a perfect world part II

Last prompt of the quarter and I messed it up, sweet. I didn't realize hitting enter would submit it :-/ mah bad.

A perfect world I was always taught didn't exist. But I would come back and say that a perfect world starts with a brand new union ;-) Seriously though, it is almost time for class and so I am in a little bit of a time crunch..

A perfect world will  never exist. If we beat ourselves up trying to figure it out, we will never move forward. So instead - an improved world starts with a brand new union. A large goal I have is to really utilize the new union to our benefit. Students and freshman next year will be going in an out of the union all the time. If we are there hosting events or just doing "things" our name will be out there. If Julie Knox is hosting service events in the great hall - people will see it!

In an improved world the Greeks would play a role of what we ACTUALLY stand for. We stand for service, diversity and ritual. We do not stand for having to be acknowledged (cough Greek Awards cough), hazing, or poor brotherhood. In an improved world the Greeks would live their Rituals everyday. We would become the people we are supposed to strive to be like. 

Maybe in an improved world our rituals wouldn't be kept private. Maybe we would want the world to see the values we are supposed to up hold every single day... 

a perfect world...

Greeks v. Lindsay Lohan

MILKAA - WAHHH?

So I waited a little to write this blog about our dilemma in the fraternal movement. Which turned out to be somewhat of a good thing because I saw this link this morning and it made me think of us...

http://omg.yahoo.com/news/lindsay-lohan-suing-e-trade-for-milkaholic-parody/37130?nc

Watch the commercial, under the (watch the video here) link on the site, its really funny! But at the same time, don't be offended that this reminds me of us and our struggles! 

Time and time again Lindsay Lohan has what we like to call "f-ed up". Throughout her life, my life, our lives, we have watched her struggle. We have seen her make poor decisions that have really skewed America's view of her. Now, I am a huge Britney Spears fan - think what you will but you can't change it. Lindsay to me is on a different playing field. At least Britney tries to make things right (sometimes). 

When this e-trade commercial came out, I thought it was really funny. Apparently Lindsay didn't because she is currently filing a law suit against them.

The Greek people all over the nation are always making poor decisions and "f-ing up". Whenever something negative happens it is all over the news and never escapes us. Whether its hazing, drinking, deaths, or just partying, the people of this nation see us this way. The difference between us and Lindsay is we do things to better ourselves. The purpose of our organization is to make us better people and make this world a better place. Even if Lindsay donated millions of dollars to New Orleans, she would still be looked at the same way by the people in this country. She would still be perceived as star who couldn't figure out her life. Even if we raised millions of dollars to send to Haiti relief, we are still looked at as college students who haze to death or destruction and pay for our friends. 

The disturbing part is - we know WHY this is. We know why we are looked at this way even though I can honestly say that I know a ton of Greeks on this campus that dedicate more of their time to service than to partying and socializing. So what is holding us back from changing? Not necessarily you and I changing, but the way people see us changing. Its the actions we have already taken. What if Lindsay tried to redeem herself? How long would it take? The commercial portrayed babies believing that Lindsay was an holic of some kind... drugs, alcohol, milk, whatever. 

Even if all of the students at Ohio State were for this change. If all the Greeks here did everything within our power to help change the way people view us, how long would it take for other schools to catch on? We have an opportunity here! Opportunity for change, something that people wait their whole lives for. We have the raw materials to make it happen. We have the drive, the education, the experience. Now what we have to do is put it together and make it work. Make it become that thing we are striving for it to become. I said a lot of "it" in the previous two sentences. What is "it"? Is "it" us, is it the perception others have of us, it is changing to truly and individually live our rituals everyday, what is it? You tell me.. 

Our final project in essence is to make something perfect, something that we all will hold in the highest regard. We can make those changes here with help from the rest of our community. We don't want to be like Lindsay Lohan and fail to represent ourselves in the highest regard. We want to be the Greeks of the nation and allow everyone to see us in a positive light. 

Recruitment Anonymous

If someone would be kind of enough to find me a Recruitment Anonymous meeting that would be fantastic...

I had to do an assignment on my moods for my psych 331 class. The high numbers were when I was feeling "happy" and the lower the numbers went the "sadder" I was getting. This is a little blurb:

...My other high numbers were due to my position in my sorority chapter and on the PanHellenic Council (the association that encompasses 16 sororities on campus and hundreds more nationally). I am the outgoing Vice President of Recruitment for my sorority and I am currently the VP of Recruitment and Retention for PanHell. There are many positions under the VP of Recruitment that make up the recruitment team. One of my first tasks is to interview women and fill those spots. While I was interviewing the women from all different sororities on campus I was really enjoying myself. I love to meet new people and I especially love recruitment. I feel as if this position is an unpaid full time job but I enjoy it so much that I would never give it up.... It is important to take pleasure in life and so the activities I enjoy are the things I like to take part in. I love to exercise and be healthy and I absolutely love to be a part of Greek Life. These are things I do everyday that make me happy, they don’t allow my mood level to drop too low to a point where I don’t want to be...

A few days later Julie asked us to write up a little something about what we learned at AFLV and this is how I responded: 

What was learned at AFLV

• I learned the most from the people I went with. The four councils being together and forming strong friendships in a short period of time gave me hope. It made me believe that what happened to us at that conference could happen to our community. If our exec boards can do it, why can’t everybody else? A cohesive bond is something our community needs.
• I learned that there a lot of things Ohio State can improve upon. We have the numbers and the potential to make our Greek Life as strong as it is at other Big Ten schools. It was pretty obvious that Erin attended the same conference a year before. She really took a lot away from the conference and put it all into action here. Some examples of this are: having the same “catchy” logo for a year, true quota system, etc. What I took away was a little different. Erin made really great steps toward a better recruitment but what I took away was strengthening us before recruiting the members we want. We need to make our community stronger to attract the men and women our way.
• I also learned a great deal from a speaker I went to. It was a lecture about leading with ethics. I actually have been emailing with him (not creepy I swear) and he signed his latest email to me, “With the best of success, remember we do not need luck.” And he is right, we absolutely don’t. Some things are left to chance but for the most part, we are responsible for making the outcome we want. Our boards are responsible for the changes PHA and the entire community will make within these 52 weeks and even after.

As we can see, I cannot stop thinking about recruitment, PHA, our exec boards, and just plain Greek Life. 

SAVE ME!! but I made really cool buttons today at the source for PHA. You guys should make them too!