Welcome to the Dream

I know it has been a long time since I have posted. So much has happened in my life but it's all for the better. First off, I want to take this chance to welcome Oneonta's Class of 2013 to the blog! I wish you all the best and I truly mean that.

So- you may ask: where am I and what am I doing? Remember when I said I got accepted into SUNY Brockport's Washington D.C. internship program? Right now I am typing to you from DC. I have been interning at the Federal Communications Commission for a month and a half now. I will not lie to you- when I first came to DC I was scared out of my mind. I'm living at George Washington University and they wouldn't let me move in until June 7th. Work started June 8th. It is my first time living in a such an urban area, I grew up in Upstate NY, and we all know how Oneonta's like. The first week I was here I was wondering if I could even survive the summer.

Now I don't want to leave. The program ends July 31st. It will be so hard because I have made so many friendships and I truly love this city. There is so much to do and there is so much energy that it is so hard not to get caught up in it. However- I know for a fact that I would not be here today if it wasn't for Oneonta's fantastic political science program. I owe them all so much.

My advice to the freshmen: This may seem like a small campus but this is a place that can serve as a launchpad to your dreams. You will have so many opportunities here that will prepare you for the real world and you will meet amazing and awesome people here.

However- I must say that even though leaving DC will be bittersweet, I cannot wait to go back to Oneonta for my last semester. Freshmen- feel more than free to contact me if you have any questions about the school and make sure to look out for me when you all move in because I'm on the residence life move in crew!

...dreams come true. trust me on this.

Wow. I almost went a month without writing. But, there was good reason for it. If you have been following this blog (or this is your first time reading it, and in that case- I welcome you!)...I have been so busy preparing my application packet for SUNY Brockport's Washington Internship Program.

I received my acceptance letter yesterday =D I can't even tell you how floored I am for this opportunity- I have no idea who I'm interning with yet, the great thing about this program is that it guarantees me with a placement. And it's such a well-known program that I know I will end up somewhere awesome. 

To make things even sweeter- we welcomed 6 new sisters into our sorority yesterday, including my LITTLE!!!! They are amazing and I really cannot wait until we go on more adventures.

However- not all is shining bright in my life- but it's alright you have to take the good with the bad, and I also found out yesterday that I am not meant to be a diver! I decided to take Introduction to Springboard Diving because I love taking gym classes and the only pre-req was that you had to know how to swim and I live on a lake, so I assumed that hey- I'll learn the basics here! 

I was wrong. So, so wrong. My sorority does not call me Claps for nothing. Because of my lack of grace and coordination- I cannot even tell you how bad I was. I was the Bad News Bear to end all Bad News Bears. And I have the bruises on my hips to prove it. But you know what? I'm not going to quit, I'm going to prove to myself that I can do it, my friends who know how to dive are willing to show me the basics, and I'm going to keep with the class.

My roommates and I just finished watching Life is Beautiful, and with that- I end with this: Bongiorno Principessa!

Home at Last =D

I am so glad to be home. Although I love what I do on campus with my double major and my extracurriculars- the grind can be tiring. Especially since I was thrown a doozy of a week. I got sick last week and then this week I had 4 tests in a row. I do not wish that on anyone, I could understand if it was finals week, but I never had a midterm week like that. And the funny thing is, my finals week looks like a cake walk compared to my midterm week. All I have are 3 papers and 2 tests for finals. Ah, I would have definately preferred that, but oh well, what is done is done =D

I LOVE LOVE LOVE our new member class, especially my little Neffy =D What is a little? Sororities and fraternities pair new members with brothers/sisters to guide them through fraternity/sorority life. I am so glad that I got paired up with Neffy because if I was going to have a little, I wanted a little that reminded me of the qualities that I admire in my big sister, and Neffy emulates that to a T. My big is my best friend and I miss her so much (she's serving the country with Americorps right now) and what made me smile today was that my big texted me that she and my little were talking and they hit it off =D I cannot tell you how happy I was to hear that, I'm still smiling! I cannot WAIT until Gab is finished with her duty with Americorps...she comes back in August, which should be the same time I might be coming back if I get my internship in Washington D.C. I still have my fingers crossed.

Enjoy break everyone and make sure you take fantastic adventures.

Until next time,
Claps

Good Riddance.

There was nothing that made me happier tonight than when I found out that tomorrow, JuicyCampus.com will be shut down because of lack of advertising support. I have HATED that site ever since it came to Oneonta's campus because of the constant slander that appeared daily. Although some may say that the gossip is going to still spread, at least no one has to worry about seeing their name broadcast on a juvenile forum for anyone to see anymore.

In happier news, on Sunday my sorority had a Super Bowl Party with Pi Delta Chi. It was so much fun and I realllllly hope that we will get to have another get together soon. What I loved about it is that whether you were there for the game or the food (I will admit that I was the one by the food), it was such a chill time. I have wanted my sorority to hang out with another sorority so badly, and throughout this year I have had the chance to befriend a lot of the girls from PiChi, so I'm so glad that we decided to chill with them.

However, Lauren brought up a great point in her blog, and I would also like to comment on it. I also believe that 1st semester freshmen should be able to pledge a fraternity or a sorority. Some people may argue that freshmen should not pledge their first semester because of the time committment, and they may wreck the chance of them getting a good first semester GPA. Also, there are people who say that joining Greek Life their first semester may cause them not to seek out other clubs.

But honestly...I think that recognized Greek Life would be so beneficial for 1st semester freshmen. For those who argue about the grades: this could work two ways. I know schools across the country that will allow 1st semester freshmen to pledge on the condition that their high school grades were above a certain GPA. I feel that if those students cared enough about their grades in high school, they'll care about them in college as well. Also, for recognized Greek Life, in order to stay active you must have above a 2.5 GPA. If the first semester freshmen successfully make it through their new member program and at the end of the semester, they do not have that GPA, then they can't be active. However, because recognized Greek Life cares so much about grades, I do not see that as such an issue, especially with the study hours. There are also an incredible amount of leaders in Greek Life. For example, in my sorority we have 4 RAs (3 sisters, 1 new member), a CADE tutor, an Orientation Leader, myself as an SA senator, 2 OSES members, 2 Terps members, and many other sisters represent other clubs on campus as well. And I know other recognized sororities also have sisters who also are involved in active leadership roles. Why would a sorority that has so many sisters in leadership positions let a 1st semester freshman's grade slip? I know for a fact my sisters would never let that happen.

Also- Greek Life provides a way to make great friends and to network on campus. Everyone has been a freshman before, and Greek Life is a great way to get involved on campus. Greek Life does not keep you in a bubble, my sisters encourage me to take various leadership roles.

but that's just my two cents.

Let the "A" Girls Lead The Way!

=D Well, I bet you are probably wondering about what happened on Bid Day! We welcomed 6 great girls to join our sisterhood: Ali, Neffy, Blake, Kay, Amanda, and Jess. I'm really excited for them to start the new member process so I can call them "sisters" instead of "new members." But all in good time, pledging is fun.

As for me, life is settling back to normal now that recruitment is over. I did get elected to SA Senate and we had our first meeting. I have to say, even though I've only been to one senate meeting, I think that every student owes it to his or herself to run. It's really fascinating to have a really active role behind the scenes and I have to say, everyone is so nice and welcoming. Also, Phonathon has started again which is always a good thing because now I can get paid again haha. And that cold that I was complaining about in my last post is also gone. Sunday night/Monday morning was the worst of it. I decided to skip my classes in the morning because I had to take a breather. Unfortunately, I couldn't rest during the weekend because I had Phonathon Work Training on Sat and Sun and both sessions lasted 5 hours each.

Haha, however not everything is coming up roses in my life: I have an everyday battle going on between me and my heater in my room. Every other room in my Higgins Hall apartment is nice and toasty-warm...that is until you get into my room. My room is an ICEBOX. I literally have to sleep with 5 blankets on, in addition to the sweatshirt and wool socks. My roommates cannot stand to be in my room, it's so cold haha. I am definately talking with maintainance because I don't know how much more of this I can take lol.

Oh well- we shall see =D Until next time!

Spring 2009 Bid Day! 5..4..3..2..1..

It is only a half hour until Bid Day. There's a lot of anticipation present among all the Greeks. We want to see who, regardless of which organization they will be pledging, will be welcomed into recognized Greek Life. It really is a fun day that I wouldn't miss for the world...

and I mean that wholeheartedly because I'm sick right now. I'm not dying sick, but I'm coughing-congested-with a touch of a sore throat sick and a nap would be pretty awesome right now. But it's all good, I can definately wait a hour until all the festivities are over so I can take a well-deserved nap.

Wow, right now there's an Ice Hockey game on the pond right now. I definately think we should have more of those. Later on tonight, CUAC is hosting a Free Skate on the pond too. I'm really hoping that there will be Ice Skate Rentals because I don't have Ice Skates with me on campus (although I do have my rollerblades in my car...ahhh I love rollerblading so much).

I'm also running for SA Senate. Elections run until tonight. Right now I'm keeping an open and humble mind about the results.

But....ahhhh I cannot believe it though. I just called up the SUNY Brockport Washington Semester program and they said that I should have a favorable chance of spending the summer interning in Washington. If I get accepted to this program, I am going to be ECSTATIC. For those who read this blog, you all know my passion for politics and to be involved hands on with the process is something that...wow I can't even find the words.

It's time for Bid Day, I'll let you know how it goes!

Wow! That was cool!

Wow, it's such a small world! I never knew how many people read this blog but someone posted my last entry on Greekster.TV I would post the link to it but then I realized it would be pretty redundent because you would be reading the same thing. I'm very flattered for the publicity. But yeah, definately check out the website, it's pretty cool, it's a social networking service for Greeks.

Back to Oneonta tomorrow =D I can't wait =D

Back In Action: Hello Oneonta and a Preview of Recruitment Week!

You may be wondering why I am up so late. In the Aiello/Kavarnos house, we have experienced many wonderful changes. On Christmas Eve, my baby brother Luke was born. He's adorable, however lately he hasn't been dealing well with jaundice. Jaundice is a condition where your liver isn't functioning properly and your skin has a yellowish tint. It was to be expected because my other brothers and I all had jaundice when we were infants but Luke hasn't been taking to it well. He was hospitalized for two days and then released before New Year's. However, we went to take him for a check-up and the doctor was concerned because his skin still was tinted yellow and we had to go to the hospital for a blood test and his levels were somewhat high, but not drastic enough for him to be hospitalized again. Yesterday afternoon, we had his blood tested and it looks as if everything is going to be alright. And of course, with a newborn brings crying and wake ups throughout the night and the house never seems to settle haha. So I'm up and I realized: hey, I haven't updated this in a while!

Some people ask me, how do I see myself in my baby brothers' lives? My parents are divorced, and they got remarried to other people. From my parents' marriage I have two brothers, Raymond (19) and Michael (15). From my dad and stepmom, I have two brothers, Daniel (4) and Mark (19 months). And finally from my mom and my stepdad, I have two brothers, Ethan (21 months) and of course, Luke. Yep, I'm the oldest. And yes, I have always wanted a sister....but it looks like that will never happen. And I also hate the word "half-brother." Regardless of the parentage- they are my brothers and I will always be there for them. Sometimes the age difference gets tough on me, I am missing so much of their lives and I do get homesick for them. But my parents are great about putting pictures online and putting videos on YouTube. But I have to accept that I have to live my life for me. One day, they'll understand why it had to be this way.

So yeah- has anyone seen the weather that we're in for once classes start? I know that I am not looking forward to walking in Arctic-type wind. I'm glad that the snowstorm happened yesterday instead of the window when everyone arrives back to campus.

But with a new semester comes Recruitment Week! For those who are confused, Rush and Recruitment are the same thing, however the Inter-Greek Council prefers using the word "recruitment" because "rush" has negative connotations. From now until the end of this post, I will navigate through Oneonta Greek Life.

First things first, one may wonder what is the difference between recognized Greek Life and unrecognized Greek Life. I know I have written about this before, but I feel that it's important to bring it up again, especially to those unfamiliar with Oneonta Greek Life. At SUNY Oneonta, there are 6 recognized sororities with 1 seeking recognition and 3 recognized fraternities. These orgs are:

Sororities
-Sigma Gamma Phi aka Arethusa
-Pi Delta Chi aka PiChi
-Sigma Sigma Sigma aka TriSig
-Phi Sigma Sigma aka PhiSig
-Sigma Delta Tau aka SDT or SigDelt
-Mu Sigma Upsilon aka MSU
-Chi Upsilon Sigma aka Cus is seeking recognition from the college

Fraternities
-Chi Phi
-Phi Kappa Psi aka PhiPsi
-Phi Beta Sigma

The big, and obvious difference between Recognized and Unrecognized is that some orgs are recognized by the college and some are not. To me, I believe that Recognized Greek Life has so much to offer to Oneonta students. First thing is first: One must have a 2.5 GPA or above to participate in Recongized Recruitment. Starting in Fall 2009, all members of Recognized Greek Life must have a 2.5 GPA or above. If a brother or a sister does not have the required GPA, they will be inactive through the school and will not be able to participate fully with their org so they can focus on their schoolwork. Because of these strict scholastic guidelines, I really believe that Recognized Greek Life has students' scholastic interests at heart. Also, if you have above a 3.2 GPA, you will be invited to join the Order of Omega Greek National Honor Society.

Recognized Organizations also participate heavily in Community Service. At least every week out of the month, a Recognized Greek Organization is helping their community out. My sorority plays bingo at Robynwood Nursing Home every week, Phi Sig held a Kidney Walk, PiChi held a Charity Denim Event, Chi Phi always hosts Blood Drives, Tri Sig does a Rocking for Robbie concert, Phi Beta Sigma hosted a Night Out for the Homeless, MSU hosted a "Wear Blue" event benefiting Ovarian Cancer, SDT supports the Prevent Child Abuse charity, and Phi Psi does Bowl-a-thons benefiting a Philanthropy, and that is only the tip of the iceberg. We always participate in Relay for Life, Habitat for Humanity, and there is an upcoming Greek 5k for Charity! As a former community service chair for my sorority, I can truly say that Comm Service is what I love most about Greek Life and I'm so glad that we place such an emphasis on giving back.

Also, you can always count on putting the fact that you were involved in a recognized fraternity or sorority on your resume. In this economy, it is so important that you have something extra to make you stand out from the crowd, and placing your fraternity or sorority involvement is a great way to do that, especially if you held an executive board position. For example, I don't know how much it mattered on my Phonathon application, but I'm sure putting down that I was the Public Relations Chair for my sorority definately helped my application. If I was in a unrecognized organization, I wouldn't be able to list that because employers trace back to see if the Greek Org was recognized or unrecognized, and usually they will trash applications from applicants who list their involvement in an unrecognized org on a resume. And honestly- your involvement can help you out in the most unexpected ways in the workplace. At Phonathon, occasionally I will find out that an Oneonta alumna used to be in my sorority and I love getting though phone calls and finding out what Sigma Gamma Phi used to be in the past.

Also, Recognized Greek Life participates in great campus programs like LEAD and many programs are LEAD certified, so who knows, you can walk out with LEAD honors when you graduate because you participate in Greek Life! And Greek Week is so much fun, we get to do the Greek Olympics (I got to participate in the Pie Eating Contest and DizzyBat...but we won't go there haha), Greek Talent Show, and we had a great Greek Banquet.

Also- the most important thing is that recognized Greek Life adheres to a 100% no hazing policy. You have full confidence that if anyone reports a hazing case to Angie Eichler pertaining to recognized Greek Life, the matter will be investigated immediately and the group will be charged with a Class D or E felony, and will get stripped of their recognition. I can look you in the eye and tell you that I earned my letters without being hazed physically or mentally. I know what the pain is like, when I was at Hartwick, one of my best friends was hazed and one day she was crying to me because they kept her out at all hours of the night and her grades were slipping and I knew that I was never going to let that happen to me, which is a big reason why I went recognized.

Another question is what's the difference between local and national? Oneonta has two local recognized Greek orgs: my sorority, Sigma Gamma Phi, and Pi Delta Chi. Everyone else is a National Organization which means that they have chapters nationwide and report to a national headquarters. Local orgs don't have a national office and they can either only have one chapter, such as PiChi, or have regional chapters, like Sigma Gamma Phi. We have chapters in SUNY Potsdam, SUNY Fredonia, and SUNY Geneseo. As one who is interested in recruitment, you may ask yourself: do I want to be in a sorority that only has one chapter, a few regional chapters, or many chapters across the country? To me, I don't feel like I missed out on the sorority experience by not being in a national organization. My sorority meets up with our other chapters and even though I LOVE my sisters in Potsdam (I still smile from the memories of our reunion), what really matters is how well you fit in with the chapter you're interested in joining, and in the end, I didn't focus on what was national and what was local, I focused on if I could really see these girls having my back in the end. Also, local orgs tend to have lower dues than nationals.

Which brings me to another point. If you have read this blog, you know that I am very concerned with the economy. It is true that joining a fraternity or sorority costs money. One misunderstanding is that "we pay to have our friends." That is ridiculous. Because fraternities and sororities are selective organizations we are not able to receive money for the SA for our budgets. Because of that, we have to pay dues. My dues go to sister retreat events, recruitment shirts, new member education materials, community service budget, social event budget, recruitement events budget, our savings account, alumni weekend budget, to the Inter Greek Council budget, and so much more. For those worried about not being able to afford a sorority or fraternity: do not worry. I know for my sorority, we have payment plans. There is no shame to have a payment plan, for as long as I've been in the sorority, I've been on a payment plan. I'm pretty sure other fraternities and sororities have that option as well, especially during these times. Talk the matter over with the treasurer of the org you want to join, and they will give you the truth about the dues.

Also- joining a recognized, greek org will not take over your life. I am busier as the training director of WONY than I am with my sorority. Not because we don't have a ton of events, it's just that my office hours and Phonathon tend to conflict with a lot of them. If you can't make an event because of work, another club, or homework, your potential sisters will understand. In fact, I'm so busy with WONY that I had to step down as a Greek Peer Advocate for this semester. You can choose how involved you want to be.

Finally, before I post the schedule of recruitment events- if you are interested in recruitment, come into it with an open mind and an open heart. Don't worry about not fitting into the typical sorority stereotype...trust me, I am FAR from that and people have a hard time believing that I'm a sorority sister because I don't fit the stereotype. Have fun, and most importantly, find the girls (or guys) that you can really see having your back. Honestly- I don't regret it. I can't imagine what life would be like without being in a sorority. Because without it, I wouldn't have met my some of my best friends. On my radio show, my co-host Chris O'Dea is my sorority sister. Sometimes our sorority advisor, Christine Edwards, phones in during our show and it's always hilarious when she does. (shameless plug: Listen to Indie, Sex, and Rock n Roll on Mondays from 1opm to Midnight on WONY 90.9FM or listen to us via webcast on http://organizations.oneonta.edu/WONY/) I would encourage going to Meet the Greeks, but if you feel rushed timewise during it, I don't blame you. I will tell you right now that I'm more of a one on one person and I hate talking in a noisy Hunt Ballroom. Personally, I enjoy going to Sorority Round Robins and Philanthropy Night because I feel that I can really get a chance to talk to the girls in a quiet room. I really hope to meet you, if you've been reading this blog, and prepare for a fun week =D

IGC Recruitment Events:
Wednesday, Jan. 14th: Meet the Greeks, Hunt Ballroom, 4PM
Saturday, Jan 17th: Sorority Round Robins, Hunt Union, 2PM (my favorite event!)
Monday, Jan 19th: Fraternity Poker, Hunt Union, 8PM (just in case guys read this blog)
Tuesday, Jan 20th: Philanthropy Night, Hunt Union, 8PM (my other favorite event!)
Wednesday, Jan 21st: Sorority Preference Night and Fraternity Informationals, Hunt Union, 8PM (this is invitation only)
Friday, Jan 23rd: BID DAY!!!!! (the BEST day you will ever have!) Hunt Union, around 4PM


keep it real!