One Week Ago...What Happened?

What happened today? In a very simplistic manner...we went out as council groups and asked member of other councils in the public (ie: other IFC's, MCGC's, NPHC's) for answers to broad questions which related to ritual and activities/values a particular chapter spent the most time doing.

I had preconceived notions to the answers, but were actually shocked of the actual responses. I knew that sororities were going to give answers more "politically correct" as in they value sisterhood, philanthropy, academia, etc..over what fraternities. That part was not shocking. Most everyone associates fraternities with drinking...and the two IFC fraternities we asked their first answer to most time spent towards an activity was drinking. I was shocked that they didnt' even try to hide it by saying brotherhood which would atleast soften it. Another frequent response was eating meals as a fraternity. Then, struggling for a third answer (because the qustions asked for 3) was either brotherhood or philanthropy.

In it's irony, I sometimes feel as though fraternities have stronger bonds within members that sororities. Yes this is me generalizing, and yes this could vary from chapter to chapter. I'm not saying my chapter has weak bonds by any means, but I feel as though fraternities have a lot more "bro-ness" or "tight-ness". So as sororities can spit out mottos, quotes, whole passages from ritual, what does it actually mean if it's not being applied to creating the bonds within individual chapters??

Do you ever have those days when nothing particularly big happens..but there's just a culmunation of little things an by the last one you just break down?? Pretty much describes my past Thurday-Tuesday. Obviously it's the right thing to take someone you care about to the ER when needed, no big deal. Then stay with them while they're on the prescribed medications and take care of them, all the while however two big midterms were on Tuesday and severly cut study time which just stressed me out. Then, on Tuesday was the doozie. I had set my alarm (so I thought) for 6:00 am for my 8:30 am midterm #1. Naturally it didn't go off and ended waking up at 8:00. The only good thing that happened was that my roomie graciousl drove me to my test. With lack of breakfast, being all frazzled, I forgot my wallet and couldn't prove it was actually me who took my test so that was just anothr added stress. On top of it they were supposed to give us a 30 minute warning...oopsies..didn't happen. Just a 5 minute warning. Rush much?? Then, I went to open my bananaand just the top came of..not the rest of the peel. Sooo not even my food would cooperate with me that day. As I look back, I honestly just have to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. It reminds me of my all-time favorite movie Dumb & Dumber. Here's a clip...



Soooooo things like these, it's just important to realize that no matter how many things go wrong in a short amount of time, just think about all the things you do have going for you. There are always people less fortunate than you and should just try to spin it into a good light whether it be laughing at yourself or doing something that makes you happy.

Values For Thought

Vlaues can come in many different forms and are all dependent upon how you grew up and the life situations you were presented with. Below, I will share two experiences that have defined me and how they shape my perception....

#1. Family:
As I previously wrote, I have a mom, dad, and older brother. Typical family right? Well it was even more typical when I was in second grade and my parents got a divorce. What is it.. like half of the marriages in the US fail?? That's super depressing if you ask me. Through the next 6 years of my life, my brother and I would spend 2 weeks with my mom then 1 week with my dad. Luckily they only lived a few miles away from each other, but it was still difficult to have 2 lives, 2 homes, 2 sets of clothes, toys...everything. The only constant was my older brother. My dad worked full-time during the day and at night would go to classes earning his masters degree. My mom worked full-time as well. Through these 6 years i vividly recall staying awake with him at night talking about everything whether it be our friends tv shows, music, anything abstract, or coping and trying to understand what was going on with our parents. One thing we did a lot was build forts out of the couch cushions. I'm guessing if we spoke with a physocologist they weould say we were hiding from our situation...perhaps. All I know is that we used to sit in there for hours on end. Six years later, when I was in 8th grade, something miraculous occurred...my parents got re-married. My brother and I still don't know fully what was going on during these years. My brother and I are extrememly close and it wouldn't of happened if it weren't for those six years. Like any family..we have our little bumps in the road, but I can honestly say this experience made me value family. No matter what, they are going to be around and is your rock, your foundation, your support.

#2. Integrity/Honesty:
These two words go hand in hand. Without honesty, you cannot have integrity and vice versa. Me being a business major, espeically in finance, corporate social responsibility is something that is taught and taken seriously in Fisher. We all know the scandales of Enron and WorldCom and various other corporations that did not have honesty nor integrity, and look where they are now, along with hundreds of thousands of people without their retirement savings and investments. Also, a current situation in which I cannot get into much deatil displays the lack of integrity and honesty that exists all around us. I like to believe that I give people the benefit of the doubt even when they have been caught and preseumed guilty, yet they still refute the evidence. Then, documented conversations arise and prove them otherwise...I've heard a saying: Before you start pointing fingers, make sure your hands are clean. I especially like this because coming from certain individuals, it makes it ironic in the fact that they are the ones trying to persuade me that they have done nothing wrong, all the while unrefutable evidence surfaces....Make of this what you will, but being honest and having integrity is the only way to carry out life, otherwise you lose everything that's closets to you then you are loeft with nothing and when you have nothing...done.

Family and integrity/honesty are my two main values in which I strive to live by everyday. Obviously there are some slip-ups but it teaches and reaffirms your beliefs. These two values will be pertinent in PHA and in the community because they are broad enough to where everyone can understand and activly incorporate into their daily lives. Life runs smoothest when honest, and family can be the rest of PHA exec in that we will be working closely together to ensure the best possibly PHA year ever!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSSOwtjrm1U

Peanut Butter Jelly Time

So Friday's class in which we made a few hundred pb & j sandwhiches was a super clever way of getting to know each other. Ice breakers just don't do it for me so I'm glad we all got to use our hands and converse freely rather than "name, major, year, fun fact" sort of thing. In getting to learn about one another, we also discussed our opinions on "paying it forward" which is doing a good deed without anyone telling you to do so nor receiving anyhting in return. My group had a few different points of view on this that were different than the rest of the class. In a utopian world, this would be all fine and dandy. However, we do not live in a worl dfilled with rainbows and butterflies and while the majority of citizens are good people, I cannot honestly believe that the world can and will be changed through this theory of "paying it forward". On a slightly more positive note, because we are members of THE Ohio State University, we should have the responsibility of using out vast amount of resources in order to help the campus and surrounding communities in any way we can. I guess you could say I'm the skeptic or realist when it comes to ideas such as "paying it forward" compared to other ideas that were discussed in class. Although, having the notion that it could work on some scale is definently reassurance of the many giving people that we have in today's society.

Since this class is fraternal change oriented, why not make the first class begin with change! By making the sanwhiches we chaged the amount of food and work that a particular food bank would have to do. Although relatively small, I think that's how change is most effectively completed. Starting small and with one single bite at a time (really tacky pun intended..i tried..) is how most people positively respond to change as compared to a sudden 180.

Thoughts??

My Life In A Snapshot

Hi all readers,

To those of you who have no idea who I am, I'm Jackie. For our first encounter these are the basics: I've grown up and lived in a medium sized community 6 miles away from campus my whole life. I guess you could say that my life is kind of boring or typical in the fact that I have one older brother who is in his second year of Dental School here at OSU, and I have a mom and dad, both of whom work as business professionals. As you can read, I am a third-year junior majoring in Business Finance and minoring in Economics, but knowing the current economic state, it doesn't really matter the major as long as you can find a job. Growing up, I mostly played tennis and softball but beginning high school sports become more year-round so I stuck with softball and became captain by my senior year. Because I played for 12 years, you can guess I miss it whenever spring rolls around. I love doing anything outdoors which was instilled in me from an early age as I learned to ski at 4, began to camp at 6 with Indian Princesses and just for family fun, and trips to the beach were regular. I am very much a home-body, which is a big reason why I didn't venture too far away from my house. While on campus my friends are my driving force and the goofier the better as I love to laugh and have a great time.

I am in Delta Delta Delta Sorority and absolutley love every minute of it. My brother was greek and from hearing all his experiences I knew i wanted to be greek at well which is why I went through recruitment in the winter of my freshman year. I fell in love with TriDelta because at one of the rounds I had an obscure conversation about aliens and thought "well if I'm having this talk now with someone I just met, just imagine when I'm best friends with her/the rest of the women". However cliche and tacky it sounds, I really have found my home away from home and my best friends and experiences through going greek.

After reading Tyler's blog, I was shocked to see how little time it actually took me to read it beacause the conversational voice made it seem like I was just sitting there listening to him speak. I hope that through this blogging process (which I am COMPLETELY new to..aka first blog ever) that I can use my own voice more so that it is more engaging and entertaining since he will be the one to read and grade it haha.

I guess this concludes the first assignment! Please stay posted for more exciting entries are on their way!