Can't Beat this Summer: ADPi Internship 2014

The last week here at Executive Office has been wonderful.

On Monday morning, Catherine Joiner came to EO to do a resume workshop with us. She went through the do's and don'ts and we were able to ask questions about our resumes. It was a great workshop! Not only is Alpha Delta Pi committed to our values within our sorority, but Alpha Delta Pi, and the staff here at EO, want to prepare us for our futures as women in the working world.  Throughout our time here at Executive Office, we had the opportunity to shadow many different staff members to learn about their roles and what their jobs are. We also had the opportunity to ask questions if we were interested in related fields.

Then on Monday evening we went to make dinner at the Ronald McDonald House in Atlanta. We got to make them tacos! Volunteering there is an really great experience.

Being able to help the families at RMH is life changing. It really makes you put life back into perspective. Often we get so involved in the most trivial things, we forget tho appreciate the value of a home cooked meal with your family. Being able to provide this to the families staying at RMH is truly a blessing.

On Tuesday night, we all decided to make a family style dinner. Lucky for us, Katie (a senior LC) and Ms. Pinkston were at the house and joined us for dinner. We had a lot of great laughs around the table.

Most of the week was spent stuffing Alpha Packets. Each new member is considered an Alpha Member until she is initiated, upon which, she is a Delta Member, or chapter member in full standing. During Alpha membership, women are led ,by their New Member Coordinator, through Alpha Member Education sessions. In these sessions, they learn about the history and inner workings of Alpha Delta Pi. The Alpha Packets are a supplementary material provided by EO that Alphas receive on bid day.

On Wednesday we went to froyo with the foundation and had a blast. Later that evening, we all hiked Stone Mountain. It was breathtaking. A mile hike up and back down right at sunset! It was so much fun! Definitely a major "to do" while you're in Atlanta. And it's free! ☺

  

Today was the last official day of the internship. It has truly been a life changing experience. I know I will have friendships that will last a lifetime with the wonderful women I got to spend the summer with. It is truly amazing how close eight women (sisters) can get in just six short weeks.

Signing off after an amazing summer!

Loyally, 

Paige ☺

Lights, Camera, Action

And the drama begins. Throughout life, we live on the drama. We thrive on it; it is the bane of our existence. Where would we be if it weren't for the drama? Students are a prime example of this. Never, or rarely I should say, do students take the initiative to actually do their homework in a timely fashion. When it comes to online homework, deadline: 11:59 pm, students wait till 11 or even 11:30 to start. Oh you have to have a critical analysis over a whole book? So "I'll" probably start the book at around 9 pm the day before it'd due..... right, cause that makes a whole lot of sense. "I work best under pressure." That age old line is a load of B.S. We don't work better under pressure, we just love the drama of not knowing whether we're going to make it by the deadline or not. We love the stories we can tell because we were up all night writing this paper that was assigned a month ago.

How about gossip? Where is the fun  in that? Please let me know, because I cannot for the life of me figure it out. Who is gossip fun for? Definitely not the person being talked about, I know that for a fact, as I'm sure every girl on the planet does. And it's not fun for whoever has to put up with it either. People always seem to gossip about someone to the gossipee's friends. WHY. who does that even make sense to? You know they're just going to run over and tell Sarah or Jane or Kylie or whoever it might be. But why do we go tell Sarah or Jane or Kylie what Suzie Q. said???? We want the drama, we want to see the anger, the humiliation, the sorrow. We want to hear how Kylie hates Suzie because she stole her boyfriend and made out with every guy on the baseball team, we want to hear the evil secrets in return.

Every single day, i envision and create these new dramas in my head. They are my paranoid nightmares that I think will somehow, some way, come true, no matter how unrealistic they are. I see myself being taken, I see friendships being ruined, people thinking or talking bad about me when I'm trying to help. I see relationships breaking, I worry that what I am doing isn't good enough or that I am not good enough for people who have chosen to be a part of my life. They are there for a reason, yet I can't help but to expect that one day everyone will pick up and leave; I will be alone, with no support. These dramatics overtake my life.

Yes, there's the bad drama, but there is also good. Drama for entertainment. Real drama, not the made up/half real lives of stereotypical housewifes in some major city or amish children breakin out against their beliefs. We go to movies, we read books, for the drama too, for the adventure. To see superman smash through a brick wall and save the damsel in distress, to see the poor, disadvantaged young woman beat the odds and become a successful business woman, wife, whatever she aspires to be. We see inspirational drama. We live in the drama. Every day, actors all over the country and world pour their souls into this life of drama. They do it to inspire, to create, to show their passion, to feel, to love, to share a wonderful creation or story.

The drama of our lives controls us. It leads every decision we make. What will people think if I do this or that. Will I be able to pay that bill on time? Maybe I'll get fired for this but hey, i like to live on the edge. I guess, to an extent, drama can be good. It can inspire us and push us to be better, so long as we harness this good drama and remove the negative. Curtain up! It's time to get this show on the road!