. They invited the women to their house and hung out and got to know each other for a few hours. She encouraged us to do the same, and to try to reach out to the different men and women in the other councils as well as our own.

I would love to take her advice. My sorority could easily do events such as these and participate in sisterhoods with other sororities. I feel like we do too much with fraternities sometimes and not enough with other fraternities. Plus, I feel like we would learn a lot about the other amazing women at our University in this way.

Another piece of information I took from the panel was when one of the men talked about his time as President of his fraternity when he was just a sophomore, and the way it felt to lose his position when he was a Junior. He talked to us about how he felt crushed at that moment but grew to accept it. He said he respected the new President, and because this new official was his brother, loved him anyway. This is a good showing of true brotherhood, and made me realize how important it is to respect and be proud of your brothers and sisters. 

ALSO, shout out to JOSIAH who did an awesome job at the pep rally last night!! :)

And, as shown in Stephen's post, please keep J.R. in your thoughts and prayers.

Loyally,

Annalise

OATH.

When I think of the word oath, President Clinton comes to mind.


   ....I know. weird, right?


But its because he lied under oath. So many Americans were hurt when he did that, and he lost so much respect.


  

    And we all believed him! Didn't we? Because we didn't want to face the fact someone we trusted and who      took this oath to serve us and to never lie had just lied to all of our faces. When we join our fraternal/greek community, we take oaths also. We are required to keep these oaths until the day we die. Bill Clinton had it easy - he only had to keep his oath for 2 terms. We have to keep ours for life. Better get prepared!

I realize that us, as Greek college kids, don't feel like we have to keep our promises. An oath is an oath, we will stay committed to our chapters for life, but when it comes to that oath itself, we don't feel as much pressure as Bill Clinton did. He did, eventually, come clean. Now, nobody really takes him seriously. 


I think we should all pretend like we're in the President's position. What if for every mistake or lie you told got you into trouble? What if all your respect relied on that? With just one slip, you could become the laughing stock of the country. Makes you think a little more about what "oath" means to you...huh?

Incongruenices of AGD and the Greek Community

We all must admit at some point in our college careers that our particular organization is not doing all that it should be. We are all proud of our accomplishments and our contribution to the community itself through sisterhood and service. However, we are kidding ourselves if we believe if have no faults. 




How many TG's does your particular organization participate in per quarter?
                How many events involving alcohol does you organization participate in per quarter?
                           How many classes are skipped each week because of lack of sleep due to events?
                How many service hours did you really have last quarter?
How many TG themes have been not exactly "representative" of the "classiness" we possess?


We need to own up to ourselves. TGs are fun, of course they are. Everyone loves going to them, especially because we get to meet others in the Greek community. 


I know my sorority, in particular, is not allowed to attend certain events if they require alcohol. Even service events.


I also know that some of my sisters will not attend class or other academic commitments because they are lacking sleep or aren't feeling well due to an optional activity they chose to attend the night before. Thus, grades will suffer. 


I also have a feeling most of the service hours reported do not actually correspond to the amount you really had....


And finally, I know TG themes are one of the best parts about being in Greek life. However, we can all admit that the themes give us an excuse to dress exceptionally "different" than how we usually dress.

I know that these 5 topics aren't exactly representative of my sorority. However, most of my sisters feel that we are still classy and respected. Even though we like to participate in TGs, I'm sure we can find a way to make the involvement more representative of ourselves. But we cannot be blind to the fact that we may not be an exact cut out of the way we're expected to be. If we can all work together to change this, we can continue to make Greek life an exceptional way of life.

Inspire the Woman, Impact the World

Inspire the Woman, Impact the World.


This is Alpha Gamma Delta's vision. My sorority believes that if we can inspire the women in our sorority to live up to our true values and inspire them to be the most amazing woman they can be, than we can go out and impact the World. We can change the World.


This isn't all that we hold true. We have missions, we have a purpose as a Sorority. All the talk of values lately has made me realize why I chose Alpha Gamma Delta in the first place. They're all amazing women, each and every one.


Our mission is as follows..

Alpha Gamma Delta is an international fraternity for women that exists to provide opportunities for personal development through the spirit of sisterhood.

We support lifelong learning as a means to gain understanding and wisdom.

We promote the value of fraternal membership and commitment to higher education.

We help prepare members to contribute to the world's work. 

We advocate lifetime involvement in Alpha Gamma Delta.

SO this is how I interpret this. Our values, based on our mission, would be education, understanding, wisdom, membership, commitment, and service. All in all, these values are very similar to those that I listed a few weeks ago during our Values activity. 

Our sorority does an amazing job advocating education. We have this Skippy Jar, basically if you go a week without skipping a class, then at Chapter on Monday you get to put your name into the Skippy Peanut Butter jar. If your name gets pulled out of the jar, then you win a prize. Strive for Pi is also a great way to get our sorority involved. Each quarter our girls "strive" to get at least a 3.14 GPA. We also have study tables, so when a woman is struggling in her classes she can do study tables and hours each week to help her improve her GPA. I feel we do a great job displaying how important education is to us. 

We also keep pretty tight alumni relations. We have luncheons and events where we get to meet alumni and tell them how the chapter is doing. This helps encourage us to stay loyal and committed to Alpha Gam throughout our lives, not just during college. 

Theres one value, however, that I feel we could try to do more with. In our Purpose we talk about contributing to the world's work. I know that we participate in service events and that each of us attend the various philanthropy events. However, I feel this is one of our weakest links. We all try to attend the mandatory events, and I know we all enjoy the events, but I believe most of us put it at the bottom of our priorities list. 

We all need to try try TRY to do more individually to work harder. We are supposed to keep track of service hours each quarter, however, each month the majority of our girls come up a little short. If we could improve this, we could live up to the potential that I know we can all reach. I know we can fix this.

I'm proud of my sisters. :)

I found a cool video about Alpha Gamma Delta, it was filmed by some of our sisters at Baldwin Wallace College in Berea, Ohio. It spells out our purpose, but its a creative way of doing it. My sisters here in Columbus will appreciate it :)

And for those of you who read my last blog, my TOMS came in the mail today. I love them :) and I'll wear them tomorrow. 

Annalise

Tom's Shoes

It's not hard to figure out why I chose this organization.

Because I work at a shoe store, I have a soft spot for shoes. When people started wearing TOMS, I thought they were so adorable. Basic and cute. It wasn't until I heard the background on these shoes that I learned to love them more.

Which each pair of shoes sold by TOMS, the company will give a pair of shoes to a child in need. I took some time to research why exactly they chose shoes to donate to these children. The company says they chose shoes because there are several diseases that can be transmitted through bare feet. Also, several children can't even attend school without shoes. They can't get an education?

How many of us chose education and knowledge as something we valued? I know I did.

TOMS posts their values all over their website. Their entire organization is based off of these ideals. Because each employee devotes themselves each day to living with these values, the organization can be successful.

Could you imagine having to live your life without shoes? I'd love to try but I'm not sure if I could go to work at a shoe store without wearing my shoes. I'm not even sure if I would be allowed into class without shoes. But this is the daily life for children in countries such as Argentina.



One of the coolest things I found about TOMS is their partnerships with other organizations. Polo Ralph Lauren and Element skateboards have started donating their items to children in need. As of September 2010, TOMS has given over 1 million pairs of shoes to children in need. Next pair of shoes to buy? Make it TOMS. Sorry Famous Footwear, I'll endorse you guys next time.

I chose this organization because I get a good feeling about it. They aren't selling food that isn't healthy, they aren't selling anything harmful. They're selling something we need anyway, right? Might as well help those in need as we do it.

I must say, I have not purchased a pair of TOMS shoes yet. I've been wanting to do it. So I will, right now, order myself a pair of TOMS.

Done!

Maybe you can all do the same :)

Love you all,
Annalise

What my values are and what they really mean to me...

As we talked about in class, there are just some words out there that you can't quite fit a definition to. The word "value" is a tricky one to figure out. Things that we value and things we think we should value could be entirely different. We may act like we value something, based on our culture or religion, that we actually don't feel like we agree with.

For example, a person who calls himself a Republican does not need to be prolife. However, he may feel as if he has to agree with these values because he gave himself the title of a Republican. Therefore, he may force himself, in a way, to exert these beliefs. 

As for myself, I have several values. I try not to hide them from others to fit in or to create an image. They make up who I am. 

I value my family, for one. Here's a cute family pic:

Ignore my goofy smile...this was right before my sister got married last November.

My family means the world to me. I value their friendship, loyalty, and honesty. They've never let me down, ever, and I know they never will. My sister (the one in the white dress, not me. I've never been married...) is 25 years old, her name is Emily. My parents are on both sides of her, and my brother Chris (formally an SAE) is on the left. These people mean the world to me. <3

I value commitment as well. My parents have been through the best and the worst that this world has to offer. Last spring my dad became very sick. He's okay now though! No need to worry :) And I know it was strenuous on my mom. But they've been committed to each other their whole lives, and they aren't going to stop now.

I also respect those who stay committed to their decisions.

Those who realize when they've made a mistake,

or committed to something they were unsure about fulfilling,

and have stuck it out. 

Those who commit to helping their parents with chores, or commit to driving a pledge to their sorority or fraternity house each Monday. 

I value confidence.

It can either make or break you.  

I value my FAITH in the Lord.

...and I value the ability to choose your religion. :)

I value Love, Modesty, and Education.

Education's a big one. Without it, where would we all be?! Definitely not at the Ohio State University, that's for dang sure. 

I was never a big studier in high school. I never needed to. I'd cram and pull off B's.

Now that I'm here, I've realized I'm an IDIOT for not paying more attention. there's so much out there to learn... 

but the opportunities are endless here!

At least I realized now how important education is. I can focus on filling my head with as much knowledge as I can :)

I value all of my Sisters in Alpha Gamma Delta. And everything they have taught me, and will continue to teach me. 

Love you all, love your comments,

Annalise <3

Who Am I? And How will I change the World? Hmmm..

Hey guys :) Welcome to my oh-so-fabulous blog. I've never done this before, so bare with me...or is it bear with me...hmm...


A little about me? WELL what can I say. Throughout my whole life I've described myself as the (not so typical) stereotype. For example...


In high school, I was a cheerleader...
I've recently become a bit of a blonde...if you knew me, you'd know I used to have dark brown hair...
And now, in college, I've become a member of the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority. AKA, a sorority girl...


I can tell you all, however, that I've done my best throughout my short life to do the best I could to break these stereotypes. In high school, not only was I a cheerleader, but I was in the BAND. 


   ...Yep, that's right. 


I also studied...alot. Trying as hard as I could to get my grades up so I could attend this fabulous University. So being a somewhat smart, bando-cheerleader was not exactly the most typical stereotype out there. But I guess I've never exactly been what everyone's expected.


Which is why here, at OSU, I don't think of myself as just a "sorority girl..." after all, we can't all be living the life like the Delta Nu's..





I don't know if many of you know this, but the mascot for Alpha Gamma Delta is the squirrel. It stands for energy and alertness. Not exactly as cute as a puppy or a kitten, huh? But it means a lot to me, and my friends know my room is now decked out in squirrel decor. I've never been completely absorbed with appearance and stereotypes. Just because I'm in a sorority doesn't mean I can't be in the band :) and just because I'm a squirrel doesn't mean I can't change the world.


So just how exactly do I intend to change the world?


By devoting some time each day to break down the stereotypes. I feel that no one is better than anyone else. Those of us in Greek life face it everyday - the judging, the bad-mouthing...we know who we are, and we know what we can accomplish. Let them talk, those who talk are almost always jealous :) 


SO lets give them something to be jealous about! I want to start a movement - something that will change the way the world works. I believe that if everyone does at least 3 good deeds each day we will see change. I would like everyone to focus on maybe one person or one group of people. Someone/something that really needs help. And try to do good for him/her, maybe three separate things. I believe if you devote time to focus on one person or group, they can reach their full potential. Sometimes people just need a little push, and maybe your service and attention can get them there. I guarantee that, if you devote time and effort into helping them out a few times a day, they will never forget you. And they will love you forever. When they don't need you anymore, move on to something else. And who knows, maybe they will help out someone just like you helped them.


And I can't attribute this to my own brain and my own findings, because it's incredibly similar to Paying it Forward. But I do believe Paying it Forward can change the world. 


If we do this now, and show that we care about more than ourselves and our appearance, both individually and as Greeks, we can break the stereotypes. 


That's all for now :)


XOXO Gossip Girl...
AKA, Annalise ;)