Last month, I asked Alpha Xi Deltas to send me some pictures of some of their fondest memories of chapter life. Here are a few from one of my sisters, Sarah Hong, who graduated in 2010:
Taken: October of 2008 at a social
"One of the awesome things about being in a sorority is that age doesn't matter. Freshmen and seniors hang out together all the time (just like in this picture), and everyone is treated equally."
Taken: March of 2008 at a 90s themed date party
"My sophomore year, some of my sisters and I dressed as the Spice Girls for this 90s themed date party. Yes, we look weird (I cringe when I see it). But it was a good night, we had fun dressing up for it, and I associate this picture with a lot of positive memories. One of the best things about having sisters is doing all sorts of embarrassing things with them, and then laughing about it years later."
Do you have any memories you'd like to share? If so, please send them to me at nterchek19@gmail.com, or find me on Facebook and message me.
April is a big month for us Alpha Xis. Not only is this Autism Awareness month, but it also is the month of FOUNDERS' DAY, which is arguably the most important day of the year for us (since it's essentially Alpha Xi Delta's birthday).
Founders' Day happened earlier this month (April 17), but it's never too late to talk about Cora, Alice, Almira, Frances, Bertha, Eliza, Julia, Lucy, Harriet and Lewie. After all, they are the ten brave women who founded Alpha Xi Delta with their bare hands.
I know we make fun of the founders occasionally for looking so old-fashioned and stuffy (and my chapter, the Sigma chapter at the University of Iowa, specifically pokes fun at Cora, since she apparently haunts our house). But it turns out that our founders were ahead of their time! History says that judging by the dresses they're wearing, our founders were Gibson Girls. According to The Bonds of Sisterhood (my new member education booklet), Gibson girls are "serene, high-spirited and queenly, with impeccable taste and formal, well-defined manners."
I know a lot has changed since 1893, but I think the founders sound A LOT like us. Think about it. Why is it that we don't get drunk and dance on the bar while wearing our Quill or letters? Because we're keeping it classy and locking it up–just like our founders would have done. And why is it that we wear our Quill/letters/Coat of Arms with pride and smile when we tell people we're Alpha Xi Deltas? Because we're confident and proud of this part of our lives–just like our founders. And why is it that even though we're responsible and work hard, we also always make time for a good old-fashioned "That's what she said," joke? Because we're fun, spunky and kickin' it–JUST LIKE OUR FOUNDERS.
WE are the Gibson girls of our generation.
My alumni group, Alpha Xi Delta Chicago North Shore, hosted a founder's day brunch on Saturday. I shared stories with women that were 60-70 years older than me and women who were current DePaul University students. Yes, there are some generational differences between us. But we all share the same values, know the same sorority songs and possess the same enthusiasm and spunk for Alpha Xi Delta. And we all had a great time (I mean, it's impossible not to have a great time when the brunch includes chicken salad sandwiches, Fannie Mae chocolates and ΑΞΔ Mad Libs). It is truly astounding how we can be so different in age, yet so similar in character.
We don't celebrate Founders' Day to remind us who we were. We celebrate Founders' Day to remind us who we ARE. And if our founders were alive today, I not only think they'd be proud of what we've accomplished as Alpha Xi Deltas, but I think they'd high-five us for a really good "That's what she said" comment.
Since Alpha Xi Delta's philanthropy is Autism Speaks, we all are very much aware that this month is Autism Awareness Month, and that today is World Autism Awareness Day. This feels like an appropriate time to post a picture of a really cute child to tug at your heartstrings.
(I liked him because his hands are blue, which is the Autism Awareness color!)
For readers who are currently active members of Alpha Xi Delta, I'm sure you've already brushed up on your autism statistics. However, for the sake of the alumni readers who probably haven't had a chance to do so, I'd like to refresh your memory by sharing some of the stats:
Autism affects 1 in 88 children and 1 in 54 boys
It costs the nation $137 billion a year
It is the fastest growing serious developmental disease in the United States
Boys are four times more likely to have autism than girls
More children this year will be diagnosed with autism than with AIDS, diabetes and cancer combined
There is no medical detection or cure for autism
I know the stats are depressing. But they're important to know. Now we get to talk about the fun stuff!
Alpha Xi Delta has spread a lot of awareness today! Some of our sisters were on The Today Show, rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, and worked their tails off spreading awareness around their college campuses, passing out pamphlets and autism awareness ribbons. I even saw a bunch of them on the six o'clock news while I was at the gym today (where I was sporting a blue water bottle)!
You know what's even cooler? People ALL OVER THE WORLD are spreading autism awareness. Many famous buildings are participating in the "Light it Up Blue" event for the entire month of April (meaning they will literally light up blue lights outside their building). Still confused as to what that means? Here are some visual aids of famous buildings participating in "Light it Up Blue"!
The Empire State Building
Graceland (Elvis's house, for anyone lacking rock 'n' roll knowledge)
The Sydney Opera House
Many chapter houses are also participating in this activities, as well as a lot of stores! Autism Speaks actually posted a press release about this, if anyone is interested in reading it.
Also, if anyone has any pictures of their chapter house participating in "Light It Up Blue," send me a picture! I'd love to post it on here.
Why am I talking about autism awareness? Partially because I feel obligated to, since it Autism Speaks official philanthropic organization of Alpha Xi Delta. But I also wanted to talk about it because it's really, REALLY cool what we can do if we put our minds together.
I want to remind all of you that Autism Speaks has only been our philanthropy since 2009 (fun fact, the same year I joined AΞΔ). And I personally think we've accomplished a lot in these four years. The fact that I'm seeing sisters all over the news wearing blue is amazing. And this year, for the first time, I see people who AREN'T in AΞΔ posting on social media sites about autism awareness–proving that we are finally getting the message across to the public! When we all bond together over a cause, we can truly make a difference.
We may not be able to cure autism. But we can make the public aware of our cause and raise money for research to find a cure. We could be heroes. Even if it's just for one day.
For the past month, I've been sharing my thoughts and experiences with Alpha Xi Delta. Now, I want to hear from you.
Instead of me posting pictures from my time at Alpha Xi Delta, I would like you to send me some of yours I'd like to get a wide variety of pictures (if possible, from different decades) to get a glimpse of what Alpha Xi Delta meant to others. You can post them to my Facebook business page I've created specifically for the blog (yes, it is named after everybody's favorite Founder), or you can email them to me at nterchek19@gmail.com.
When you send me your pictures, please email me when it was taken, what you were doing and what memories it brings back.
I'll post a few examples of some of the stuff I'm looking for.
This photo was taken last year at Phi Delta Theta's philanthropy, Tug Fest, a big tug-a-war competition. This was taken right before we got our butts kicked. I vividly remember being dragged in the mud not once, but twice by the opposite team. However, despite getting bruises all over my body and mud in my shorts, my team and I had a blast getting each other pumped up and throwing dirt at each other.
This photo was taken in 2010, after a very long day of formal recruitment. We finished the last round of the day, and got to celebrate by testing out the house's new slushie machine! Victory never tasted so sweet. Recruitment was stressful, but having my sisters to relax with (and free slushies) definitely made things easier.
Now it's your turn. In case you have trouble with the definition of "Memory," I have posted a song from everybody's favorite musical, "Cats" that will give you a better understanding of it.
The passage to adulthood is not complete without going through the grueling job search. According to my mom, writing hundreds of cover letters, sending out your resume every day to a new company, and waiting anxiously for a congratulatory email "builds character." I wish there was an easier, fun way to build character.
As we find things to add to our resume, some of us ask ourselves if it's worth putting "Alpha Xi Delta" on there. It's hard to completely ignore one of the biggest parts of our college lives. However, some people view the Greek community as superficial, unprofessional airheads, which means they won't take us seriously if we put it on our resumes. So what do we do?
Here's what I think: it is true (and unfortunate) that there are members of the Greek community that follow the negative stereotypes. However, if you take advantage of the opportunities fraternities and sororities offer, you will strengthen your skills in leadership, communication and event planning. It is definitely worth mentioning it on your resume–if you don't want to create a big section for it, you can briefly mention it under an "Interests and Activities" section. And if an employer continues to judge you based on your Greek status, you don't want to work for him/her.
Here's a video to enhance my point. It's cheesy, but 100% accurate and inspiring:
Also keep in mind, there is a very good chance that your future employer was part of a Greek organization. Famous leaders such as Warren Buffet, Condoleeza Rice, Bill Clinton and former Bears coach, Mike Ditka (my favorite, because he looks like my dad) were members of Greek organizations. The Huffington Post wrote an article about more famous people who went Greek–if you're interested, check it out.
Fun fact: inspiring members of Alpha Xi Delta include fashion mogul, Betsy Johnson; Verna Kay Gibson (CEO of The Limited, and the first female CEO of a Fortune 500 company); and Co-founder of The Muppets, Jane Henson (who was also Jim Henson's wife).
There is no reason to be ashamed of your involvement in the Greek community. Let's show everyone that the stereotype is stupid and that Greeks are awesome. I mean, if Mike Ditka did it, it must be the cool thing to do.
Anyone who experienced "lazy Sundays" was never in a sorority at college (unless, for some reason, your sorority met on a different night–then you got lucky). My sisters and I would spend the beginning of the day the way most college kids spent it: we slept in, ate junk food, talked about our weekend adventures and started our homework in our sweatpants.
It would start out as a really nice lazy Sunday, but by 5:30, our plans would change. We would have to change out of our sweatpants into nice dress pants, a skirt, or a dress. The messy ponytails we were sporting before? We began brushing out the tangles and straightening or curling our hair. Last night's make-up was washed off and a fresh new makeup job was applied to our faces. No, we weren't on our way to job interviews. And no, we did not have any hot dates that night. We got dolled up for our AΞΔ chapter meetings, held at 6:30 most Sunday nights.
This type of dress is called "Quill attire," because we only wear our badge, the golden Quill, while wearing an equally sharp outfit to show it off. My old roommate and I are displaying a stunning example of Quill attire.
Back then, chapter meetings seemed like a hassle. I didn't like putting my homework aside, just as I was getting into it. I didn't changing out of my comfortable clothes, especially when it was cold out. And I especially didn't like missing the Oscars for the past three years (thank god we had a DVR at the house, otherwise things would have gotten nasty). But now? I treasure any opportunity to dress up and wear my golden quill (especially now that I don't have that pesky homework to interfere!). I realized after graduation, I don't get many opportunities to use it.
My alumni group, Alpha Xi Delta Chicago North Shore, meets on the second Wednesday of each month. It's not required to get as dressed up, but most of us do–it's exciting to be able to wear our Quill (or, for some of our members, their Order of the Rose pin–which is earned after 50 years of being a member of Alpha Xi Delta).
Unlike college, we don't just have standard chapter meetings. The meetings often start with a program to educate us on our community–this week, one of our own members talked about her experience volunteering, and encouraged us to get involved. We then follow the program with coffee and dessert, and then we begin the actual chapter meeting. It is more like a big event than a chore for us, because we don't get to do this that often. Sometimes, we don't even meet every month! Next month, we will not be having a meeting because we will be preparing for our big Founder's Day luncheon on April 20th.
For any collegiate members of Alpha Xi Delta, here's my advice: you will have many, many opportunities to enjoy a lazy Sunday post-college life. Trust me, I've enjoyed several of them. They're great. But you know what else is great? Being able to wear your Quill in a place where everyone understands the meaning behind it. You don't realize how much you miss it until you don't have as many opportunities to wear it.
And my advice for current alumni? There are opportunities to wear your Quill, but they're harder to find: alumni group meetings, International Badge Day (which was March 4 this year), even work if you're feeling up to it (there's no rule that says you can't!). It's up to you to seek these out and put them to use. No one is making you go to meetings anymore, but why even bother becoming a member if you can't take advantage of these opportunities?
If the University of Iowa mascot, Herky, could talk to you right now, he would say, "Be proud, not lazy with your Quill!"
(My hair is covering it, but I am most definitely wearing my Quill with pride in this photo. Herky seems cool with it, don't you think?)
As loyal members of Alpha Xi Delta, we all know the perks of being in a sorority. When we were in college, we were invited to exclusive fraternity parties, ate approximately five pounds of candy at sisterhood events and stuffed our dressers with cute ΑΞΔ t-shirts. We were truly living "Xi" dream (pun definitely intended).
For some reason, the Greek world seems to lose its magic after graduation. We finally realize how gross it is when your shoes stick to the floor in those fraternity basements. When we're making our own money, we realize we're too poor to spend it on candy (and we're all trying to lose weight). And for some reason, we've given away most of our ΑΞΔ apparel.
Why do we do this? I can't speak for everyone, but I feel like it's harder to keep the magic alive when you're far away from your sisters. They're the ones that make the magic possible--they distract you from the sticky floors and the calories in those Kit-Kat bars. When you see each other wearing your letters around campus, you smile at them because you know you're in good company. When you're the only one in your town with an Alpha Xi Delta sweatshirt, it feels lonely.
Celine knows what I'm talking about:
Celine clearly does not want to be by herself anymore. You shouldn't either. How do you stop being lonely? You stay in touch with your sisters. Go through your old photos and post them on each other's walls on Facebook and on your Twitter. Don't be afraid to pick up the phone and have a good old-fashioned phone call--it's A LOT more fun hearing someone's voice rather than imagining it while texting. And if possible, arrange reunions with your sisters--whether it's grabbing a cup of coffee or taking a road trip back to your college town, it's sisterhood bonding, and it's awesome.
These little things might not bring back enough magic to make a fraternity basement clean, but it will bring back enough magic to keep connected with each other--that's why we joined a sorority in the first place, right?
I believe it's possible to bring back the magic. The real question is: do YOU believe in magic?
