Insomnia?

Well, it’s 5:17 a.m. and I cannot sleep. Which frankly ticks me off because I didn’t fall asleep until 2 a.m. Hmm maybe it was the coffee I drank at 11 p.m.? Not really sure but I figured a little bit of writing might put me to sleep so what better time than now for an update…as promised! Oh and speaking of coffee, I officially have an addiction. But it's not my fault that Starbucks is literally everywhere. I should have my own special rewards program with them at this point. I don't even want to know how much money I have spent on venti iced coffees so far. Anyway...

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Let’s see…I believe we last left off, as far as details go, with my visit in San Diego. After SDSU, I headed to my greatest “culture shock” (so far) of a chapter and campus. Colorado College, located in Colorado Springs, is a private school of 2,000 students. They have three sororities and three fraternities! I was there for recruitment and 30 potential new members hoped to join one of the three groups. Shall we examine why this is a culture shock for me? Sure! I graduated from a public university with 24,000+ students. We have 17 sororities and 27 fraternities and each year about 1300-1400 potential new members go through recruitment. CC also operates on a block schedule, meaning they take one class at a time for three weeks and then they move on to the next. They are in this class for about 3 hours every day. The block plan is what attracted most of the students to CC…well that and the beauty of Colorado Springs. Colorado Springs is absolutely gorgeous! The women of the Beta Delta chapter were wonderful hostesses and I really enjoyed getting to know them. They are from all over the country and are very intelligent and driven women! CC also focuses a lot on studying abroad so it was exciting to hear about where all they have studied and are planning to study. I really enjoyed my time in Colorado Springs!

Pike's Peak in Colorado Springs

Me with the women of Beta Delta on Bid Day. They proudly welcomed 8 new members!

After recruitment at Beta Delta, I traveled to my first regular CDC visit (no recruitment involved) at Indiana University. IU has one of the largest Panhellenic systems in the country with TWENTY sororities! Now this was more up my alley. I had visited Bloomington and IU once before when I attended UIFI (the Undergraduate Interfraternity Institute) in 2009. I did not get to go inside the beautiful DG house though so I was very excited to be traveling back to a lovely campus with one of our oldest chapters! Theta chapter was founded in 1898 (DG was founded in 1873). It was so cool for me to see an older chapter, given that my chapter was founded in 2003. I was fascinated with all of the DG history surrounding their chapter. Oh and did I mention their amazing house? It can sleep the most DGs of any of our houses with over 110 women living in – the majority of their chapter! They only recently implemented a live out policy. The house is in incredible condition for its age (dating back to the early 1900s) and I loved getting to see a thriving sisterhood in which so many lived under the same roof. My time at Theta was very relaxing and it felt like home. The women were super friendly and fun to be around.

Theta chapter house

At the conclusion of my visit with Theta, I was a happy camper for multiple reasons but specifically because traveling to my next visit did not involve flying! WAHOO! I’m still a really anxious flyer…it’s slowly getting better. Theta’s FABULOUS House Mom (she has been their House Mom for over 20 years…they even call her “Mom”) drove me about an hour and a half to Indianapolis to the Alpha Tau chapter at Butler University! Well, I was super excited about this visit since we got our schedules because this is one of the other CDCs chapters! CDC Kelsey is fantastic and I couldn’t wait to see where her DG experience began. The Alpha Tau girls were great and it made me so happy to see how much they love and admire Kelsey. During my presentation to the chapter, I talked about the CDC program so they could know just what it is that “Kads” is out there doing! The women were gracious hostesses and I loved hanging out with them. They even watched the Auburn game with me! Also, Butler’s campus is gorgeous and they have a very close knit student body. These women are very proud to not only be DGs but to be DGs at Butler. Yet again, another wonderful visit!

Alpha Tau's anchor

 Alpha Tau celebrated its 86th birthday during my visit!

HOLD THE PHONE! I forgot to mention one of the most exciting things ever that happened during my visit at Butler. Delta Gamma has this “little” magazine called the ANCHORA (pronounced “Anchor-uh”). It is published four times a year and it’s been around since oh…I don’t know…1884!! Well guess who is on the fall 2011 cover!? THE CDCs!! I saw the hard copy for the first time while at Alpha Tau and it was so unbelievably exciting. Check us out below!

 (insert giddy squeal here)

Following my Butler visit, I visited one of the best places in the world…home. I don’t think I have ever been so excited to go home; even with attending Auburn for four years and being six hours from home. There’s something about traveling nonstop and unfamiliar people and places that really makes you appreciate where you come from. That’s not to say I’m not enjoying my experience because believe me, I am. I have THE best job and I love it. It’s just now the expression “there’s no place like home” has taken on a different meaning.

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So what did I do on my glorious week long break in wonderful NC? Well a lot of random stuff actually. First of all, I slept and I slept A LOT. It was fantastic…especially to sleep in my own bed. I also did a lot of shopping – tisk tisk! I have got to cut out my retail therapy – it’s getting a little out of hand J. Did I mention I have had to ship a box of stuff home from EVERY visit because my suitcase is constantly over 50 pounds. Embarrassing, I know. Anyway, the best thing about being home was being with the people I love. Awww cheesy, right? But man, did I miss them. I was greeted upon arrival at my house by two of my favorite "people" - my dogs, Vesey and Emmy. Also, it was great to just sit in the den with my dad and watch TV and just BE STILL. There’s nothing quite like the presence of dad. He always makes everything better. It was great to spend time with my mom – I’ve always been a mama’s girl. And of course, fun to goof off with my little brother. I also had some wonderful visitors while home. My little sister pulled a surprise on me and showed up at dinner on Friday night (she’s a junior at Auburn, for those of you who don’t know). It made me so happy to see her face…I’m pretty sure it even brought tears to my eyes. I also got to see a good friend from high school and my two best friends that live in DC came down for the weekend. It was so nice to see their lovely faces. OH, I also went to the Panthers and Saints game! It was so exciting to see Cammy Cam play in the NFL – even though we lost. PS, the NCAA finally closed the investigation against him and Auburn. BOUT TIME! I won’t go off on a tangent about how frustrating that whole thing has been but I’ll just leave it with…we told you so. Oh and some apologies would be great. WDE.

 

My break at home was much needed and allowed me to get well rested for my next six visits. I am currently writing from Boston, MA (specifically in Charlestown) while on my visit at Harvard. I’ll save my experience here for another time but even after just one full day, I am in love with Boston.

So that’s a little bit of what has been going on in my life. I really can’t stress enough how neat of an opportunity this is and how lucky I am to have this job. I know how fortunate I am and I’m doing my best to soak up every second. I have been to some really neat places, have met some amazing people, made it on the cover of the ANCHORA (hello, dream come true) and have learned a lot about Delta Gamma, others and myself. I'll probably mention how much I love my job in every blog post...just an FYI :)

Six visits down…six to go!

Where am I going after Harvard? My next two stops are…

#1 – Chi chapter at

#2 – Zeta Delta at

I’ll update again when I can – hopefully the next time won’t be this early in the morning when insomnia decides to kick in J Have a great weekend, everybody! I plan to spend it with some sisters in a pretty neat city…oh and make time for some Auburn football in there as well. War Eagle!