One Week Gone: ADPi Summer Internship 2K14

Aloha!

We're one week into our internship and things here at executive office are going swimmingly!

Last week we had plenty to do.

Day 1: We met everyone in the kitchen, and surprise, they brought us Chicken-Minis from Chick-fil-a! YUMMM. I had never had them before but they were delicious. Then we went downstairs to the training room. Typically we'll start our day in there and either wait to get our assignments or complete projects in the training room. Once we got downstairs, we did a true colors" workshop with Jen Dickinson. She is the Growth and Development Manager at EO. Basically she works on everything expansion related, including colonization projects (my chapter just colonized 2 years ago! ☺)

So the premise of the "test" is that we all have characteristics from four colors: blue, orange, gold, and green. Blue is centered around emotions, orange is all about spontaneity, gold focuses on organization, and green on innovation. You can take the test and see what color you are by clicking on the link below!

http://campusrec.unc.edu/sites/campusrec.unc.edu/files/Personality%20Test.pdf

The last time I took this was in the fall of 2012. I was a perfect three-way tie with 15 points in Blue, Orange, and Gold. This time, I was a Gold first(15)then an Orange(14), then Blue(13), then Green (8). It is interesting to me to see how your personality slightly changes by where you are in your life. I think I have become more focused and organized since the last time I took the "test" and my positions in Alpha Delta Pi have shaped my leadership into a more leader-oriented "way".

Then we met with each department individually and got to learn a little more about what each specific department did. Our first day was a success!

Day 2: We met with Jen Dickinson again and learned about the expansion. There is so much that goes into the expansion that I didn't know before. Each campus is so particular in so many ways that we have to see if we are a good fit for the campus and if the campus is a good fit for our organization. Then we got a tour of the print shop! We met Robert and got a tour of the print shop after lunch. It is so cool back there, we have a plate-maker just like in a printing press. There is also an old collator and paper cutter, as well as the oldest shrink wrap "machine" I've ever seen. There were TONS of standards codes covering the tables - I'm sure we'll get to organize those soon enough!At the end of the day we got to do phone training. We learned how to transfer calls and put people on hold - daunting tasks for phone newbies.

Day 3: Wednesday morning we had a meeting with Mrs. Ablard. She talked with us about our licensing and marketing. We use Affinity Marketing Consultants for our greek licensing. By using them, we make sure that our organization and brand are never used inappropriately and that we always have only the best representation of Alpha Delta Pi.

Day 4: On Thursday, we all got to go to individual departments and work with them. Abby and I got to work with the Alpha Delta Pi Foundation.

           Established in 1983, the Alpha Delta Pi foundation accepts tax-deductible gifts to provide essential resources for alpha delta pi sorority's educational, leadership and philanthropic activities. The foundation funds a variety of opportunities that benefit alpha delta pi sorority and its members as well as the preservation of monuments and memorials that are special to Alpha Delta Pi sorority's place in history.

We both got to learn about the scholarships that the Alpha Delta Pi Foundation offers at both specific chapters and to any Alpha Delta Pi member. The Foundation also has emergency grants for members of ADPi who have fallen on hard times. This is just another reason that I know Alpha Delta Pi is such an amazing organization.

Day 5: It's Friday! Friday! Gotta get down on Friday! We learned all about social media from Joanie Oben. She's the Marketing and Communications Coordinator. She deals with everything PR related with Alpha Delta Pi and she does a fantastic job! She uses this really cool website to schedule her important tweets (like chapters' centennial congratulations and the like) called hootsuite.com.

After work, we all ventured to Krispy Kreme for DONUT DAY!!!!!!! #whatagreatday Aka. free donuts at Krispy Kreme. Also, as our faces were smushed up against the glass watching the donuts, we were approached by none other than.....new advertising guys for Krispy Kreme! They asked if they could take our pictures eating delicious donuts. Um...DUH. So. If KK decides that is the direction they want to go with their new ads, we might be donut models! #THECOOLEST. right!? I know. Crazy, but who wouldn't want to stuff their face/laugh/be adorable in front of a camera for fun.

On Friday night we went to see the Fault in Our Stars, a movie based on the book by John Green. It was FANTASTIC. Check out my "review" here: http://turntopaige394.blogspot.com/2014/06/okay-okay.html!

On Saturday, I had a soccer game in Chattanooga! (I'm playing with a Women's Premier Soccer League team here in Georgia called the Georgia Revolutions!) The girls all went to the Coke museum! (I went with my family before they left, don't worry, I didn't miss out on "the wonderful world of coke")

Sunday we all reconvened and went to the Virginia Highlands SummerFest! It was about a mile's worth of tents filled with artwork and jewelry and other really interesting/cool things for sale! They also had what looked like TONS of amazing food! A bunch of us got popsicles and of course we had to have a photoshoot!

All in all, I'd say it was an incredible first week experience!
See ya round (like a donut)!
Paige ☺

Okay. Okay.

The Fault in Our Stars was a beautiful story to experience. I have not read the book so my critique, or rather praise, may be somewhat limited; however, I do not think that takes away the validity of my perspective. 

The movie captured real life, real stories, and real people...in a not so real way. The story was traditionally speaking, a work of fiction, the stories within the film were far from unrealistic. There was an infinite number of circumstances that touched the heart of every member of the audience in an infinite number of ways. 


"Some infinities are bigger than other infinities."

The tale John Green so beautifully constructed dealt with the obvious; it dealt with death, with love, with wanting to be or mean more, with time - or the lack of enough time... but it dealt with so much more, it dealt with faith, inspiration, strength, trust, vigor and courage - a fight, challenges, and what it takes to overcome them, and metaphors that would make any grown man weep at in the simplistic beauty of. 

“It's a metaphor, see: You put the killing thing right between your teeth, but you don't give it the power to do its killing.” 

I cannot think of anything to do but to share the impact the story has impressed upon my heart. 

“That’s part of what I like about the book in some ways. It portrays death truthfully. You die in the middle of your life, in the middle of a sentence” 

Everyone wants to matter, to be big or important or special. We all have this innate desire to shine. To show people that we are here, we are capable, we are talented, we are wonderful.

We are wonderful.

You are wonderful.

We shine in ways we couldn't even begin to imagine. Augustus - the main male character - wanted to be big, to be large, to show the world he was a hero - in a big way, in a small way, he wanted to be known by the world. I think we all want to. And I think we don't truly appreciate or realize the effect we have on the people around us. Augustus was a hero - maybe not to the world - but to Hazel...and to me. I think the outlook that Green wrote into his character, or that Ansel Elgort portrayed for that matter, was a breath of fresh air and a beautiful view I can only strive to hold. There was a humor and lightheartedness in death. The death was inevitable, it was life they could celebrate and enjoy. 

Green dealt with love, the greatest and truest part of life almost anyone desires to experience. 

  "I'm in love with you and I'm not in the business of denying myself the simple pleasure of saying true things. I'm in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we're all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we'll ever have, and I am in love with you."

"As he read I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once."

It took his players by storm, it overtook them like a wave overtaking the shore and swept them away into this imperfect perfection of truth and reality.

In this world we live in, I think there is little to keep us alive. There is not much we have...

“There will come a time when all of us are dead. All of us. There will come a time when there are no human beings remaining to remember that anyone ever existed or that our species ever did anything. There will be no one left to remember Aristotle or Cleopatra, let alone you. Everything that we did and built and wrote and thought and discovered will be forgotten and all of this will have been for naught. Maybe that time is coming soon and maybe it is millions of years away, but even if we survive the collapse of our sun, we will not survive forever. There was time before organisms experienced consciousness, and there will be time after. And if the inevitability of human oblivion worries you, I encourage you to ignore it. God knows that’s what everyone else does.” 

But the one thing that will be remembered, I think, for eternity and beyond, is love. Not in its physical or emotional state or any other state you could fathom for that matter, but in a sense that regardless of life and death, in this world that we live, there will always be love. Somewhere, in some far corner of the world, there is a love that encompasses a people, and those people will share and continue to share the love with a person and a culture and a generation and a nation and a world and a universe and a life. I know that we will end, but love goes on. Not in a love story that is passed, not from a book or a song, but thin inexplicable feeling of perfection in the worst times and someone to share with in the best times. 

Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort captured the spirit and truth behind the characters. The two actors took their characters and made them people. People everyone can relate to. They made them real. 

The Fault in Our Stars captured the real. I can only dream that we, as a people, will be nothing less than real. That we will not hide behind facades or fears. That we will take life by the horns and swing the bull around. That we will say our lives have no fault - we are amazing; we are the lucky ones. 

Okay. Okay.

ADPi Weekend Update: Summer 2K14

Heeeyyyoooo! What's up from Memorial HQ!

Here's a little bit of what we were up to this weekend here at Executive Office.

Saturday morning was a lazy morning for us - we all hit the snooze button more than once! After our lazy start, we decided to hit the mall! After all, we are girls, who could resist?! We went to a HUUUGEE mall in Buckhead and spend the day sifting through racks and racks of clothes. J. Crew, Vineyard Vines, C Wonder, Urban Outfitters, and more! What more could a girl want?

Obviously after a long day of shopping till we dropped, we had to replenish our bodies and reenergize. Lucky for us, Kathryn's uncle owns a restaurant right across the street from where we were! We ate at The Tavern. They served all sorts of delicious food. We had barbeque/queso chips and bruschetta and it was AWESOME. The had so much variety, we all loved it! On the way back home, the storm hit and we all were soaking wet by the time we made it inside; it was definitely worth the great day we had though.

We turned in for a quiet night. A few girls from our new colony at Shorter University got to stay at the house with us. They were here for their Alpha Member Education. We got to hang out and talk with them - they are definitely cool girls and I am so glad that they get to be a part of this awesome sisterhood!

Sunday morning rolled around soon enough. Erin, Lyndsey, and I decided to go to Passion City Church. It was HUGE. Unfortunately, we didn't foresee trouble parking but because of the crowd, we were a little late and missed the worship portion. We still got to hear a great sermon and know for next time to plan for crowds. They film their sermons and post them online so everyone can hear the great messages that they share. Check them out below! ☺

http://www.passioncitychurch.com/watch/

After church, Lyndsey, Abbey, went to the YMCA. We get an away membership while we're here which is great! They took an awesome spin class while I hit up the free weights. After our YMCA adventures we went home and relaxed for the rest of the day. (Except Abby and Kayla who explored Little Five Points - this super cool "hipster" area here in Atlanta - but don't worry, I'll go and check it out and bring back pictures to share!)

At the end of the night we all watched The Bachelorette together! I was super skeptical at first but the show is beginning to grow on me - I still kind of think the concept is stupid, but they dressed up as old people to go on a date! HOW CUTE. And I think we can all agree that Andrew is a jerk and we want him out now.

We're all so excited for our first day tomorrow! Outfits have been laid out and lights are off.

Now it's time for me to lay down and get my beauty rest for a great first day!
Loyally,
Paige ☺

Hey Party People! 2K14 Internship Day 2

The end of day 2 has come but it certainly has not gone; not quite yet anyway!

Today was filled with getting to know yous! So I'll introduce them all ☺



This is Kayla, she is currently the Recruitment and Management Vice President and last term she served as chapter President. She is a member of the Alpha Epsilon chapter at University of Nebraska!








This is Erin, she is currently the Membership Education Vice President (holla MEVPs!!!) and will be attending Adelphean Compass as a fill in for chapter president (how exciting!) She is a member of the Epsilon Eta  chapter at Mississippi State!






This is Kathryn, she is currently serving as Chapter President at Zeta Rho, aka Vanderbilt University. She was the Recruitment and Marketing VP previously!









Hey there party people! This is Kelly, she is currently serving as Chapter President as well. Previously, she served as the Executive Vice President. She is a member of the Delta Gamma chapter at the University of Arizona!








This is Alex (or Alexandria ☺), she is the Director of Standards and Ethics for her chapter - #toughestjobever what a trooper! She was a member at the Gamma Rho chapter of Arizona State and is currently a member of Theta Gamma at Sonoma State!





This is Abby, she is currently the Executive Vice President at her chapter. She is a member of the Alpha Kappa chapter at the University of Tennessee - Knoxville!











And last but certainly not least is Lyndsey! Previously she was the Membership Education VP. She is a chapter member at the Zeta Omega chapter at the University of Central Florida!











Kelly and I went for a run this morning around our cute neighborhood, and lemme tell ya, the humidity here is KILLER on the lungs - hopefully we'll adapt quickly!  We got back to our beautiful house to find our six once sleeping sisters wide awake and ready to prepare for the day.

There were seven of us (soon to be eight) getting ready in this bathroom this morning; we all share one shower; so with seven girls prettying ourselves up for the day...well, you can imagine the struggle. Hopefully we'll fall into a routine soon! Maybe our mornings getting ready will not be quite as hectic once we all settle into a better schedule #fingerscrossed

Amanda gave us a tour of our beautiful home (Memorial Headquarters) and Executive Office in the morning. Our home is gorgeous and has tons of old memorabilia from presidents past. There are so many cool and interesting things to learn about ADPi. There are even badges from when we were Alpha Delta Phi (we changed to Alpha Delta Pi because there was a men's fraternity with the same name #confusing)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEosj1fO0vk

Later we got to have lunch with Amanda, our boss, Linda Ablard, and none other than Ms. Pinkston herself! She may honestly be the coolest woman I have ever met. Rumor has it that she has two wardrobes and doesn't wear an outfit twice in a year! HOW AWESOME IS THAT!!!!! Here's a pic. of this awesome lady.

what a star ★

Abby got here this afternoon as well! YAY! We're finally a complete group!

We took an adventure to the grocery store and we all bought waaayyyy too much stuff!





This is just one of 3-4 carts that we had and it's completely full
*insert sheepish look here*











Tonight is our first weekend night here! We're just having a girls night in tonight watching We Are the Millers and eating Ben and Jerry's #typical but we're so excited! Love all these girls already and I'm so excited to spend the summer with them!

HAGS
Loyally,
Paige ☺

Summer Internship 2K14: ADPi Edition

Today was the beginning of an adventure that I'm lucky enough to call Summer 2014! I arrived in Atlanta, GA last night and today spent my first day at Memorial Headquarters and Executive Office of Alpha Delta Pi. I met six of my seven other roommates (Abby is coming later) and they are an amazing group of women. I feel so privileged to call them my sisters and call 1386 Ponce my home for the summer.

Tomorrow we will get an official tour of both EO and Memorial Headquarters then Amanda (our intron coordinator) and Mrs. Ablard (the Executive Director) are taking us to lunch! I am so lucky to be working so closely with both of them this summer. Amanda is not only our intern coordinator but our Collegiate Relations Coordinator as well! I have worked with her (via emails and phone calls of course) about our chapter's new members and initiation status and I know that I will learn so much from her during the six weeks I will be here. Linda Ablard is an amazing woman and as the Executive Director she holds a high position in ADPi and holds much responsibility. Along with these two wonderful women I will be working alongside and learning  from, I am also fortunate enough to have the opportunity to work with our International Grand President, Tammie S. Pinkston.

     

Lucky me, I got a letter and a gift bag from Ms. Pinkston herself!

This is the beautiful house I will be staying at all summer! 

 I am so excited for what is in store this summer! I get to attend leadership seminar as well. I know that there will be so many amazing experiences and I have so many wonderful opportunities!

Signing off on her first day!
Loyally,
Paige ☺

Pass a Smile Instead

We tear people down,
we tear them apart
where did this begin,
where did it all start?

Each day we wake up
in our nice warm beds,
no ill thoughts or feelings
run through our heads.

Our little nights rest
has made us renewed;
you can't start the day
in a horrible mood.

Yet somewhere along
our routine-trodden path
something sets us awry,
we can't  help but to laugh.

Again the thing comes.
it bothers and boasts;
it won't upset you today,
it cant hurt you, it won't.

Then you hear this and that,
a cold, snide remark,
you can't take anymore
and your whole day goes dark.

You shrug it off
and go on your way
in a grumpy mood
for the rest of the day.

Then you begin,
you and all your vexation,
you start to chide
at some kid's reputation.

Throwing harsh words around,
saying they don't mean a thing
but when you heard them minutes ago
only sobs could you sing.

We pass on the hate
and the hurt and the pain.
It isn't for us,
pass it on, play the game.

Just remember the baggage
you carry and wear
and how you never know
what another must bear.

Keep your cold hearted comments
and your words to cause pain,
just tear them apart
and throw them away

Spread a smile instead
a warm glow of light
let everyone know
today will be alright

And your smile will spread
around the world it will go
and if you stay positive
your neighbor's smile will grow

Someday you will find
with a smile so strong,
nothing can tear you down,
nothing will go wrong.

The Truest Sentence You Know

"All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence you know." -Ernest Hemmingway

Each day is a new day. Begin it with a yawn, a smile, and a thank you for the chance to be given this day. Be a morning person. Smile at everyone you see. Today is YOUR day. Do not compare it to anyone else's. You may encounter strife, setbacks, and struggles. So not complain about them and do not let them get you down; there is so much more to smile about. Find something (or someone) to love. Love them with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. "Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." Find a passion, share a dream. Laugh. Be silly or goofy or weird or quirky. Be young. Be intelligent. Think before you speak and then do not regret what you say. Never apologize when you are not ready to, or if you are not in the wrong. Make mistakes, it shows you are trying, it makes you who you are. Take one moment a day to cry - but only for something you care so deeply about that it would hurt more not to cry. Do not push your problems or hurt onto others. Remember that everyone has baggage. Do not assume. Live today as if it were your last. Be able to light up a room with your mood, your personality, and your smile. Write, read, love, smile, laugh, dream, sing, pray. When the day is gone and done, crawl into bed, completely exhausted because you gave every part of your soul to today. Think a thought, dream a dream, close your eyes,  and smile yourself to sleep.