Class 3rd-to-last, # TBD.

I distinctly remember having two separate occurrences of the the thought, "Ohh, I could blog about that. Good idea, self!" last night in my flu-induced haze of consciousness as I tried to fall asleep. But I unfortunately no longer remember what those were. And tonight I am not going to sleep so no chance of remembering them. I guess my avid fans will have to deal with only my generic class blog entry for this week. Here goes everything.

I don't actually have an electric blanket, unfortunately.

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Prompt:
I. What are the strengths of your chapter and in what ways does your chapter need to improve?

II. What are the strengths of your council and in what ways does your council need to change?

III. What are the strengths of our community and in what ways does our community need to change?

I.

While I certainly do not believe my chapter is flawless, I believe we have more strengths than weaknesses.

Strength #1 - Our sisterhood is strong (no - we don't all get along 24/7, but at the end of the day we have faith in one another. We spend way too much time together for people who don't live under the same roof, and we're always laughing and enjoying ourselves.
Strength #2 - Also, I think my chapter's size is an asset rather than a hindrance. Most MCGC chapters are small in membership, but I do not believe that is a problem at all. It allows us to bond within our chapters that much more, and forces us to love each other, even if sometimes we want to break each other in half. So even when we're angry, we always know that there is eternal sisterhood at the end of the night, and that is something I know every single member of my sorority values.
Strength #3 - We all take great pride in our pillar - "cultural diversity." Whether it is through the cultural events we host, the cultural events we attend, the organizations we have actively supported since arriving on campus, the classes we take, or the majors we choose, all of our sisters know the importance of cultural diversity in the world's greatest melting pot. Even though all the ingredients are mixing together, you should still be able to taste the individual flavors, and we serve to promote those. That was a weird analogy, but it is 6AM and I'm still fist-fighting with the flu monster, so you're going to have to forgive me today. Please.
I could go on to list more things, but of course the "bad" stuff is more interesting, so I'll move on.

Weakness #1 - I think our chapter definitely has procrastination issues. We have a hard time pulling things together at the beginning of each quarter, and so by the end of the period, we are stumbling across the finish line with our requirements all haphazardly pulled together. Due to this unavoidably true time-management problem, a lot of our sisters experience...
Weakness #2 - Burn Out. Multiple quarters in a row. I think this could be avoided better if we were able to spread out our events and finish a few requirements within the first few weeks, so that by the end of the quarter sisters wouldn't be overwhelmed with events to attend, classes boiling down, exams to study for, and anything else that may have fallen onto our plates. We're bad planners, we know it, and yet we haven't fixed it yet. This is something we can definitely work on.

Gets me every time.

II.

MCGC's council is young. It's learning. It's still in the crawling stage on the time-line of life. Sometimes it has tried to stand up and wobble around, but mostly it has just fallen over again due to a lack of support. That being said, this year, we have a lot going for us.

Strength #1 - E-board this year is great! Huzzah! Okay, granted, I really have little knowledge of the e-boards of yesteryear, but I really think all five of us are determined to achieve this year. We are on the same page, we know what we want, and we have plans on how to get there. Our President is 421413% dedicated to MCGC's cause, and I know that we have the potential to become a council that can truly lead the chapters it manages to success.

I don't want to have a ton of weaknesses while only mentioning one strength, but I feel as though it is inevitable with a council so young. We haven't had time to test out our strengths yet, only time to notice our flaws.

Weakness #1 - Like I said previously, a lack of support. There has been a definite non-interest as far as the council goes within the past few years (I know I have definitely noticed it, and heard it directly from the mouths of some MCGC members, within my one year of membership), and it is dragged MCGC down. How can we function properly if there is no will to do so from those participating? One of our main goals is to reinvest interest in the council. We say it over and over again. It comes out of each of our mouths so often, we're probably sick of saying it, hearing it, thinking it, and knowing it. But it's #1 on our priority list, and we WILL make it happen.
Weakness #2 - Structureless. Right now, we're kind of in a sort of limbo. Our papers are all out of sorts. Nobody really has any idea what's going on outside of E-board members. Communication is sub-par. BUT! We are working on fixing this as we speak and, in my humble opinion, already improving. By the end of this year, hopefully MCGC will have a firm base set up on which we can continue to grow and flourish.

No, not that kind of limbo.

III.

I feel as though we spend a lot of time in class discussing what is fantastic about our community, and what needs to be changed in our community. Maybe more time on the latter, since we obviously want to focus on fixing those areas. But, I will list what I think is most important for each.

Strength #1 - The fraternity and sorority community is old. It's established. It knows what it's doing. We have a GREAT faculty that supports us all the way to home base! I suppose technically that is ..1..2..3..4! strengths, but let's not be picky. There is an expansive past full of trials and errors that we have thus learned from, and because of that campus knows we're out there, they know we can do great things, and they support the large annual events hosted by chapters within our organizations.

I know we have a lot of places to improve. And more strengths than the one (kind of one) I focused on above, but I just want to mention what I think is most important on our to-do list.

Weakness #1 - Knowledge. Do we know one another? Perhaps those of us on e-board now do, but before this class, how much did you really know about the other councils? If you can truly say, "I have only expanded my already-vast and expansive knowledge of each of the four councils here at OSU and am proud to say I am - and always have been - an educated fraternal member!" then I applaud you. I am not in the same boat. I vaguely knew what recruitment was for PHA. I thought IFC did the same exact thing. And NPHC was pretty much a void of n o t h i n g n e s s . It is only because I pestered Rian (sorry) with every question I could think of during our conference (Tyler's fault for placing her so conveniently in my room) that I am semi-proud to say I know a decent amount about NPHC today. I was even able to give a clueless boy that was sitting at my table during our "Affiliation Lunch" (during which I sat with a collaboration of misfits - extremely interesting people to meet, in my opinion!) a crash course on NPHC organizations. All direct quotes from Rian, of course. Yet, I could honestly stand to learn more about PHA (Julie was too busy for me to pester, haha) and IFC. And since I have digressed, let me return to my point: how can we be a strong community, if we don't even know who our community is? We need more knowledge! Put your thinking caps on people, it's time to learn, and more importantly - educate the masses!

A legitimate Thinking Cap. Too literal? Maybe.

Class 5ish.

Prompt:
Oaths.

So, what do I think an oath is? I've been trying to think of something creative or witty to write for this blog prompt for a few days. Still drawing a blank. Frankly, I've never thought much about oaths, even though I've been living by one since kindergarten.

On my honor,
I will try,
To serve God and my country,
To help people at all times,
And to live by the Girl Scout law.

I didn't think much of it then. Mainly because I was 5 years old and the word "oath" probably wasn't even in my vocabulary yet. But I really was just there to be with my friends, do arts and crafts, earn badges, play with puppies once a week, and sell as many cookies as possible. I think that's what some people think about greek life. Not the selling cookies part, but maybe the, "I only joined to be with my friends," part. And that is a huge bummer for those of us who take greek life so much farther. Because the oath that we each take isn't just about friendship, arts and crafts, and playing with puppies. It's about leadership, philanthropy, sisterhood, brotherhood, service, academics, cultural diversity... the list goes on.

And our oath is for LIFE. It's forever. It's past college, past marriage, past your first kid. When I'm 52 I'll still be in a sorority, no matter how actively I participate in my specific chapter. And I'll still be proud of the choice that I made to take that oath, and I'll still be upholding the standards expected of me now by myself and my sisters. Some people we met at the conference this weekend were OLD and still actively a part of their organizations. And to me, that is so amazing. What is greater than eternal brotherhood or sisterhood?

I don't know the Girl Scout law anymore. In fact, I'm not sure I ever did. But I still try to help people at all times. I still try to serve God and my country. And that's what an oath is. Beyond the words, beyond the symbols, beyond the people you bonded with, an oath is something that should be so ingrained into your soul that you live by it until the day you die, even after you've forgotten the taking oath completely.

Stereotypes

I don't know exactly what you guys went to during the conference over the weekend, but a topic addressed by a few of the speakers I listened to was, of course, the stereotypes of greek life. Do we live them or do we break them?

It was actually during my first hot topic. Amanda, Qi, Brandon, and myself were all there. Maybe a couple others were hiding in other places. But this is what he did: when he asked for stereotypes about sororities, only guys could answer; when he asked for stereotypes about fraternities, only girls could answer. Let me tell you what a few people said.

Fraternities

• Beer
• Alcoholics
• Sloppy
• Players
• Tools
• Parties

Sororities

• Slutiness
• Ditzy
• Dramatic
• T-Shirts
• Fake
• Conniving
• Drunks (To which he responded, "And whose beer do they drink?" followed by a resounding chorus from the boys, "OURS!")
• Ugg boots and leggings as pants

People laughed when the stereotypes were called out. Was it a, "Haha, soooo true!" or a, "Haha, that's soooo what everyone thinks!"? Either way, isn't it sad? The fact is that we all hate the stereotypes. Maybe it originally steered you away from greek life. I know it did for me. I was NOT planning on joining a sorority, solely because I didn't feel like dealing with the stereotypes it would load upon me. But even though we hate them.... we still acknowledge they're somewhat true.

When you were reading the lists, and you skimmed over the worst ones, did someone specific come to mind? "Alcoholic. That is John to a T." "Drunken slut.... Jane, am I right?!" And yet we still have the audacity to be MAD when the newspapers pigeonhole us. OF COURSE they pigeonhole us. You know why? Because we pigeonhole ourselves. Even if we say that there are those that stand out from the crowd, those that do care about our ritual, we do nothing to change our friends who do embody the stereotype. They party all day, all night, while they sleep, while they eat. Drinking is a part of THEIR ritual. What's the point of wearing clothes when it's so freeing to streak through the streets? Why wear seat belts when they have to yell out windows at all the girls or guys they think are attractive?


The show I was watching not hours ago that inspired this post and reminds us that this really IS what people think about greek life -- While simultaneously being just something fun to watch.

So I ask you a question:

Q: What's the difference between greeks partying and "independents" partying?
A: Everyone KNOWS who we are. Your letters are emblazoned across your chest, even when you don't wear them. So keep that in mind when you're taking your 24th shot. At the end of the night, Ingrid Independent will go back to her dorm and wake up and one more freshman will have had a good time. At the end of our nights, we'll go back to our homes and wake up and everyone will know that AB sorority parties hard. All the time. Even if it's not true.


And here's another question:

Q: What have you done to help others change the stereotype today?
A: TBA.

Hahaha.

Just thought I'd share, in case you're having a bad day.
I found this at the same time I was writing my last post (about 30 minutes ago...), but it didn't really belong with what I was writing about, so I decided to give it its own post. Sooo... if you're an avid Ashley-groupie, you have another post to read below this one!

Enforcing the Rules

So, our chapter uses fines to enforce some of the rules for our chair holders' positions. I'm sure many - if not all - of your chapters do as well. The only reason we have to do that, is because some girls refuse to cooperate. Actually, saying refuse is too harsh. It's more like... they get lazy (or just tired - understandably so!), and stop wanting to show up. But with a small chapter, it's hard to give girls a break when there's so much to do. And it's not fair for only ONE girl to stop participating when other people are trying their best to keep up with everything. And thus... fines are instilled as a way of semi-forcing people to continuing putting forth all their effort.


But is it really their best effort? Once you get tired, and yet you're still dragged out to events, is it even worth it anymore? I don't want to see girls getting sick of participating, but it's also hard for us to slow down the pace when each quarter is packed with events we have to plan and host. I just know that if I were in a position where I had to fine a girl because she was unable to meet status quo, and therefore needed to cough up... I would feel awful. It is unfortunate that we have to go as far as imposing fines, but what else can be done when everyone is feeling too sleepy to keep up their values, but we need them to anyways? Things like going to study hours, attending dance practice (which was a voluntary event to begin with, but once you volunteer, attending practice is mandatory), the like... What else can be done? I realize that "Rules Are Made To Be Broken," but we really just don't have that kind of leeway available.



Not that I hold an E-Board position for KPL (therefore it's not exactly in my power to say, "Stop it! We need a break!" I mean, I suppose I could, but really...), but I was just thinking about it.



What would you do to boost your girls' (or boys') moral when you can tell everyone is burning out?

Class 4

Prompt:
What are your secret thoughts of ritual?

Sorry - I know this is late. I completely spaced out. I don't sleep enough. That's why I win colorful crowns. But here are my original thoughts on ritual, as uninfluenced by today's class as possible, so that you can see what I would have posted before class, had I been in my right mind.


Anyways, my secret thoughts of ritual really aren't that secret. As I said in the beginning of class today, I think people take the meaning of ritual a bit too literally. Normally, I think the word ritual brings to mind something along the lines of hell, fire, and brimstone. Something deep and dark that no one else can know about. Their personal new member process is the first ritual most people learn, and then once they cross over into brotherhood or sisterhood, everything they learn from then on becomes their definition of ritual. All the secrets are just compiled into one big file in their brain, and then they slap a big sticker on it and declare, "This file is full of ritual! Sisters/Brothers only!"



But I define ritual different. Yes, it is partially those "secret" things that make each sorority and fraternity different from one another (or in all actuality, perhaps makes us quite similar), but I believe it is also what we do and how we live out our values. I think a ritual is not something that is done yearly/quarterly/weekly, but is something that is done daily. It should be how we each personally develop the idea of what makes us a valuable member of our chapter. What you do to uphold your values, the standards you hold yourself to, I think those also make up part of the sorority and fraternity ritual. The "secret" processes are teaching you the basic overall ritual that helps develop a more personal ritual within each individual.

And maybe that's the "R" versus "r" topic that I am not quite clear on, but I think ritual is so much more than just things you can't tell other people. It is how your chapter chooses their activities and actions that uphold the values they believe in. Yes, ritual is our initiation, our rites, our secret pledges of faith, but it is how we live out those pledges that truly define what ritual means.

I know this is short, but I feel like I've said all I have to say. Ritual is not a dark cloak, dim lighting, and candles; it is personal choice and sacrifice for the sake up upholding a chapter's values.

Support

Between 23 credit hours of actual class time, school work and studying to do outside of class, stuff for KPL (and more stuff for KPL, and more stuff for KPL, and more stuff for KPL... you get the picture), and work, I feel like I have little time to do much else. When I do have a few seconds to myself, there is always some Asian organization (since that is the community my sorority runs in) that has an event we need to support. On top of that, MCGC organizations want us to show our faces for them, and show that we care. And trust me - we do - but how can we find time for everyone else when we barely have time for ourselves? I go to bed around 4AM or 5AM nearly every night, weekends included, and I don't go out and party. Yeah right, like I have time for fun. I don't even have time to respond to urgent emails, or fill out applications for other things that I would like to do... if only I could find a way to do them.

Okay, being in KPL is fun, but it demands constant attention.



So how do I stop myself from feeling guilty when someone else from our council has an event, yet none of our sisters can show up? Everyone has conflicts/prior obligations/homework to do. How can I squeeze more time out of a schedule that has no time left to give? This isn't about time management anymore. This is about being busy 25/8 on a calendar that only provides 24/7.



Do you guilt trip like I do when you can't show support for good organizations that you are supporting in your head? It's my physical presence that becomes a problem. If only I could be everywhere at once... I hate disappointing people, and I WANT to support them, but how can I do it when I have such a full plate already?