We Rah for AEPhi

Chevy Chase, MD

It was so exciting to return to the 4-H Youth Conference Center for my second Presidents' Academy! I love that the TECs get the opportunity to interact with all the new presidents because by this point we already know so many of them. And I had been waiting to reunite with the rest of staff for months!

We jumped right in to setting up registration and awaited the arrival of our wonderful chapter presidents and operations specialists. And of course we couldn't pass up the opportunity to take lots of pictures together!

The weekend was full of educational programming and so many great moments! We started with the Foundation Shabbat dinner, where I had a great time catching up with all the presidents from Columns Team. It was a long night after that but everyone enjoyed the company and learned a lot.

Saturday was my favorite day because of all the leadership development programs. We had a great morning program working with the Student Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) and I got to connect with some presidents I hadn't met yet. Ally also did a great presentation on how to host a TEC, so I'm looking forward to a fabulous semester!

At the end of the weekend it was so hard to say goodbye to my fellow TECs and DCS. I had so much fun working with them all weekend, even if Alana did spend half the time stuck in our room. We have so many big things coming up this semester and I am so glad I have these ladies to support me and celebrate with. I cannot believe that it will be five months until we are all reunited again at Convention. But I know this is going to be a fabulous semester and June will come before we know it!

Came Back to Minneapolis

Alpha Iota, University of Minnesota

My visit to University of Minnesota was a quick one but luckily I still had the chance to see sites. I hadn't visited this chapter in over year so I made a point to see if some new spots around campus. On my last visit to campus I didn't see much off-campus so I made sure to start there.

I stopped to see TCF Bank Stadium as I headed around the edge of campus. It is where the Golden Gophers play and is temporary home field to the NFL's Minnesota Vikings, while their stadium is being redone.

My next stop was Dinkytown. Strange as the same is, it's a pretty cool area. It is the main downtown area of campus, including restaurants, bars, and much of the social scene. 

On my first night, the chapter advisor, Jen, took me to Annie's Parlour in Dinkytown. It was a little place on the second floor of an old building, which gave it a cool vibe. They are famous for their burgers and fries, so of course I had those, and they did not disappoint.

The next morning I headed back to Dinkytown to find the famous Al's Breakfast. I heard that it was they had the best blueberry pancakes so I was sure to order those. They cooked them to order and served them hot off the griddle. Al's is truly a hole in the wall place, which is clear from both pictures below. But that is part of the charm because I could tell everything was so fresh.

 

I made my way back to campus through the fraternity row historic district. This is a true fraternity row, where every house (except for Hillel and the YMCA) are Greek houses. It was cool to see that this exists at a school that is so city oriented.

That evening was Alpha Iota's first informal recruitment event. We made cards and drank hot cocoa. I love getting crafty so I took the opportunity to make some cute valentines!

On Thursday I finally got to visit the Mall of America! I have wanted to visit ever since Mary Kate and Ashley's mall party video. My sister and I used to sing the songs repeatedly and dream of going to a mall so big it held a theme park. It was a great moment when I finally got to see just how big this place is. The president and I walked the entire mall, which is at least 3 miles. And then, of course, I had to go shopping. It took so long just to figure out which way to go that I probably ended up walking another 3 miles. The MoA has so many restaurants, which are mainly in one part made to look like a street. There are multiples of so many stores and the Forever 21 was so big it had a Coffee Bean in it. I had a great time seeing the theme park too, even though I didn't ride anything. The country music they were playing the whole time was a nice touch.

Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis by Tom Waits

My Angel, Ohio

Rho, Ohio State University

My visit to Ohio State was another one filled with recruitment! I arrived on Saturday during sisterhood rounds and jumped right back into recruitment mode. It was great to be back and see the chapter is action. It was clear to me right from the beginning that this was going to be a great recruitment. Preference rounds on Sunday went great, too. It was another long day but everyone was so happy with the way it went that it made everything worth it! I was so proud to see the improvements from last year's recruitment and to understand how much hard work went into this.

Sunday night and Monday were filled with cleaning the house and preparing for bid night. I had a little accident with some furniture on Sunday night as we were all putting it back, but don't worry I'm okay. Just a few bumps and bruises. Sometimes those are the hazards of formal recruitment.

Then Monday night came and everyone got decked out in Mardi Gras beads and face paint to welcome home the new members. The women got pumped up with music and lights as we waited for the new members and recruitment guides to run home to AEPhi.

When everyone was settled and had gotten some dinner, we headed over to the Little Donut Shop. Rho Chapter had had a sisterhood even there last semester so everyone was excited for the donut bar. It was fun to dip the little donuts into icing and dump on the topics and the actual donuts were really good too.

Carry Me Ohio by Sun Kill Moon

The Hills of Iowa

Epsilon Phi, University of Iowa

This was my first visit to the state of Iowa! I am always excited to visit new states and new college campuses, especially when I have heard so many great things about them. Everything I had been told about Iowa City was that it was a great college town and that Iowa was such a fun school. I also love meeting new chapters and getting to work with more AEPhis!

I got to explore downtown right away. It is such a cute little area with lots of different kinds of food, bars, and cute shops. It's also right next to campus, which is a big deal having gone to a school with no downtown at all. The pictures below are from the "ped mall," which is the areas of downtown that are pedestrian walkways, where cars cannot go. It has such a cool vibe and seems like an awesome place to go to school.

I also had fun walking around the campus. Even though it was freezing, I wanted to see all the important places. I wandered from downtown to see some sorority houses and the President's House, the back through campus to the Iowa Memorial Union and the Old Capitol Building. Even though it was cold and grey for most of visit, I could tell it was a cool place that would be super busy when green and nice weather comes.

I also got the chance to see distant parts of campus and the surrounding areas on a driving tour of Iowa City and Coralville, a next-door town. I saw the cute residential neighborhoods around campus, where the pretty houses reminded me of old New England homes. I don't know why everyone thinks Iowa is flat (don't worry, I did too), but it is actually hilly and looks very similar to the Northeast. Of course I didn't see any corn because it is the dead of winter but hopefully I will get to visit again in nicer weather when the rolling hills are full of corn crop.

The food I tried downtown was some of the best I've had in my travels. First, Alison made sure I knew to go to Molly's Cupcakes. They had so many options and literally ever single one looked good. I also spent a good deal of time at Java House, which I was told has been a long-standing TEC favorite. I joined the ranks of pasts TECs by making myself at home with their amazing coffee and lots of work. And finally I got to try Ally's favorite Iowa City place, Oasis Falafel. It is a Mediterranean restaurant downtown and has amazing hummus. I ate plenty of fresh falafel and hummus in Israel and I have to say that Oasis' is up there with the best. 

On my last day in Iowa City, I got to visit with my Delta Chi friends and tour their fraternity headquarters. It is a cute little house right off campus where lots of students live. I got to sign their guest book and see all the cool memorabilia they have throughout the building. After visiting so many headquarters in Indianapolis, I really enjoyed getting to see an office with so much history!

Iowa by Dar Williams

Gone to Indiana

Epsilon Epsilon, Indiana University

As always, I was excited to return to Bloomington and the wonderful IU campus! I was also excited for another long weekend of recruitment rounds and ICS! Last year I got to experience the first half of IU recruitment so I was really looking forward to seeing the second half this year, and of course to be working with the women of Epsilon Epsilon!

I jumped right in when I arrived late on Friday night, and the rest of the weekend was non-stop recruitment. I spent lots of time with the house director and meeting rho gamma's as they came around to visit AEPhi. I also got to visit a few other houses with some great women of Indiana Panhellenic. At the end of the weekend we all had some rest, with a nice break for MLK day.

On Tuesday I had nice lunch (or breakfast for me) with Melissa Kish from Student Life and Learning. We knew each other from UIFI and she has been so helpful through my work with Epsilon Epsilon and my grad school search. It was so great to sit down one-on-one to chat about all the IU Panhellenic things going on and my future (hopefully) in student affairs. Per Melissa's suggestion, I got the famous banana Nutella pancakes at Village Deli and they did not disappoint at all.

Later that afternoon, I took advantage of 50 degree temperatures and went for a very long walk through campus. It was a gorgeous day to see my favorite parts of campus and to explore new areas!

That evening was bid night and the women turned the house into a green and white castle. They go decked out in their best green and giraffe print. A lot of women even or green glitter lipstick! I loved the photo booth they set up in the living room because every single picture came out so great. It was so nice to see how incredibly happy everyone was to welcome each new member!

Gun Street Girl by Tom Waits

Take It SLO

Beta Lambda, Cal Poly

I was so excited to return to beautiful San Luis Obispo and the wonderful Cal Poly chapter! The other times I have visited, I have always flown into SLO from Phoenix. But this time I flew in from San Francisco and the view was amazing! The flight down from San Fran to SLO follows the coastline for almost the entire time. I loved the view so much that I spent most of the flight starring out my window at the mountains and beaches.

It was also gorgeous out for my whole week in California. I was so happy to escape the freezing winter weather of the Northeast and Midwest, so I made sure to take advantage of every second outside in the sun. Being able to eat froyo outside in a t-shirt in January was pretty nice.

My visit was the week of Beta Lambda's informal recruitment process so I got to help with lots of events and see them all in action. I had so much fun decorating hats at philanthropy night and crafting  with them (again) for bid night! They had such a good turnout and I was so happy to see a successful winter quarter recruitment!

Bid night was baseball themed and all the decorations were so cute! The shirts also turned out great, even though they were Bella tees. It was such a fun night for all of Beta Lambda and I am so proud!

San Luis Obispo by Ted Wulfers