First Day!

So even though today has been tiring NGLA is already off to a fantastic start. It started with an eventful van ride where we couldn’t find anywhere to park in the parking lot once we got to Hartford and ended with an awesome presentation by Phired Up. Since I am now a junior I have heard about how NGLA is and I can tell already that all of the great things people have said about it are going to be true. I have had a chance to meet our membership manager from headquarters, buy a new set of letters from the Greek Boutique, and spend an afternoon and night with amazing Greek leaders from BSU.  After doing all of these things I was lucky enough to see Phired Up for a second time, by now I think I am a little bit more socially excellent! Shira and Matt were amazing and I was able to talk to a woman named Trish that was in a national agricultural sorority. It was really interesting to learn about an organization that was based on something as simple as a major. While it is neat that when immediately joining the organization they had a common bond I am so proud to be in an organization where we focus on learning about all the different aspects of all of our different sisters. I am so excited to go to the different sessions and learn all about different things I can bring back to my chapter tomorrow and Saturday!

Lots of Greek Love,

  Caroline

Day One

Day one of NGLA is past us. Our van ride wasn't too bad. Only about 2 hours and I slept a good portion of it. MB apparently doesn't know how to park (with a van at least!) We got settled in...kind of. The room for the guys wasn't ready yet so we had to leave our stuff in MB's room until they cleared ours.

The only thing that we went to tonight was Phired Up Productions Social Excellence Training. If you've never seen them before it is truly something to witness. It is full of laughter and intense insights to what it really means to be social. There were a mass of quotes to try and remember. Luckily we can tweet! So I saved them all that way. Unfortunately I didn't write down the names of the quoters so bear with me on that one. But my favorites were, "We build too many walls and not enough bridges" -Mark Twain (?). "Let no one ever come to you without leaving Better and Happier." (Mother Teresa). "Strangers are just friends we haven't met yet" - Phired Up Crew. And there was one hashtag that everyone received with little inspirational quotes on them. The one that I got was #BeThePerson who challenges the status quo in favor of wild dreams" There were hundreds of the #BeThePerson quotes on everyones chair. I didn't get to read them all (obviously) but I'm sure they were great.

Tomorrow is a new day and I am excited to be going to The Powerful Persuasive Greek Leader, Understanding the Role and Function of the North-American Interfraternity Conference and How It Can Assist You in Developing a Successful Fraternity Community, and  Be an ACTion H.E.R.O.: The ACTions of the Supers Successful Student Leaders. Hopefully these will all be as great as I am expecting. I am sure that they will be.

Have a great night all!

IT'S DAY ONE EVERYBODY.

We've officially made it to NGLA after a smooth two hour ride (hoping the ride back is easy too). After settling in, we obviously set off in the direction of the free stuff, and the "Greek Boutique". Can't help but be a little disappointed in the lack of Kappa Delta Phi gear available, but it's probably for the best as I would likely throw $60 their way if it was available.
     A pleasant dinner at Subway was interrupted by an extremely friendly old woman who gives tour of Hartford. she discussed everything from the great library in Hartford to Star Trek. Needless to say, this was an interesting experience, but definitely a welcome distraction in an otherwise uneventful dinner.
     The nights activities consisted of a quick welcome speech followed by a social excellence event presented by the Phired Up duo. Every bear was respectful throughout the presentation, and split up to make meaningful connections with a stranger. I had the good fortune of meeting a nice sorority woman from the University of Connecticut named Christine. After some basic introductions we had a pretty solid conversation about the current state of social justice in our world, and how we want to create a more just social environment for everyone.
    I guess that's it for now. Big things ahead for everyone. Dragons to slay.

DC

Socially Excellent Blogginnnn

After being a idiot (and having mono) and missing Phired Up social excellence training when they came to our campus I had the fortunate opportunity to experience it first hand this evening. IT WAS GREAT. At first it felt goofy and weird but then I started to realize that most interactions that are meanwhile do start out with some awkwardness. I met Branden who works for a leadership development program located in Colorado during our one on one and thoroughly enjoyed our conversation. Once Shira broke down the social excellence into the 4 easy to understand tiers I realized more what social excellence was. Two quotes resonated with me from tonights presentation "Let noone come to you without leaving better and happier" -Mother Teresa; this resonated with me because I truly feel that I try to live this way. The other quote that I really liked was "We build too many walls and not enough bridges" -Sir Issac Newton; We need to work harder to build relationships then to build enemies.

Socially Excellent

The world would be a better place if everyone accepted others.

Today, some really amazing greeks and ventured off the Bridgewater Campus to NGLA! We checked into an awesome hotel and got ourselves settled, then went to the greek shop. I walked in thinking, "Man this is going to suck. I'm a part of a local greek organization, so the choices in items I can get are few to none." I was wrong! (this is almost my favorite part of the day) I made a Phi Pi key chain and got a cute mug with phi pi on it and a blanket and I'm sure my wallet will kill me in the morning, but it was awesome! HOORAY FOR PHI PI DELTA THINGS!
Delta Shout out: If you want greek things text me and I'll get them for you!

After, we went to dinner and then to Phired Up.

I have attended a Phired Up conference before, but this time, I had a truly excellent conversation with someone I've never met. We were asked to start a personal conversation and they gave us a few topics and we chose "the world would be a better place if..." She turned to me and asked me what I thought and I replied if people accepted one another. If no one thought someone below them and just accepted others as equals, then I truly believe there would be no war, no hunger, no poverty, and so on. Then I asked her, and she said that I took the words right out of her mouth. We both shared stories of people they knew being discriminatory and how much it surprised us because the people we make connections with are very accepting and willing to learn and listen.

That is exactly what I plan and look forward to doing at NGLA: learning and listening. I'm scheduled to go to a couple of awesome speakers tomorrow and I can't wait to hear all they have to say!

See you all tomorrow readers!
Delta Love,
Jen

The Night Before

So it is now the night before we leave on our journey to Hartford, Connecticut for the Northeast Greek Leadership Association conference (NGLA) and I couldn't be more excited. Unfortunately I am stuck on RA Duty in Crimson Hall all night but it's whatever. I got some things packed earlier tonight but I still have some essentials to pack. I usually do not wait until the night before like this, but it happened this time. I am still trying to figure out how to transport a suit jacket safely there, besides just wearing it which I would like to avoid if possible.

I do not know exactly what to expect which is generally uncomfortable for me but I think it will be okay. Bloggin

Tis the Season! BSU Greek Bears head to Hartford!

Attending NGLA with a group of enthusiastic BSU Greek leaders is always one of the highlights of the academic year for me. I have always been so impressed with the caliber of student leaders who apply to represent BSU at the Northeast Greek Leadership Association annual meeting. This year we have a great mix of up and coming leaders and established chapter leaders from chapter presidents to colony president, to newish leaders and ready to take on the Greek world leaders, we have an outstanding group who I know will benefit greatly from the experience.

 I am looking forward to seeing some of my very favorite fraternal family colleagues as well as the opportunity to present a session with some of the best. I hope you will help us spread the word of our blog and comment (a lot) on what the students share (they love feedback!). Now to head home and pack! 

Fraternally,
Maribeth