Presentation 2018 Nuts & Bolts Information Session

Considering Being A Member of a Sorority

This is a great article I found about considering Greek life.

Jan 15, 2017

A letter for PNM's

This is about the time in the year when many young women who are soon graduating high school or even college women who are thinking about spring recruitment or the next fall begin to get reference letters and recommendations gathered and really contemplate if they want to join greek life. I remember this time last year feeling flooded in a flurry of letters and recommendations and honestly being overwhelmed by the process of joining a sorority, but can I tell you it was worth it. Here are a few things I have learned in my time being a sorority women.

Have Your Voice Heard: Become an Odyssey Creator


1. You get to be a part of something bigger than yourself through philanthropy work and service. I've loved working with our philanthropy committee this fall and other school-wide events because it allowed me to give back to the community that has poured into me. This fall, a Texas A&M's sorority hosted their annual Songfest in which my sorority and many other organizations diligently work through dance practices and performances to compete for a donation for their specific philanthropy. Although, the coolest thing is that this amazing service event raised enough money to send a young cancer patient to Disney! How phenomenal is that to send such a deserving young girl to the happiest place on earth? If you have a heart for serving others, Greek life is a great opportunity to give back and love others.

2. You join an instant community of women that share the bonds of sisterhood with you in a large university where it can be difficult to find "your people". You will probably always have a sister in at least one of your classes, which is a great way to get to know girls you may have never even known!

3. You become a part of a society with rich history and traditions. Each sorority is unique, but I think its pretty neat to have the opportunity to be a part of a sisterhood that was started before it was even the norm for women to be in the educational setting. Sororities allowed unity to build and encourage women in a time where collegiate life, knowledge and power was frowned upon in women.


4. It teaches you how to be well rounded with time management and responsibility. Most sororities have a way of keeping merit points or similar systems that keep you in good standing with the sorority, but also include a ton of fun sisterhood events. This also encourages you to be involved in other aspects of campus life, jobs, and volunteering which allows you to be an impactful student on your campus. It may sound like a lot, but it really allows for you to balance social life, academics, and personal time while being actively involved in your community.
So if there is even just a smidge of your heart that is considering going through recruitment, I hope that you take the chance. I hope that in college you become a part of something bigger than yourself and truly invest. I hope you take the chance and say yes because it will be the only time in your life to be surrounded by a community with such potential and opportunity. I guarantee you will not regret it, gig'em and go greek!

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/considering-greek-life

Suggestions on Creating a Social Resume that Reflects Your Specialness

To Consider When Creating Your Social Resume

Formatting

• You can adapt the margins to make your resume look bigger (if you have fewer activities) or to accommodate lots of information (if you want to include a great deal of information.)
• Make sure you insert a header with your name and contact information. This information will then be included on both pages of your resume.
• Use tabs to line up text. You can find the tab function on the ribbon bar under Page Layout > Paragraph > Tabs. Notice you can set a left or right tab. Right tabs are great at lining up copy on the far right of the word doc. These tabs are also visible at the top left of your page. See the little box with the L. You can click on that box and it will walk you through all the tabs available. (Who would have known?)
• You know how to use the center formatting option.
• You do not have to bold, underline, and use all caps for headers. This is what you used to have to do. You can make the headers a few points larger, use a different font, or use small caps when formatting. Go to Font > Small Caps. (I used small caps for the header on this paragraph.)
• Learn to use styles. Makes life much easier if you want to change the headers. You modify the style, apply the modification and shazam – all the headers are changed.
• You may use a fun font for your headers – something that shows your personality. Just make sure it is easily readable AND most importantly that you export your word doc to a pdf before forwarding to anyone as they might have have that font on their computer and then the resume looks bad.
• I would not suggest including a picture on your resume. Again, if someone prints the resume out on a black & white printer, the picture will not be good. Include awesome 4x6 photos. (And remember to include a label with your name and high school on the back.)

The Resume

• If is okay to have two pages if you have many experiences to share.
• Make sure you include a section on About Me that shares information not covered under any of the sections. This is a way for the members of a sorority to remember you in a positive way. 
  
  
  

Recruitment 2014 Countdown

For many of you, recruitment will begin in a few days or weeks. I'm sure you are finalizing your outfit choices so you can make the best possible first impression. Of course, what you are wearing is important not only because you want to feel good about how you look but also it shows you took the time to present yourself in the best light. This is great training for the interviews you will have in college and the real world. You must dress the part.

It is also important to identify those items you will carry in The Bag you will carry and leave in the tent between parties. Remember all the stuff Mary Poppins included in her bag? You too should be the PNM that has everything one would need in 100 degree weather. Thanks to our local Greek women, here is a listing of items you might want to include. Remember - you will carry nothing into the events. It all remains outside. 

A pen & a small notebook

Chapstick/lip gloss

Comfy flip flops 

Deodorant 

Face Powder

Flip flops

Hair Brush

Mints

Mirror

Perfume

Small fan

Snacks

Tissues

Water

I brought a handheld fan in my bag. It helped cool me down between houses and especially when all of the good spots in the tents were taken. It also helped me make friends!  I would  suggest bringing an umbrella because there were quite a few unexpected showers when I went through recruitment. 

A pair of flip flops that are comfy! (I brought my Chaco’s) just to wear on the row between houses on days your shoes are uncomfortable. 

An umbrella, for the rain that will most likely happen, and to keep you cool in the summer heat. A book or something to keep you busy! On the days you can't talk it can get pretty boring, being something to keep you occupied. 

Special thanks to the following for their advice.

Maddie Street

Kailey Johnson

Christina DeRuyter

Jennifer Hoyle

And a special message from Abigayle English who loves to blog and reminds us what is important in the recruitment process - being yourself so you can meet new friends.

Honestly, I wouldn't put too much focus into what you bring to sorority row as it can get you confused about the recruitment process. I remember everyone stressing to bring extra jewelry if something broke or your whole make-up bag. I think that is good advice if you want to be over-prepared but I think it also makes us too concerned about what we look like on the outside and not as concerned about what really matters when we're in the houses, our character. 

I learned this through watching a girl cry her eyes out outside of one of the houses, because she had lost one earring and said her outfit wasn't complete without them. I can imagine how hard it was for her to go into that house and talk about her experiences, interests and goals when she was so focused on her outfit. So I would say to bring whatever will make you feel comfortable so that you can focus on being yourself inside the houses. 

The items in your bag should just help you not be distracted by your outward appearance so that you can focus on your inner self. For example, I knew that if I had bad breath I would be less likely to talk and if I didn't have a snack I would get grumpy. So I brought a snack and some mints. If you are worried about sweating, bring deodorant and coffee filters for a quick freshen-up. So you can readjust outside to make yourself comfortable and then reflect on what that last house was like, unlike some girls who would spend all the extra time redoing make-up or changing jewelry out. 

While you want to look your best, being on the other side of recruitment I have learned that we are so concerned about finding out what kind of lady you are, that you could walk in with two different shoes and we probably wouldn't notice. So don't pack a huge bag that will put pressure on you to focus on your outward appearance. Just make sure that you are comfortable so you can be yourself in the house. We are so excited to get to know you all and don't want y'all to get too worried about the materialistic side of things. So my end-all advice for the bag is pack what you need to feel comfortable and to be able to be yourself.