Final Blog

I think as college women, many of us make the tragic mistake of underrating ourselves. We cut ourselves down by underestimating our potential and only focusing on our perceived flaws. We take the things that we do for granted, never patting ourselves on the back for being committed, conscious citizens.

In this class, I believe that through the curriculum, we’ve learned that not everyone can do what we do. We’ve learned that as leaders, we are unique from those who choose not to lead. We’ve made the decision to put ourselves out there, by becoming involved with an additional commitment to balance with the rest of our lives.

I am one of those people who takes everything I do for granted. I never sit back and think, wow, it is really unique that I have made the choice to take on more than just that which I am obligated to do. I take it for granted that I care about the groups I am a part of and that I want to make them better. I rarely stop and think that it isn’t the rule, but truly the exception. I feel that through this class, I have learned to appreciate my leadership qualities, and to appreciate others who share them.

As a third year student, I had begun the all too common descent into the feelings of irritation that often come as an upperclassman in a sorority. As an older sister, it is common to begin to feel like you may be tired of all of the obligations that come with membership of a chapter. Often, we begin to resent the time a sorority takes when we have a million other things to do, and feel less connected than we have previously. In this class, we had the opportunity to reevaluate our reasons for loving and joining our organizations, something we do not do often enough. When I sat back and reflected on why I initially was so enchanted by my organization, why I loved it so much, I realized that those are all of the reasons that I still do love my organization. I realized how worth it all of the little commitments and obligations are, because those are what it takes to keep my organization going round. And though I don’t always have or want to make the time, if I keep in mind why I love my sorority so much, it makes obligations seem a lot more like benefits! I think this is something we need to do frequently with our upperclassmen, because I know I was not the only person feeling this way, but I really believe that if we could remind everyone of what it was about their organization that they loved so much that they wanted to become a member, maybe people would continue to appreciate their sororities and want to remain an active member.

I am realizing more than ever that there is real room for growth and development within the SFL community, and though it may seem daunting to embark on a journey of change, it is up to the people who really care about the vitality of our community to step up and make a difference. Change won’t happen overnight, and they certainly won’t happen unless people make it their priority. But it is people like us, the people who step up to try new things because we care about making a difference that will be the catalysts for change in our community. It is not some unattainable, far away person that will make a difference. It is us.

Before I don’t think I ever thought about it, but now I feel that I want to represent the SFL community in the best way that I can. I have realized the stigmas attached to the community we are in and I would like to be a part of combating the sometimes negative image we are associated with. I feel very responsible for being a model of the good involved with being an SFL member, and it is going to be something I remain very cognizant of as I continue on as a student here at OSU.

I feel empowered after taking this class. I feel like it really is possible to step up and lead my peers in ways I never expected. I feel like I have learned invaluable tools that will help me lead not just in college, but throughout my life in everything I do. I feel empowered to step up and be a more involved, positive member of my chapter, and to be an advocate for the entire SFL community. I have only seen the tip of the iceberg in terms of ways to lead and make a change in this world, but I think that I am on the right path and will feel compelled to utilize the tools I have been given to be a leader for the rest of my life.

Bloggity Blog 5...Becoming a Change Agent

I've always thought of myself as a leader. I've always sought out leadership positions because I enjoy being up front, directing people, and influencing what happens. But when I think about whether or not I am someone who can direct change, I am not so sure what I think.
Although I like leading, I can't think of a time when I have truly recognized a problem that I wished to address and dedicate myself to fixing. I definitely believe that I am the kind of person who could direct change if I really set my sights on an objective because I am assertive, passionate, and am not afraid to speak up. However, I often have a hard time with the idea that something takes a long time to see results, I like immediate gratification and depending on the issue, I might get frustrated and move on to something else. So yes, I believe that I can be an agent of change given an issue that I am passionate about and motivated to stick with.
One issue that I am extremely passionate about and one that I would like to work on within the PHA community is the poor body image that permeates the sorority atmospheres. I feel that it is overwhelming how many of us struggle with body image and eating disorders, and I don't feel that the food choices within the houses help us any. Often, girls gain weight when living in their sorority houses because they lack the option of healthier food choices. When they realize they have gained weight, they either freak out and stop eating or just develop a very negative body image. I think it should really be a top priority to improve the food quality and health in the houses.
Aside from the problems with the actual food choices, I think girls in a sorority are very influenced by the attitudes of the girls within their own chapters, and a negative body image and relationship with food is very contagious. I believe with an issue like this, my group could try to strive to spread the word about healthy relationships with oneself, and to try and be role models in healthy self image to the rest of the community. I know that this is something that is easier said than done because we all struggle with this issue in our own way, but given the time and effort, I believe a different attitude could begin to spread around to other girls and change could happen over time.
I don't know if I answered this question correctly, but I think that to be an agent of change one must feel connected and passionate about their cause, and this is the type of issue that would definitly inspire me to become an agent of change.
By becoming inspired with a cause and bringing in girls from my own group to work on this, people within my group would be able to dedicate themselves to the cause and hopefully begin to really change themselves. Hopefully the idea would spread from us to others and bring other women on board who would continue to spread the positivity and combat negative body image within the community. Its all about starting small and slowly spreading out to others.

Monkeys on Our Backs

The whole idea of a monkey on our back is something that really speaks to me as member of many organizations that I feel pretty passionate about. It is an interesting thing to consider, as when I joined the organizations that I am now a part of, I felt very excited about participating in the activities that I now often look at as monkeys on my back. These activities involve meetings, rehearsals, philanthropy events, sisterhoods, and various other commitments that are all a part of being involved actively in an organization. Often, during a week when I have what feels like a zillion other things to stay on top of, these commitments begin to feel like obligations, or as the book refers to them, monkeys on my back.
I guess it's a normal part of life to feel like our responsibilities are things to simply check off of a list, but it makes me a little bit sad when I think that I am simply racing through life, not looking forward to the things that I initially was excited to do because they have become time consuming or not as much of a priority on my list of to do's. However, it is these monkeys that make our organizations go round, it is the rehearsals that make my acapella group sound good together, it is the sisterhoods that bring the girls in my chapter closer on many levels, it is our commitment to service and philanthropy that makes us stand out in the PHA community, and that attracts a lot of girls to join our house. So even though these monkeys can feel burdensome, they are what make our organizations go 'round.
There is something to be said for the people who have committed themselves to being an integral part of our organizations, who take multiple monkeys on at any given time and tackle them because they want to, not just because they have to. They are the people who encourage us to take part in these monkeys with them, so that we all end up working toward the same goal. Unfortunately, in many instances, they end up carrying the load for everyone and work independently to carry out the tasks that everyone should be working on together, so the community aspect of these tasks becomes overlooked, and the responsibility of one or just a few.
I don't think that there is any way to MAKE people look differently at the monkeys on their backs, I believe that this is the kind of thing that people have to choose to prioritize, to look at as something they want to do, not something they are obligated to do. No amount of encouragement, bribery, or coercing is going to change someone's attitude. It has to be their decision to look at their obligations toward their organizations as something positive, something they want to do because they believe in it.

Engaging in Citizenship

When considering how I engage in citizenship in my life, I must first realize what I consider myself to be a citizen of. There are many communities of which I consider myself to be a citizen. The Ohio State Community, the Jewish community, the pro-Israel community, the women's community, and many more. In this post I will talk about multiple communities that I am a part of, and how I engage in citizenship in these communities.

1. Empowerment. Women's empowerment is something that is EXTEMELY important to me. I feel that many of my life's goals revolve around empowering women to become the best and most whole woman that they can be. Due to this passion, I decided to get involved with Girl's Circle, an organization on college campuses that reaches out to younger girls in the outside community who are in need of some girl power. We run girl's circles in which we follow curriculum that touch on various girl's issues in order to help these girls learn how to cope with their lives while feeling strong and good about themselves. I feel that by doing this, I am doing my part as a citizen of a women's community to empower others who are also a part of this community.

2.Awareness of the Issues in the Community's History. I am a zionist. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this term, it basically means that I believe in the existence of the state of Israel as a Jewish state. Now, in order to be an advocate for the state of Israel, I must be aware of not only the current events going on in the country, I must also have a good grasp on the history of the land. I have spent much time learning about and living in Israel, so that I have a much tighter grasp on the complexity of the historical issues of not only Israel and Israelis, but also of the Palestinians and surrounding Arab nations. It is extremely important to me to be able to be an informed advocate for the Jewish nation that I am so proud of, and so I make a conscious effort to educate myself and others about as much as I am able.

3. Empathy. Although I would not consider myself to be the most service oriented person, I have participated in a few programs that have given me a very different sense of the world through the eyes of other people. One was this summer. While living in Israel, I taught English to children from families with large socioeconomic problems. These kids were from social classes considered to be toward the bottom of society's ranking system, and were from families with little money, parental guidance, or any kind of security. I worked with these children from 9-5 everyday for two months, and was truly impacted by the difficulties they had to face. The children from Ethiopia not only had to go through hell to get to Israel from Africa in the first place, they now rested at the bottom of the social food chain, making it difficult for them to get the resources, education, and opportunities needed to make a better life for themselves. Often, their parents didn't speak Hebrew, and had little control over their children who felt superior to them due to the language barrier they faced. The Mizrachi children faced similar dilemmas, because society deems them less desirable than the lighter skinned Ashkenazi children whose families originated from Eastern Europe. On a daily basis I was able to see what these kids were going to have to overcome in order to improve their life situation, and gained a better understanding for many of the social complexities of Israeli society.

Post Numero Uno!

1. Why did you choose to become a recruitment guide?
   I chose to become a recruitment guide for a few different reasons. First, I consider myself a leader, someone who other people don't mind looking to for advice, guidance, or an honest opinion. I know that one of my passions in life is to be a role model or a mentor for other girls, because I myself have gone through really difficult times in which I have been guided by someone who I looked up to, and now that I am on the other side, I would like to do the same for other girls. I felt that being a rho gam would be an amazing way to practice this kind of mentor/role model job.
   Another reason that I decided to become a Rho Gam was because I really feel uncomfortable with the process of recruitment. It felt wrong to me to determine the fate of another girl after such a limited experience with them, like I was just judging them without giving them enough of a chance. Being a Rho Gam is an opportunity to get to know these girls on a different level, and build a real relationship with them, and make them feel comfortable in this process by being there for them.
   
2. What is the purpose of a recruitment guide? (In your personal view... don't give us a job description.)
   I feel that the purpose of a recruitment guide is to be someone who inspires the PNMs to become a member of the Greek community. I feel that it is the job of a rho gam to represent Greek life in a positive way, but also in a realistic one. What I mean by that is that the girls are going to be spending a lot of time getting to know their rho gam, and they will see what a sorority girl is really like rather than a quick fifteen minute conversation during rounds that may not touch on anything real. These girls are going to look at the Rho Gams as women who have gone through the process, established themselves in Greek life and in the university, and who have a perspective on the recruitment process that the PNMs do not.
   
3. What are your responsibilities as a recruitment guide? (Not just tasks and logistics...)
   My responsibilities are to look out for the best interests of my PNMs, and to not let my own biases interfere with ensuring that my PNMs end up where they should, not where I believe they should. My responsibilities involve being patient with the girls, being understanding and empathetic, and representing myself as a Greek woman in the most positive light possible.
4. Why are recruitment guides important to the Panhellenic and SFL communities?
   They are important because they serve as a tangible representation of Greek life, so the PNMs can get to know someone who is already a member of the community, but also someone who is relatable and approachable, someone who the girls can identify with and think to themselves, "I like her, she reminds me of someone I know, I think I could do this too." The rho gams can make this experience much more pleasant and less scary for everyone involved.