I finally went to see the ring statue! It was high on my list of things to do this time around so I made sure to get out there on the first sunny day. As you can tell from the pictures, the Aggie Ring is no joke. This statute is at least twice my height and has a prime location behind the alumni center and near Kyle Field.
This visit I also wanted to see the George Bush Library & Museum. It turned into a visit to the gardens instead because it was so gorgeous outside! There is a pretty pond and gardens behind the museum where a lot of people take graduation photos. I'm so glad I went, even though I didn't walk through the museum.
One afternoon I got to volunteer with the colony at the Brazos Vally Food Bank. They had been volunteering there throughout the last year as ZBS so I am excited they can continue the partnership as AEPhi. It was a lot of fun to all work together! It would be awesome if more chapters could find fun ways like this to volunteer in their local communities.
That week I also went to Kosher Cooking Club at Chabad. On Thursday nights the rabbis wife hosts Kosher Cooking Club for students to come help begin Shabbat dinner preparations. I cut up a lot of vegetables but the highlight was making challah. We made a ton of different kinds of loaves (chocolate, cinnamon sugar, jalapeño, to name a few). We put the ingredients into the middle of the strands and then braided them to make sure the flavor really got into the bread. It was a lot of fun to bake with Chabad and some of the Phis! And of course I made sure to try a few kinds the next night at Shabbat dinner.
What would my blog be without a food section. I was so happy to return to all my favorite College Station staples; here are a few of the highlights.
I tried Antonio's Pizza in Northgate. It's open really late so it's a popular place to go after the bars. I got their famous barbecue chicken bacon ranch pizza. It was quite the combination and so worth trying. A fun fact about Antonio's is that they also have a location in Amherst, MA at UMass. So random, what are the chances!
Of course I had to go back to Hullaballoo and this time I went with the pancake. Yes, a singular pancake. Look at how big it is! I can usually eat a good amount and I could only eat half of it. But it was great and so worth another visit to the cute diner.
On my last night in town I finally tried Bahama Bucks. It's a shaved ice place with tons of flavors but you can also get vanilla ice cream in it. They carry Blue Bell Ice Cream so I refused to go throughout my whole visit but by the time I went they had voluntarily recalled Blue Bell and were using a different brand. Per recommendation of my server, I tried the Hurricane. It's probably good I didn't try this until the end or I would have ended up a frequent customer.
I also had fun in the kitchen making a couple AEPhi treats. I made these green chocolate lollypops with a giraffe mold. I also had fun baking cupcakes and decorating them with green sprinkles and phis. So much #greenandwhite.
Formal happened to fall towards the end of my visit so I was super excited to attend with them all. I joined some of the gals to take photos beforehand and had a nice little solo photo shoot.
The event was casino themed and they had four different casino tables going the whole night. I spent a lot of time at the blackjack table hanging out with people and gambling away my fake money. I also learned how roulette works, but am still very confused by craps. It was a really fun night and the professional photo booth pictures came out so great!
On Sunday, April 26 I had the honor of initiating these twenty wonderful women into Alpha Epsilon Phi. It was such an amazing and unique culminating experience. It was my first time leading initiation and it was so special to have the opportunity after starting the colony and working with them for four weeks.
It was a great morning and was no nice to see a few alumnae in attendance. Huge shout out to Lisa Miller for coming in from Houston and helping me perform initiation! We also had a few mothers, and even the mayor of College Station, in attendance!
That afternoon, the colony hosted a luncheon for friends and family to celebrate a successful semester. It was a very nice celebration and the food catered in from Dallas was great. It was so nice to have to opportunity to recognize all their hard work towards becoming AEPhi. And of course there were lots of photo ops!
That evening was also Progressing Panhellenic, Panhellenic's awards ceremony. Texas A&M Panhellenic has a charm bracelet that gets passed down each year and it holds a charm for each sorority on campus. We chose a heart and giraffe charm to represent AEPhi coming to campus and I got to present it to the current Panhellenic president on stage. I was proud of my very AEPhi outfit for the occasion!
It was so weird having to say goodbye to everyone because we got so close over my four weeks in College Station. The opportunity to start a colony does not come often and I am so happy that I got to work with these amazing women! I am so thankful for this experience and the many things I learned from it. I know the Texas A&M Colony is going to thrive and I cannot wait to go back and visit!
Deep In The Heart Of Texas by George Strait
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