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.