Giving Back

Most of the community service I completed throughout the year was done through Greek Life. I was a philanthropy week representative for a fraternity, keeping them up-to-date with my chapter’s week-long event activities benefiting Special Olympics, Girls on the Run, the S. June Smith Center and the ASA Foundation. I created a Facebook page and posted for the brothers to see every day. I also went to one of their meetings to go in-depth about the week and scoring.

I volunteered at two mac and cheese dinners for my sorority, and rolled coins as well from coin wars that week. I also made dog and cat toys at a Panhel service event. I helped sell baked goods as well to raise money for Parents United to Stop Hazing (PUSH) and the Isabella Country Restoration Center.

Because of the service I have provided, others are going to have more opportunities available to them because of the increased amounts of funds.

Even though I am about to graduate, I want to continue to give back in the next community I live in. I want to stay in touch with current sisters who will be in the chapter next year and donate money when Greek Week rolls around again since I should have a job and be able to financially contribute.

Creating New Paths

Imagine standing in the woods and having two paths to select from. One freshly groomed, and the other overgrown and mysterious. This semester, I chose the overgrown one.

I decided to run for executive board for my sales fraternity, Pi Sigma Epsilon. I wanted the vice president of public relations position, but ended up not being elected for the spot, so I decided to run for vice president of alumni relations and I got it.

The only problem was, that position was known for having little work to do. I didn’t want that. I wanted to be challenged and leave an impact on the chapter. I was determined to be the best vice president of alumni relations the chapter had ever seen.

I started the year off by meeting with my president to brainstorm ideas for the upcoming semester and set goals.

I created a newsletter, got an alumni to come to one of our meetings to share his experience with the active members, created a document listing which alumni work for which corporate partner and most importantly updated the alumni database.

This is where all of the alumni information is stored. Our chapter has not had the best alumni engagement lately and I figured out why after I started the position. All the contact information was four and a half years outdated. I started emailing, Facebook messaging and LinkedIn messaging alumni so I could get their contact information to bring them back in the loop with the chapter.

This is important because I’m sure none of the alumni want to be cut off from a chapter they gave so much to. I know I won’t want to when I go alum. I also helped give this position more life and started building it up more for future position holders to come.

Connecting Students to Community

Last year, I was a member of the Adopt-A-Grandparent program at CMU. Not only did I visit my adopted grandma, but I also went with other students to different assisted living homes and mingled with the residents at the events as well as pass out crafts and assist in clean up.

This helped connect the community of Mount Pleasant, Michigan, with students on campus.

If it wasn’t for the student group coming to the facilities, there wouldn’t be as strong of a connection between the two groups.

This experience has taught me the importance of community, whether I have grown up in the town or not. A sense of community should be sharing a place on this planet together, not just a town we live in.

Plunge into Leadership

Staff in the Leadership Institute organizes different teams for Leader Advancement Scholarship recipients to be on. This year, I had the joy of being on the Polar Plunge lead team. Lead teams have helped me over the past three years get to know members in different cohorts, work as a team and help in the community.

On the Polar Plunge team, my duties were to help fundraise, spread the word about joining the Leadership Institute’s team, get other organizations to create their own teams and help set up for the event. I reached out to my sales fraternity to learn they were already in the works of creating a Polar Plunge team.

The day of the event, I moved tables and chairs around and set up the changing curtains. I did this all in the morning before the event started.

With the help of our team, we helped Special Olympics raise money to send athletes to the games. We helped recruit others to participate in this wonderful event and spread the word about Special Olympics. We also helped assist in set-up for free, saving them money to put towards the athletes instead of hiring help.

This was the first year for this lead team, and as it continues to be a team I know it will grow stronger. We played around with what we were able to do to help the Polar Plunge event, so there is definitely room to grow. The suggestions I would give to future members to build what our team started are to pass out fliers teaching others how to build a team and speak about the event in classes.

I love Polar Plunge and want to look in to the opportunity of being on the student committee for next year’s event.

 

Sisters for Life

In the fall of 2017, I went through formal sorority recruitment. After a week of visiting every chapter on campus, I found my home with Alpha Sigma Alpha. I knew they were the group for me when I realized how much our values aligned. I spoke to them about balance, integrity, service and faith. Everyone in the tent was sweet and genuine. I was excited when I opened my bid letter and saw the ASA crest.

Just after joining, I ran for a position that had opened up. My new sisters supported me as I ran for public relations chair. With their trust, I was elected. Since then, they have encouraged me and helped me thrive in the position.

Being in the chapter has allowed me to maintain being a strong student, Christian and member of the community. My sisters study with me, go to church with me and volunteer with me. There was one weekend where we all got up early to drive to Midland and volunteer at the Girls on the Run 5k (GOTR is one of our philanthropies).

Every semester, ASA hosts a mac and cheese philanthropy dinner and I had so much fun volunteering at that. Every sister is so passionate about our philanthropies and it’s wonderful when we come together and raise money for the S. June Smith Center, Special Olympics, Girls on the Run and the ASA Foundation. I look forward to the possibility of having our first philanthropy week next year.

Along with volunteering, ASA also gave me a mentor. We knew we’d be the perfect big/little pair as soon as we both learned our love for dogs, working out and Jesus. She has the same interests and passions as me and has been there through the stress of junior year. She was someone I turned to a lot and was always there with support. She wasn’t the only incredible person ASA blessed me with, I also got a new best friend.

I was supposed to go to a Christian conference in Indiana with some members of my chapter but the roads were horrible and covered with ice. I decided to stay home, as did my sister Makenzie. We decided to hangout since our plans for the weekend drastically changed. We went to the hot tub with our boyfriends, made dinner and played a card game together. We had so much fun that we have continued to hangout since then.

Makenzie has made a huge impact on my life this year from being a positive light. People say you become like those you hangout with and I’m so happy I have such a selfless and caring person in my life. She spends time volunteering every week, always offers support to sisters and saved a dog’s life by fostering him. She exemplifies what it is like to be a women of poise and purpose.

This chapter has given me strong bonds of friendship and laughs. It’s also given me the opportunity to step up and be a leader, even as a new member. I’ve learned how important it is to befriend people with similar values and passions. I’m happy to have gotten to work with new philanthropies I’ve never worked with, such as the S. June Smith Center.

For next year, I want to improve the bonds of sisterhood. I would like to grow closer to more sisters before I go alum. I am not sure if I am running for a position yet, but either way I will uphold the chapter’s values, serve as a role model and be involved. I will continue my current position until winter semester and keep striving to better Greek relations from what I have already learned. I am also planning on taking a little in the fall to mentor her. I will be there for her like my big has been for me. It’s important to be there for new members as they are getting acclimated because being in a sorority takes time-management skills. It can be hard making new friends and getting to know 80+ members. I am excited to help someone adjust not only to the college life, but the Greek life as well.

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Taking on a Leadership Role

A month after I joined my sorority, the public relations chair stepped down. The position was open and I decided I wanted to run for it since public relations is my major. I received the position and immediately jumped on board with coming up with new, creative ideas. I thought it would be a great idea to paint large pumpkins for all the fraternities and sororities at CMU. I bought 23 pumpkins, gathered painting supplies and had a painting event with my sisters at the Alpha Sigma Alpha house. After the pumpkins dried, a few of us delivered them to the chapter houses.

All of the chapters were thankful for the gifts. I came up with this idea to maintain and increase Greek relations. When handing them out, I was friendly and tried to engage in some brief conversation to get to know people in other chapters better.

About a month and a half after I was elected in to the position, it was time for elections for the whole chapter. I ran for the position again and received it. Because the pumpkins were such a hit, I decided to hand out holiday stockings right before winter break and mini Valentine’s Day mailboxes in February. Again, the chapters were grateful for the gifts.

I believe I was able to increase our Greek relations. It’s nice to know you are cared about and these gifts expressed that. Each gift had a lot of time and effort put in to making it. The pumpkins were large and tailored to each chapter. For example, one of Phi Mu’s colors is pink so their pumpkin was painted pink with their letters on it. Many brothers in ASP like the TV show Rick and Morty so Rick was painted on their pumpkin. The holiday stockings had glitter paint and puffy paint on them, an ornament with their letters pained on it and lots of candy. The mailboxes were filled with many goodies. Nothing was hand-crafted in these, but there was a lot of work put in to making them still.

I want to take what I have learned in this position and apply it to my new position as Vice President of Alumni Relations for my sales fraternity. I plan on writing handwritten cards for our alumni to maintain relations with them. I have learned more about the power of communication and taking time out of my day to go the extra mile. I think handwritten cards will express that and enhance the relationship. My goal is to have more alumni involvement and attendance at events. Being public relations chair has set me up for success for this position.

Other duties I have as being the current PR chair for Alpha Sigma Alpha are to run our social media accounts, monitor chapter member’s personal social media accounts and work alongside the Vice President of Public Relations and Recruitment. Monitoring social media is hard, and it was even harder when I first took the position. It was difficult being a new member and having to ask sisters who have been in the chapter for three years to take posts down. After a while, it got easier. I asked sisters nicely and explained why each post had to be taken down. I also offered to speak with them if they had any questions regarding the social media policy.

From monitoring social media, I have gained more authority and confidence in my position. This is a skill I can take with me everywhere. I feel more comfortable asking others to stop doing things if it’s against policies because I have learned how to effectively do so in a way that does not anger anyone. I have also learned how to build a brand for a social media account by establishing ritualized posts or stories and maintaining a common filter theme. I am very thankful for this position as it has prepared me for more public relations work to come.

Alternative Winter Break: Access to Sports and Recreation

For winter break, I decided to give up a week to volunteer my time in Asheville, North Carolina. Eleven students and I packed our belongings Saturday night after finals and started helping on Monday. My group partnered with a YMCA in Asheville where we assisted them for the week. Tasks included: power washing buses, cooking rice, talking about healthy eating and exercising in schools, landscaping, sorting fruits and vegetables, and working mobile food markets.

The first day, we power washed three buses. Power washing was helpful to the YMCA because they were going to sell the buses and put the money towards programs for kids. We also had to push one of the buses out of the grass and into the parking lot. This helped the YMCA because without us, they would have had to pay over $150 for someone to tow it. That would have taken money away from programs.

Next, I headed to the kitchen.

I helped cook whole grain rice for students at a school so they could see healthy food can taste good. At the school, we handed out worksheets about the importance of colorful plates. With the lesson, students would be better informed on fruits and vegetables. At a different school, we facilitated a game of Simon Says. We incorporated different exercises to get students up and moving. Not only did it get students to exercise, but it also taught them different exercises they might not have known.

As much as I preferred to be inside where it was warm, I also had to put on work gloves and pull some weeds.

Landscaping helped the YMCA because they needed weeds cleared out for kids to be able to play. We did not clear out every single weed, but every bit helped. Somewhere down the line, some sort of structure will most likely be put in the area. In the past, students that went on the same Alternative Break installed a disc golf course and gaga ball pit.

I cleared the vines that were wrapped around the trees. Others in my group cleared out poison ivy.

The vines were an invasive species that were suffocating trees. I had to clear the vines to help save the trees and provide a future play area for kids.

Everything I did on the break was fun, but my favorite part was the direct service handing out food.

Many grocery stores in the Asheville area donate the fruits and vegetables that are not “shelf-quality” to the YMCA. The YMCA then sorts through all of the fruits and vegetables, throwing away the moldy and squishy produce. They keep what is edible, sort them in crates, load the truck and distribute the food in the community for free. When distributing the food, there is no questions asked about income.

Our role as a group was important because we provided extra hands. We allowed the process to run more efficiently by reducing the time it takes to sort and load the food. Because we reduced the time, we were able to load more food in the trucks before it was time to go. The workers at the YMCA said we broke their record for the most mouths fed. Not only is this important in itself, but we also did all the work right before the holiday season. The families we supplied food to would not go hungry on the holidays.

 

One thing I’ve taken away from this experience is to not waste food. Just because something doesn’t look picture perfect doesn’t mean it’s not edible. There are plenty of people in the world who would love to eat the food people throw away because it has a brown spot or is a little squishy.

Another thing I learned is tasks may seem little and easy to me, but they could really help someone else. Moving the bus from the grass to the parking lot took very little time and effort for the group. However, without us, there would have only been two staff members for the task. They could not have done it alone. This would have resulted in having to hire someone. I will keep this lesson in mind and remember that little things to me could make a huge impact on someone else.