Think Theta, Clemson Recruitment 2011!

Hello from Clemson, South Carolina!

I have had a wonderful week with the women of the Delta Phi chapter! Recruitment was a huge success, full of LATE nights, fun lunch dates, godzilla's, hilarious advisors, and so much more!

On Wednesday afternoon I was greeted at the airport by a very enthusiastic advisor named Melissa... or loving known as Crouch. Little did I know she and a few other advisors would become such fast friends!

The Delta Phi women were so welcoming to me! My roommate, Kelly, was so much fun! She got roped into late night conversations almost every night. The VPA, Caroline, is basically my twin. We have so much in common its unreal! The entire ERB and Exec were so much fun to hang out with... which was nice seeing as how we stayed up until 3 am many nights of my visit.

 ERB

Exec

Caroline, VPA

Some of my favorite, scariest, and funniest memories of my visit come from the cockroach infestation the Little John (basketball arena where rounds 1,2 & 3 were held) seemed to have. Literally, have never seen that many bugs in my life, yet somehow laughed the entire time! The bug invading the exec suite where the majority of our ERB meetings were held was loving named Godzilla by none other than Crouch herself.

Did I mention the first few rounds of recruitment are done in the basketball arena? All of the chapters are separated by tall black curtains, but nothing can contain the noise of all of the door songs! It was such a neat experience to see.

On my last full day at Clemson JP, the ritual advisor, and Caroline took me on a tour of the football stadium to see Howard's Rock. The tradition is for the football coach and team to rub the rock as they run down the hill for football games. When the rock is uncovered there is even security close by! The rock is such a big deal, women come from all over to have their picture taken with the rock in their wedding dress.

JP was such a good sport, she even watched old "There's Only One Oklahoma" clips with me to get ready for game day!! Can't wait for football time in Oklahoma!!

Preference round was held in the iconic bell tower at Clemson. It was such a special night for me! It brought me back to 845 Chautauqua, thinking of my preference round and how much Theta means to me. Three incredible women gave their stories as to why they love Theta and literally brought me to tears. The perfect pref round was topped off by papa john's pizza and working with ERB until 3 am.

I had such a wonderful experienc with the women of Delta Phi! I already miss them and hope to see them again soon! I am looking forward to hearing how successful Bid Day is!!

Now boarding to Stockton, California. I will be visiting The University of the Pacific!





Well Hotty Toddy, hello from Ole Miss!

"Are you ready?.... Hell yes! Damn Right!
Hotty Toddy, Gosh almighty
Who the hell are we-- Hey
Flim Flam, Bim Bam
Ole Miss By Damn!"

Ole Miss can be summed up in one word, southern. I loved every second I spent with the women of the Epsilon Zeta chapter! My visit was full of tradition, hospitality and most of all sisterhood.

I enjoyed sweet tea with almost every meal, much to my liking. I was able to try an Oxford speciality, Newks, and loved it! McAlisters originated in Oxford, so of course I had to go to the first McAlisters...

My first night to have dinner at the facility the chef prepared the chapters favorite meal which they eat for their first dinner every semester. The meal just so happens to be my favorite meal from my college experience, chicken poppyseed! Night two I enjoyed sweet potato casserole, which if you know me is one of my favorites as well. The frozen yogurt machine also supplied us with an endless supply of cookies and cream fro yo! YUMMY! So over all my love for food was more than satisfed at Ole Miss :)

Mama Gin and the women were a hoot! The women drove me around campus repeatedly and even indulged me in a photo shoot on campus.

The sweet Epsilon Zeta president, Hillary, kindly shared a room with me and we became fast friends! I am now decked out in Ole Miss Theta tshirts and cannot wait to add one of them to my tshirt quilt after my travels! Purchasing a Hotty Toddy shirt is also in the future :) The women truly welcomed me into a home and family enviornment! I cannot wait to return to help the women during recruitment!

Today, I travel to Clemson, South Carolina for recruitment! I cannot wait to meet the women and share in this experience with them! Now boarding...

Theta Love,
Madison

Just the Beginning.

After a month of training, one visit under my belt and a visit home, it's time to fly solo. Before my journey (and this blog) completely begin, here is an update as to how my traveling has been so far.

The month of July was a crazy and exciting month full of new friendships, LOTS of information, laughter and even the NKOTBSB concert to top it off! To recap the month here are a few pictures that captured each moment:

The three full time traveling ELCs (Justine, Katharine, and Me)

This is the group shot of all of the Kappa Alpha Theta ELCs 2011-2012.

This picture was taken after our outdoor photo shoot when we were all literally melting but laughing the entire time.

Last day of training. Notice we all wore black to show our saddness for leaving each other. This photo also features the new sign out front of HQ.

The New Kids on the Block/ Back Street Boys (NKOTBSB) concert. Such a fun night!

Group of the girls at dinner in Indy one night during training.

The beginning of August also shared some exciting and eventful happening! My first visit began August 7th at the University of Arizona with the Beta Delta chapter in Tucson. Each ELC is given a buddy for their first visit. I was very thankful to have Justine Rosenberg with me!

Justine and I enjoyed our time with the women of Beta Delta! Their catchy door song and enthusiastic personalilities made it such a fun time! The visit quickly ended and it was time to travel home for a visit. I was so thankful to make it home in time for two beautiful weddings: Zach and Kris Smith & Kaleb and Taylor Potter.

I was very honored to help serve and attend Zach and Kris's beautiful day! It was so fun to see so many smiling facing my first day home!

Michael and I made the eight hour trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico to join in on the celebration with Taylor and Kaleb. The wedding was incredible!

And lastly, I was able to attend Alpha Omicron's bid day festivities! It was so great to see my Theta family and so many friends!

Shortly after, I hit the road again for my next visit... update coming soon :)