LAST BLOG!

What does citizenship mean to me?
What role does Alpha Gamma Delta play or should play in defining my understanding of citizenship?

cit·i·zen·ship 
–noun
1. the state of being vested with the rights, privileges, and duties of a citizen.
2. the character of an individual viewed as a member of society; behavior in terms of the duties, obligations, and functions of a citizen: an award for good citizenship.

To me, citizenship means to get involved within my community. Alpha Gamma Delta plays a part in defining what citizenship means to be by being the community where i am placed. I take it upon myself to be an active citizen of my sorority and show my citizenship by actively participating in our sorority functions

Panel

This panel had a lot to share and discuss with us about thier experiences with Greek life and how we can all work together to make it even better than it is. Out of everything they said, three things really stuck out to me:

1.) holding eachother accountable
2.)being responsible yet still having fun
3.)best greek moment

I really liked how they said that it is okay to hold your brothers and sisters accountable for thier actions. I know that a few people in my chapter try to do this and sisters sometimes just get pissed at them for calling them out. But its true. We need to be held accountable and hold our sisters accountable for thier actions as well. In doing this we will grow because we will act according to our values and expect more out of ourselves and others

Also, the one guy said that we need to have as much fun as we can. live life everyday to its fullest because there is so much to love and enjoy. Even if you have to pick up trash around campus, doing it with your sisters can make it so much fun and something valuable to remember. I know people always say "live everyday like it is your last" but it's true. Not everyday is promised to you, and we didn't join Greek life to be bored and burdened with the resposibilities we have as members.

When the panel was talking about their best Greek moments, that one girl said how she was nominated recruitment chair after just being initiated. She talked about how scared she was and how it was her first recruitments and she had absolutely no idea what she was doing. However, all the support from her sisters and having them know that she was capable of doing a great job with recruitment gave her the strength and courage to continue. I thought this was an awesome story because I know that if i were recruitment chair this year, with only being initiated last winter, i would be scared shitless. i think its awesome that she took on the challenge and that her sisters had enough faith in a new member to elect her.

OATH

oath 
[ohth]
–noun, plural oaths
[ohthz, ohths]

1. a solemn appeal to a deity, or to some revered person or thing, to witness one's determination to speak the truth, to keep a promise, etc.: to testify upon oath.
2. a statement or promise strengthened by such an appeal.
3. a formally affirmed statement or promise accepted as an equivalent of an appeal to a deity or to a revered person or thing; affirmation.
4. the form of words in which such a statement or promise is made.
5. an irreverent or blasphemous use of the name of god or anything sacred.
6. any profane expression; curse; swearword: He slammed the door with a muttered oath.
—Idiom
7. take an oath, to swear solemnly; vow.


soooo thats how the dictionary defines oath, and its definition is not too far off
I define oath as a promise that you make
i, for example, made an oath to Alpha Gamma Delta when i was initiated: I gave an oath to hold up to AGD's values and to live them out to the best of my ability.

I swore to myself and to my sisters that i would live by our sorority's standards and values.

To live up to my oath I try to learn from experiences everyday
To take care of myself to the best of my ability by working out and eating healthy
To stay friendly to everyone i meet, no only because i should but because i represent our sorority
I acknowledge and cherish the friendships that i develop with my sisters and to be there for them always
To take part of the opportunity to contribute to those in need by providing service
To know and honor where i am from
To be honest to everyone and hope that in return they are honest to me
To live everyday like it is my last and to admire the beauty around me
To set high standards for myself and for my sorority with the attitude that I/we can achieve them

This was what i promised myself, my chapter, and everyone when i joined Alpha Gamma Delta, and it is my responsibility to attain unto these promises

INcOngRUenCiES

hmmmm why do incongruencies exist? maybe its just because no body is perfect, and no one's chapter is perfect. Everybody has thier faults, even if they work hard to live thier morals and values.
what can we do about these incongruencies? We can continue to hold true our values and morals. But, we need to let people see our values through demonstration and action..not just speak of them. Reciting a mission statement or purpose means absolutely nothing if you don't sincerely believe it and act according to it.

Going Greek is already a controversial topic to begin with. Non-Greeks think of greek life like how they see it on television shows and magazines-as one big party. People not associated with greek life assume that greeks are big time partiers and skanks who don't care about thier school work or going anywhere in life.
us greeks can't understand why people would think this way about us. We try to save face and explain to people how we do soooo much community service and have high GPA's. But how much do we actually demonstrate to non-greeks the studying and community serive that we do instead of only explaining it to them?
NOT OFTEN.
Think about it. Have you ever walked to a TG down high street and gotten wierd stares from people around you. Well, obviously those people are not greek because greeks understand that when people are strangely dressed it is due to a TG (mostly anyways.)
These non-greeks look at us like they do not only because we are bizzarly dressed but also because we are running down the streets drunk screaming "TG TG TG" and some people even spell out thier letters. Once non-greeks realize what a TG is (and they do) they associate it with crazy, partied out greeks.
Dont get me wrong. I LOVE TG's, but there is a way we can be modest about it. We dont have to run through the streets screaming, we dont have to be completely hammered on the walk or bus ride there. If non-greeks realized that TG's were just like fun costume parties they would probably not be as judgemental. Just dont be abnoxious about it.

If non-greeks saw us out doing community service as much as they see us out partying, then we would not have this reputation. I know that i like to think that my chapter does a lot of community service around the area, but lets be honest.

I could easily quadruple the amount of partying i have done over the amount of community service i have done this year.

our purpose states "... contributing to the world's work in the community where I am placed because of the joy of service thereby bestowed.."

in no where in our purpose does it say to party. I'm not saying that partying should not be alowed. It is important to have fun and bond with your sisters and other greeks.
BUT what i am saying is that it is important to live up college life while you can
HOWEVER it is also important to live up to your values as well.

i think that's an incongruency that not only my chapter but other chapters everywhere have as well.