She's alive! She's alive! She is so alive!

8:00 am Monday morning, she rolls over to check the time. 8:00 am? She wants to be a little annoyed with how early it is but she can't; she feels perfectly rested, she woke up on her own, no alarms buzzing in the background. As standard in this day and age, she reaches for her phone and checks all the social media apps she can find before realizing there's no hope in going back to sleep. She hops out of bed and into the bathroom, brushing her teeth and hair and deciding today is a no make up day. She goes back to her room and pulls on the closest clean t-shirt she can find - she's definitely going for the comfortable look today. She grabs her backpack and computer and heads straight for Starbucks. "Grande caramel iced coffee and a lemon pound cake please," as she partakes in early morning exchanges with the barista. She gets her coffee, pulls out her computer, and begins to write. 

What a perfect way to begin the morning. Hello world, it’s actually me! I’m alive! You may be wondering where the heck I’ve been for the past two months, but don’t worry, I didn’t actually die – it only felt like it. I suppose here is where I begin a “life update” so to speak. I’ll let you in on all my happenings and whereabouts and such and tell you all my secrets from the past couple months! (wow so exciting right! …Obviously… my life is full of secrets *insert hair flip emoji and sarcastic face emoji*)

Now before I begin, why should you, a perfectly spectacular, random in all the best ways, typical human want to read this post (or blog in general) or even care about my “life update”. In a lot of ways, I really can’t answer that question. Maybe I’m crazy and that’s intriguing. Maybe, just maybe, I might say something interesting. It’s possible that I’ve faced something in my life that you can relate to and that gives you hope in knowing that you are NOT alone! (how exciting!) Or maybe my weird quirks just happen to be entertaining and I can put a smile on your face for even a short time.

Okay, but here’s the deal. Two months is a lot to sum up. So throughout the week (hopefully *fingers crossed*) I’ll be posting smaller posts about my life. WOOO! Get excited, because lemme tell ya, it’s pretty exciting! Okay? Okay. Class time now so I shall "see" you crazy, beautiful souls soon!

L8r friends 

☺

Paige

It's Not Goodbye, Just See Ya Later: ADPi Internship 2K14

As the first goodbyes are said, and the first of tears are shed, our time in this office has officially come to an end. We all look back to the beginning. Eight complete strangers wander into the bunk room. The only thing we knew was that we were all stuck in one room and we were all interns at Alpha Delta Pi.

Who would have guessed that eight women would get so close in six short weeks. My time here has been completely life changing. Each and every day I found another reason to love this sorority. I felt challenged to grow, and by golly, I did! I formed relationships that will last longer than a lifetime and strengthened the bonds of sisterhood we all share.

The seven women I was lucky enough to share the summer with are inspiring. They are perfect role models and great leaders. I feel so blessed to be able to call them my sisters. I know that our love for Alpha Delta Pi and each other will bring us back.

It's never goodbye, just see ya later. ☺

Love and Loyally,
Paige☺

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 ☺

Moving On

It’s time to start a new chapter. One that leaves behind past lives, past longings, and past loves. Once upon a time, it was okay to be in love with that soldier you could never have. You could dream for days and nights of the moment he would step into your sight at the airport – the sprint to greet him, jumping into his arms, the happy tears you would cry as your family reunited. There are times we need to grow, and in order to grow, sometimes, it seems, we must let go. There is something about then future that is terrifying – a fear of the unknown. When we are uncertain of the road ahead, we often take comfort in what we know. Perhaps conversations with old friends, love that once blossomed, or even the familiar smell of home. Whatever it may be, we lose our future to the past. We sacrifice for all we cannot have and long for what is behind us.

We long again for our childhood fantasies, our dreams of the perfect world. We hope for the make believe stories from our games of “house” as we so loved to call it. The dream to be an actress (with a loving and attractive husband, a son and twins – a boy and a girl, and a beautiful mansion home with a red door, wrap around porch and a swing under the willow tree out back). We find comfort in the thought of our mothers cooking dinner as we tried and tried (to no avail) to put off our ABC’s and 123’s as long as possible. To this day, I look to my parents for every answer, when, in reality, they can’t make my life decisions for me. Slowly, I am beginning to understand that as an adult, I must come to make my own decisions about where my life will go and the means I will achieve it by.

We reach for the old friendships. All through high school we complained. “Suzie Q. is so popular, I’ll never be her friend…blah blah blah…Jane Doe is my BFF Forever!” And we don’t stop! We find out that Suzie Q. has gone on to work at McDonald’s on the weekends (nothing to criticize that life, but you had always imagined her as the hoity toity business woman). Jane has finally confessed that she spilled all of your secrets and sabotaged your chances at XYZ University. AND STILL we long for Suzie’s approval; we boast about our “best friends” like Jane – when in reality, these people are toxic! We never leave high school. We still wish Brad had noticed that quirky girl in the stands at every football game, that when he let you borrow his pencil, he was really giving you his heart.

WHY must we long for these things that bring us nothing? They don’t just leave us grasping at straws in life, they keep us running to them – but with every step forward, you find yourself two steps farther back than you were before. We hold onto the good times and we hold onto the bad times. When James broke your heart but you still wait for that letter in the mail…every day.

We need to reach beyond what we know. We need to GROW. We need to move past the known and work our way into uncharted territories. The perfect life on the big screen with the house and the kids, maybe you can have it, but it comes with a price. Maybe you realize your dream wasn't practical. Set out for a new goal. “You’re never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” – C.S. Lewis. So dream a new dream! Think about what you want NOW and chase after that NOW. Don’t go racing into the past, trying to pull memories from thin air and make them real. Make a new friend, one that is the complete opposite of Jane. You take on all that you thought Suzie would accomplish but never did!

Now I am not saying to forget about the past; the past makes you who you are, and without any single one experience, you could have a completely different outlook on life. Congratulate those you love (and those you hate) for their successes, I’m sure you’d appreciate the same from them. Learn from the past and let it live in the past. Move on now. Take the world by storm. 

Changed for Good

Hello hello hello! It sure has been busy here at EO and let me tell you, it has been wonderful and exhausting and amazing.

Leadership Seminar (LS) has come and gone and the week has been a fantastic blur. All week prior we spent frantically preparing last minute details and writing about 5 zillion violets!

What's a violet you might ask? Well, it's this little flower sticker that you stick onto your nametag at LS. They cost $5 and all the proceeds go to the Clasped Hands Fund which provides emergency grants to alumnae who have fallen on hard times. These emergency grants have helped sisters in need for thirty years, since the beginning of the Alpha Delta Pi Foundation, and the Foundation is committed to supporting sisters for many more years to come. The Alpha Delta Pi foundation sold over 6,000 violets at this summer meeting! What an amazing accomplishment!

The whole week was chock-full of great information about leadership and personal growth. There were four main points of focus: leading with self, leading with vision, leading with action, and leading with relationships. Each part was broken down into subsections where we were able to dive further into the topics and discuss how to be a better leader in each of those areas. It was truly an amazing experience. I am so excited to bring everything I learned back to my chapter this fall. 





My favorite topic of the sessions was on opening night. Beth Gentry Mannle, a former grand president, read through The Creed of Alpha Delta Pi. She did so in a way that explained how our creed matched our values and how we could lead by exemplifying each idea mentioned in our Creed.



I believe in Alpha Delta Pi. I believe that my sorority is more than a ritual or a symbol, that it is a way of life. I believe that the principles established by our founders in 1851 are enduring attributes exemplifying the highest ideals of Christian womanhood. I believe that our motto, "We live for each other" expresses the true spirit of fraternity and that by living this motto my life will be enriched by true friendships and unselfish service to mankind. I believe that the privilege of membership in Alpha Delta Pi bring the responsibility to do my best in whatever I undertake, always remembering that leadership requires confidence tempered with humility and courage blended with tolerance. I believe that I must strive to become a well balanced person by following the four dictates symbolized by the diamond shaped badge. First, strengthening my own personality and character, second, watching my attitude toward my fellow beings, third, recognizing the value of high educational standards, and fourth, developing faith and loyalty. I believe that these four guideposts, guarded by the stars and friendly hands clasped in the Adelphean bonds of fellowship will lead me to achieve a rich and useful life.

What an amazing creed. When I committed myself to Alpha Delta Pi, I committed myself to the values set forth in our creed. I committed to holding myself to a higher standard. I committed to becoming the best self that I can be. The Adelphean Compass program at Leadership Seminar focuses on leading (obviously) in such a way that you have a strong foundation in self. One has to be self aware and confident in themselves. She has to know her strengths and weakness, how she communicates and responds to different situations, before she can lead others. The program focused on knowing the individual before trying to lead a whole group. It was definitely a great learning experience from an Alpha Delta Pi perspective and a life perspective. 

Throughout my journey in Alpha Delta Pi I have been privileged with many amazing experiences and wonderful opportunities. Not only have I been able to attend conferences where I can develop life skills (like LS) but I have also been invited to sing at them.

I have loved to sing for as long as I can remember, and I'd like to think I'm pretty good. In any case, I was asked to be the song leader and lead the blessing at each meal this summer meeting. Truly an honor on its own. Not only that, but I was asked to sing (as entertainment ☺) as well! 

When I first began my journey in Alpha Delta Pi, Casey (one of my chapter sisters) and I decided to sing at our Installation banquet. Nothing special. We sang "For Good" from Wicked. It's a wonderful song. Truly beautiful and I love it. But that was all the value it had to me at the time. 

Well that was the song I sang Friday night at LS. Who knew that in two short years, I could have fallen so much in love with something. This organization has brought me so many amazing opportunities and experiences I can't even begin to explain. I feel like I have begun to change into the woman I want to be and I can see myself growing in positive directions, all the thanks I give to ADPi. She has truly shaped who I have become and I am so looking forward to a lifetime of membership in Alpha Delta Pi. This time around, the song was the same, but the emotions, completely different. I have met some outstanding chapter and alumnae members and I feel so blessed to call each and every one of them a sister. Thanks to Alpha Delta Pi, I truly believe that I have been changed for good.




       Love and Loyally,
       Paige ☺

A Day in the Life of an EO Intern

Good Evening All!

I've just been busy busy busy all day today!

Kelly and I began our morning in the print shop with Robert. Robert is probably one of the most interesting men I have ever met. He began working in the print shop for Alpha Delta Pi in the 80's and has been here ever since. [I think] he went to Stanford University (I may be completely off on that but if it wasn't there it was another incredibly smart school). So Robert lived in Australia for a bit, he taught a little and truly (I believe) lived his life to the fullest. He has so many incredibly stories that he is so willing to share. We have talked with him about tons and tons of things from books to motorcycles to circus art. (Fun Fact: He does silk work for fun! How awesome is that!) He was fascinated by the printing trade and just took it up and he loves it. It is really interesting to see what a positive impact Alpha Delta Pi can leave on people, even if they aren't members. He truly enjoys working for "the sisterhood" as he calls it. He refers to Debbie Black, his manager, as "Our Fearless Leader" and everyone in the office as Sister Sally, or Sister Amanda, or Sister ________. About a week ago (when we were shrink wrapping standards codes) he read a letter to us that he had written to one of Alpha Delta Pi's founders on Founder's Day a while back. It was to Octavia. It was adorable. He is extremely poetic. Instead of saying no, he always says "nay not so". His favorite book is Huck Finn.

Anywho, today we were working in the print shop. Last week when we were in there, we shrink wrapped the standards codes for every single chapter! There was a ton! This week we were working on Ritual Books. We had to stack the sections together and shrink wrap over 500 Ritual Books. Let me tell you, it's very time consuming. And after awhile, the shrink wrap roller can get heavy and you start to get a pretty good arm workout in!

Later, we went inside to work on Violets for my Sister for Leadership Seminar next week! The Alpha Delta Pi Foundation sells violets for $5 a pop that you can send to sisters who have influenced you or that you just want to say "hey, I appreciate you!" to. There are SO many.

After violets, we went and sat on the phone at the front desk for a bit. I am getting super comfortable with that which is great because I used to hate hate hate talking on the phone. I think I'm pretty good at it now ☺

Later, I went to work on manuals with Joanie. Basically, we have to update all the manuals to make sure they don't contradict and information for a specific topic is only in one place and not five different places. I sorted through the Total Membership Education Tools manual today. It took awhile but I definitely think that it will make a huge impact for chapters when they are looking for information and this way, they won't have confusion in how they are supposed to complete tasks.

After work today, we got to meet and have dinner with Ms. Tammie Pinkston. She is the International Grand President. We sat and talked for hours. She is truly an amazing woman. We talked not only about ADPi but also about the business of the world and in general and even just life. She has such an amazing outlook on life. She knows who she is and where she comes from. I always try to live my life without regrets and learn from mistakes I've made, rather than feel sorry for myself about them. That is something Ms. Pinkston prides herself on. She said, "I have no regrets, I've made mistakes, and I learn from them." I just think that that is a wonderful perspective to have. Another thing that I think is amazing about this woman is that she doesn't just whine and complain when something is happening that she doesn't like. If she thinks something needs to be changed, then you better believe she's diving right into the project and willing to spend her time to fix what needs fixing. She understand the value in doing and I truly appreciate to have that quality in a role model.

She talked about one other thing that I think is critical in being part of an organization, business, etc. "Leave the organization better than when you came to it." I think that a lot of times people get caught in the credit when sometimes things take time. Regardless of who gets credit, I think that if you have a sound way to better your organization, then by golly, you better do it! Why would you seek to stay the same. There is always room for growth and improvement and as members, it is our duty to make our organization the best it can be while we are there.
I think that Ms. Pinkston is an incredible role model (with an incredible wardrobe!). I feel so lucky to have had several opportunities to meet and chat with her about life and Alpha Delta Pi.

All in all, I'd say today was a perfect day here at Executive Office.

Signing off!
Loyally,
Paige ☺

Adventures with ADPi

It's definitely warming up here in HOTLANTA this week!!

Tuesday was an amazing day! We got to go to the Ronald McDonald house, it was a blast! Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) "The House that Love Built" provides housing for families of children who are seriously ill or injured. Some families have to travel across the country to get treatment for their son or daughter and the RMH gives them a place to stay. Typically the RMH will ask for a donation per night a family uses a room, however RMHC understands how costly it can be to provide treatment for a child with a rare or serious illness and will never turn a family away because of their inability to pay. 

What a great organization! We went today and participated in the Baker's Club. We baked the children and families cupcakes and got a tour of the Atlanta RMH. It was such an amazing experience. We get to go back in a couple weeks and make dinner for the families. I am so excited to be able to volunteer with such a great cause. 

Visit www.rmhc.org to learn more about this wonderful organization, find a location near you, and maybe even go volunteer!

Tuesday night we went to an Atlanta Braves baseball game! It was so much fun (although the Braves didn't have such a great night)! 

Today we had a workshop with Jen Webb who is the Executive Director of 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 are having dinner with the Trustees on Friday night and Jen gave us an exercise that these women actually do! We were given a set amount of dollars and had to decide how to allocate the money to different grant requests. (She didn't give us real money though *sigh* only m&ms!)

At first, we all found it difficult because we all pull from different chapters and atmospheres. Some campuses really benefitted from educational tools like District Leadership Conference while others felt DLC was a bust and the Leadership Consultant Program was what really needed the money. We all talked about what we thought was the most important and impactful to Alpha Delta Pi. It was such a great exercise because it is definitely something so relevant not in just Alpha Delta Pi but in any business aspect. Along with dealing with a financial responsibility we all learned a bit more about effective communication and how to take those skills into aspects in our lives later down the road. 

We eventually made a final decision on how we wanted to allocate the money!

These past two days have been a blast! Tomorrow we're having dinner with Ms. Pinkston! SO EXCITED! ☺☺☺☺

Loyally, 

Paige

 Take me out to the ball game!