Friday, April 12, 2013

Is it Spring Break or Something?

About a month ago, our CMT went to a Convention along with several other Delta Gamma's Chapter Management Team. Our VP Social Standards, Grace Acuna, wrote about her experience in the trip!



“Is this Spring Break or something?” …

…a woman asked, one of the many different questions I overheard when boarding a DFW flight to Columbus, Ohio.
It really must have been a sight. All eleven schools from our region on the same flight to …. Ohio.  Not a normal place for a bunch of “typical” sorority women to be heading.  But this group is anything but “typical”.  We’re part of the five percent of collegiate executive officers in the nation invited to the Delta Gamma Institute. 
6 women from our chapter, including myself, were a part of this Midwest adventure; (From left to right) Bailey (VP: Membership), Marina (VP: Communications), Loren (VP: Finance), myself (VP: Social Standards), Nichole (President), and Vanessa (Membership Advisor).
We started our weekend in Columbus by touring Delta Gamma’s Executive Offices.  The house was so warm and pretty from the outside. When we walked in, we were astonished by all the Delta Gamma history surrounding us.  It didn’t seem like an office to us. It really felt like home—until a tour group came by and told us we came in through the wrong door.  Embarrassed, we rushed to the front of the house to start the tour.  We walked through the suite where Council stays and the meeting halls where national standing rules are voted on (oh, if those walls could talk). 


Saw some familiar names during our tour; a window donated by Gamma Xi collegians, a note by Gamma Xi alumnae Aleesa Ross, and a couple brinks in honor of our own Advisory Team Chairman Vicki Nixon.

But the most moving of the tour was the Frances Lewis Stevenson Archives room.  We were able to see some of the original belongings of our founders and a lot of other documents that have helped build the Delta Gamma legacy.  As we walked out of the house, taking a signature ‘saluting’ picture by the anchor statue, we read the names carved on the bricks under our feet realizing how small we were compared to the sheer size and history of our fraternity.
If the tour didn’t reassure the passion our DG sisters had, the institute definitely did.  About 900 collegians, alumnae, and advisors came together to talk about leadership.  It was there that my fellow officers and I broke down what it means to be a leader – from identifying our strengths, learning a confrontation model, and assessing our own chapter’s progress. 
Throughout the institute, I met so many other Vice President: Social Standards and was able to really relate with different problems and successes. I enjoyed talking with the sisters from all over the country about different issues we were all having in our chapter and using a ‘brain-trust’ to come up with some solutions.
Talking with other officers, I became really appreciative of how many advisors and alumnae are dedicated to our Gamma Xi chapter.  I met with a chapter that didn’t even have one advisor helping them year round. In comparison, we have 12 advisors who dedicate their time to us every week.  At the Texas Tech Delta Gamma chapter, we have A TON of people in our corner from our advisors, alumnae, and parents, to our university.  They are all dedicated to bettering our chapter.  That really inspires me, and I hope the rest of our chapter to continue our successes, bettering our weaknesses, and Doing Good.
Overall, the Delta Gamma Institute was personally a once-in-a-lifetime experience.  I was able to connect to my sorority in a way I never realized was possible.  I was able to learn some really valuable lessons from absolutely inspiring women in our organization.  I was able to fully understand our motto ‘For Strength, For Hope, For Life’.
So no ma’am, this isn’t Spring Break – but these are sorority women and they are anything but typical. Although, for the Canadian chapter of Beta Beta it really was Spring Break…
(Left to Right) Vanessa Nixon Mobley, Bailey Iverson, Nichole Birdsong, Loren Hughes, Marina San Miguel, Grace Acuna


No comments:

Post a Comment