The Final Post

It all went by so quickly! This is my last post to the Rockhurst blog. For now... Who knows where I will end up for graduate school for physical therapy? Next year I have accepted a job with my sorority to be a leadership consultant. I will be traveling for a year to all of our chapters around the United States, helping with things that they might need help with. I am excited for this next chapter in my life and for the chance to be a real adult. It’s a little scary to think it is that time already. As soon as I walked across the stage I am expected to be an adult. My time at Rockhurst has been truly transformative. I was able to become an even better leader and learn a lot about myself. I would never give up the experiences that I had these past few years. They went by quickly, but they left such an impression on me. I hope I speak for everyone in that aspect. It has been a great senior year, busy, hectic, and stressful, but I wouldn't give up any of that.

               

 I took this picture with Father Curran after graduation. It was like closing the book to my Rockhurst undergraduate career. He asked me what my plans were and remarked on how that would be a perfect career field for me and my strengths. I feel like that moment was so full of Magis, because I know that he meant what he said and that he really did care about my plans after college. I think that this is something that shows what Rockhrust is about. At the end of the day it is not the money that you pay to come here, but the people that you meet along the way who take a sincere interest in you and helping you achieve your goals. I am determined to live greater and fulfill the core value of magis the rest of my life.

Time Flies at Rockstock

On Friday night SAB held our annual spring concert Rockstock on Lower Burke. The weather was great for an outside concert and it was really nice just being out of school for the weekend. This was my last concert here at Rockhurst unless some friends want to invite me back next year for a concert! The featured band this year was Time Flies. I went to the concert with some of my residents, and when we arrived it was packed. Since, I had never heard of Time Flies before or any of their songs I was curious about what type of genre they fit under and what to expect from this concert. There were over two thousand people in attendance at the concert and it was the biggest concert that Rockhurst has hosted on campus.  The actual concert was very well put together. There were a lot of different genres that the group played. They began their set with an original song, and the rest of the concert went back and forth between original songs and covers. One of my favorite things that they did was an original rap to “We Can’t Stop” by Miley Cyrus. The members of SAB had come up with a list of words that described Kansas City and Rockhurst and the members of Time Flies made a rap using all of the words. I thought that was really cool and it showed that they had more talent than I thought. Each cover that they did, they added something different to it. Like the remix they did of “Under the Sea” they changed the words and added a rap to it as well. I had a lot of fun at the concert listening to the music, but SAB also provided other activities for people to do during the concert. The photo booth was one of the most popular options. There was also a table where you could create your own sticker or laptop skin. The concert was a blast, and a very nice ending to a very busy week. Now it’s time to start finals week. Wish me luck!

Hawk City Heroes!

                The Tuesday that everyone returned from Easter Break marked the beginning of Greek Week. Our theme this year was Hawk City Heroes. So, here we go, the one week where all Greeks come out to compete for the much coveted title of Greek Week Champion. The week started off with a tame beginning of pop tab collections and turning in Yogurtini receipts. Banners went up in the front of Massman, and chalk drawing commenced in the morning until two pm. The day concluded with speaker David Stollman from Campus Speak. He gave a really awesome speech about holding each other accountable for our organizations. I think that it is something that everyone can learn from in the Greek system. We are accountable for what happens to our Greek community we cannot put it off on other people. The next day opened with capture the flag, and ended with Greek Olympics. This was one of the more competitive days that there is, but the race for the lead was really close. The final day of Greek week brought a lot of fun skits and awards announcements. I announced our newest members to Order of Omega during the ceremony. I was really excited about that! This week is always really tough for me because I want to cheer on my organization, but I want to cheer everyone on because I love Greek Life, and I feel like it is something that we need to use to lift each other up as opposed to tearing each other down. I always hate it when other organizations cheer against another organization. I feel like that defeats the purpose of creating Greek Unity. I feel like this week was better organized and didn’t allow for competition to get as out of hand as it has in year passed, and I was very thankful for that. I can only see Greek Week getting better from here on out.

Easter Break

Easter Break was a very relaxing time for me. I will probably regret not working on my homework like I should have, but the weather was so nice! I took time to actually enjoy my last break of college. All too often during break I am running, working, doing this that or the other. I never take the time to enjoy my break or to stop and smell the roses. So, this break I decided that I would do that because I won’t get the chance again, while I’m in college. I it’s important to take a break when you are given the chance. However, I can’t ever sit still and just relax, so I began to think and wonder about what life is going to be like next year. I got a job as a Leadership Consultant with my sorority and I will be traveling on the road four to five weeks straight. I will be dependent on others to help me get the things done that I need to get accomplished. I thought about how this job is going to change me for the better, and help me be more flexible, like a jellyfish. I thought about my fears. Will I be good enough for this job? Will it be a good fit for me? Can I grow and learn from it? All of these thoughts raced through my head over break. I had to think back to my time in the Dominican Republic and think to myself “Si Dios Quiere”. This was a huge reminder for me that if it is in Gods will it will work out. Si Dios Quiere. I would not have been blessed with the opportunities that I have been given if it wasn’t something that I was meant to do. Senior year has definitely been an uncertain time in my life because I am on the edge of making so many big decisions. It is important that I try to stay grounded, and take time to relax, but I need to take more time to reflect and discern on my path and where it has led me so far. I wasn't expecting to have such a deep and reflective break. I did want to go Easter egg hunting, but my mom said I am too old for that. Oh Well, I thought I'd give it a try!

Festival of Student Achievement

The festival of student achievement was held on April 14, 2014. I went to the opening awards and ceremony. The opening speaker was Chris Trani. He was a former student at Rockhurst. He graduated in 2003. His speech was very interesting. He talked about how when he was a student here, he was not a high achiever. In fact, for the first two years that he was her, he was just floating through college, not really sure of what he wanted to do. He visited Mexico with Rockhurst, and it changed the course of his life. When he came back from Mexico, he had more of an idea of what he wanted to do. He felt like he was surer of what he was meant to do. So, he started picking up majors and minors left and right, because some of them were easy to get.

After he graduated, he moved to Juarez, Mexico and worked with a non for profit in Mexico, and he felt like that is where he was meant to be. He brought doctors to underserved parts of Mexico and for a week or two weeks they would do checkups for patients. One day, while he was with a doctor on a call, they were able to diagnose the child with a heart murmur. Instead of being grateful the dad was upset, because they had diagnosed his child with something, but they did not offer any type of cure for the problem. This made Chris feel like he needed to do more. That what he was doing was not enough,

                Through his work he ended up meeting another Rockhurst graduate who had graduated in ’68 and who was working on a project called American House. This is a home for undocumented immigrants. The home is open to them and provides hospitality to them. The Rockhurst graduate, who began this home, took the core value of cura personalis and walked the streets to see who the poor were and to understand better how he might be able to help. Chris helped to document the Annunciation House and helped to create the documentary called an American House which is about how the Annunciation House was started.

                At the end of his speech Chris wanted to pay it forward and told students that he had business cards and if anyone was interested in getting involved more with nonprofits then to give him a call. He really wanted to help and give back for everything that he received from Rockhurst. I thought that was really cool that he was willing to pay it forward and help out current Rockhurst students even though he might not know who they are.

Battle for the Bucks

Residence Life hosted our annual Battle for the Bucks program a few weeks ago. It was a huge success. I think this is one of the better years that we have had. The program ran a good amount of time and a lot of people won a prize of some sort. Battle for the bucks is a program that we do every year, to give students something else to do besides going out on Friday nights. It is an awesome opportunity to spend time with friends in a positive environment and make money as well. We played several games; including the price is right, deal or no deal, and pyramid. The RA’s had a lot of fun acting out the different games and getting in touch with our more outgoing side as game show hosts. My game was minute to win it and Bingo. I think that they both went well. It was fun watching how competitive people got with the silly games. Whenever money is involved people go crazy! I think that the participants enjoyed the games and the rewards.

                Besides the games, we also had free food and snacks available. So even if you didn’t get called up to play a game you were still able to get freebies. We also gave out door prizes to people, so there were multiple opportunities for as many people as possible to win. I hope that next year goes as flawlessly with Battle of the Bucks this year did. It is crazy to think that I won’t be a part of it next year. I won’t have a say in planning or executing. It feels surreal as my semester is starting to wind down. I realize that I am experiencing some things for the last time, and there is no turning back to comfort but only moving forward towards graduation day and a future career. It is scary to think about, so I will stop thinking about it for now!

Service and Class Work Hand in Hand

For my Biology II class our professor asked us to volunteer with Kansas City Wildlands to help remove invasive honeysuckle from a bottom land forest along Blue River. This was the first time that I had been asked to do service for a class. I went with some of my residents on a Saturday morning and we helped to clean and remove litter from the area. It was an interesting and sad experience. There was a lot of trash, litter, and clothing that had been thrown away in the area that we were working in. I found a car mat and a sleeping bag that had not been disposed of properly. They were littered about the area that I was cleaning in. I also found old porch materials and busted up concrete that had been covered poorly by someone with brush from a tree. When I started out in the morning volunteering, I wasn't expecting to pick up as much trash and litter that I ended up picking up from the site. I was appalled by the amount of things I found. It is disconcerting because a few people, who chose not to spend the time or the resources to properly dispose of their garbage, are creating a very dangerous environment for wildlife around the area. I talked to the conservationist that we worked with and he told me about a lot of the biological things that were going on in the area. It was really cool getting to see service and education work hand in hand.  I love getting to do hands on projects and it helped that this project could be directly related to things that we had gone over in class. Having the things I am learning being reinforced when I do things in the real world make me feel confident in the education I am receiving as well as confident in my abilities to succeed next year after I graduate.

Si Dios Quiere Part 2

We left for our campo of Venue early the next morning. It was two hours to the North of the ILAC center. The ride there was shaky because after the first hour we began to climb up very steep hills to get to the mountainside where we would be staying. I was scared for my life when we started up the very narrow and windy road to the top of the mountain. I swear the bus was almost vertical during that trip. We arrived at the campo site and began to unload the bus and carry our supplies for the week into Venue. As I walked down the steep hill I looked around me at the village that would be our home for the next week, and I was amazed. We were told that we might be taking bucket showers because there wasn’t running water, but it wasn’t bad at all. The main part of the village that we stayed in had several houses that were spread around. Everyone in this part of the village was related by blood or by marriage. Our mom during the trip was Adita, she lived outside of the village and she walked to all of the parts of Venue every day. We received our housing assignments for the week, and went to our homes to meet the families that we would be living with. Our mom also ran a store in the village that people could buy snacks and treats from. After, we met them we had lunch and went off for our first day of work.

Blue floor we layed for son and his mom.

The work that we were brought to do in Venue was concrete floor laying and planting Cocoa. A typical day would start off with us laying concrete floors and end with us planting cocoa plants. Laying the concrete was back breaking work. The concrete was mixed in the street and then we carried buckets of it to the houses that needed the new floors. Something that I thought was very cool was after we layed the floor, professionals would come a spread a mixture of colored powder and concrete together to create a colored floor. I thought this was something so neat, because when I heard that we were going to be laying concrete floors, I thought of the gray concrete floors, not about making them aesthetically pleasing. We layed several floors throughout the week, and every person that we layed a floor for was a person who was in need and deserving of it. We layed a floor for a deaf woman who was unable to afford getting her floor replaced. She was a very sweet woman. The one that touched me the most was when we helped a woman’s son lay a floor for her. She had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and the son wanted to lay the floor for her so that she could have a smooth floor to walk on. He amazed me by how hard he worked to lay the floor for his mother. He was putting all of the rest of us to shame. I admired his dedication, after we finished with the floor; he bought us all a couple of two liters to share. Our guide said that he had probably used his life savings to get his mother that new floor. Late, we found out that he had a mental disability, but you never would have guessed it with his interactions with us and how hard he worked. That memory will always stick with me.

Cocoa plant that has been freshly opened.

In the afternoon we would plant cocoa plants on the mountainside. The way that we planted things there was not orderly; it was just wherever there was space that is where we would plant the cocoa. The first day our planting site was an hour hike away from our campo. I lost my shoe in the mud that day, and I dug around in the mud for it and had to have one of the other Rockhurst students help me dig it out. We hiked and hiked to get to the first location. The kids were running in front of us like it was nothing, while we were panting trying to keep up with them. Once we reached our site, we began to plant the cocoa. The kids showed us how to pick ripe cocoa and crack it open. You could eat the beans in the cocoa, but it is super bitter. Later during our week we would go and see where the cocoa is dried before it gets shipped out to become chocolate. The mountain where we were planting the cocoa at was very steep. There were little fire ant hills everywhere, and it became a rite of passage to get bitten by them at least once while we were planting cocoa. The rest of the week flew by, as we worked during the morning through the afternoon. Then we hung out with our families at night.

Drying area for the cocoa.

On our last night in Venue, the village threw us a goodbye party. They played music and we danced most of the night away. It was a really fun visit and a good way to end the trip. I can honestly say that I laughed, thought, and cried during my time there. Our week ended sooner than I would have liked. The day after our farewell party we left and headed back to the ILAC center. The ride on the way back was just as scary as the ride up. When we got back to the ILAC center we all showered and then went out into the town to visit an orphanage and go souvenir shopping. The orphanage was also another unique experience. The orphanage there was filled with people who were seen as burdens to their families. Not because their parents had died and they couldn’t go anywhere else. I was happy to see that they had found somewhere to care for them, but still there weren’t enough caretakers there. It pulled at my heart strings and I wanted to be able to do more for them than just visit and interact with them. After we left the orphanage we went souvenir shopping and I felt weird going from the sadness I felt from the orphanage to become an American tourist. This trip was a once in a lifetime experience for me and I really hope that everyone takes advantage of the opportunity that Rockhurst offers to go and help others and become servant leaders.

Si Dios Quiere Part 1

ILAC center that we stayed at our first two days.

Over Spring Break I went to the Dominican Republic. I was so pumped for his trip and I couldn’t wait to be off. We left early on Saturday morning and began our journey. There were ten Rockhurst students that went on the trip with two faculty members. I was excited to create new friendships with some of the people that I did not know that well from campus. I could not sit well the whole way there I was excited to get there and to begin working and helping. We traveled for six hours on the plan and had several hours of lay overs. We arrived in the DR at night and went through customs to get into the country. Andy the head coordinator with the Institute of Latin American Concern or ILAC came and picked us up from the airport. We rolled all of the windows down in the van on our way to the ILAC center and it was nice feeling the fresh air flowing across my face after the stagnant air of the plan. We had a light dinner when we arrived at the ILAC center, and got a brief rundown of how the weekend would look. I was excited that we were finally there, after we were excused for dinner I explored the center with a few others on the trip. The center was really pretty, and even though it was dark outside, I could tell that it was a very relaxing and calming place.

                The next morning we got up and went through orientation that gave us a brief introduction of the Dominican culture. The orientation was important because it gave me a better understanding of the culture that we were going to be living in for a week. Something that stuck with me was that in the Dominican culture, it is more important to stop and talk to someone as opposed to being on time. I loved this about the culture, because this is something that I always do, my friends have even given me the nickname of “chatty Cathy” because I always stop and talk to people. Another interesting fact, and one of my favorite parts is the saying “Si Dios Quiere,” which means “If God Wills It” or “If God Wants It”. Dominicans say this is all the time, especially when saying see you later, or good night. It simply means that none of us knows what the future holds and it’s up to God if I will see them the next day or not. Some people might think that this is morbid, but I see it as a way to trust that what happens is supposed to happen according to God’s plan.

After the orientation we went to mass. It was interesting being a part of their worship, especially since it was in rapid Spanish. I am not Catholic, so I was already confused about the service then adding the language barrier to the service made it an interesting thing to take part in. After, mass we went into the city and explored.  We took a guagua which is a bus that can take you into the city from the country side. Since it was Sunday everything was closed in the city except for chain stores. So we couldn’t go into some of the more cultural stores.  We went back to ILAC that night and repacked our clothing and care items to take to the campo with us. We would be leaving in the morning to start our week of service. I could not wait to get started!

Groundbreaking for Arrupe

                “Grant me, O Lord to see everything now with new eyes, to discern and test the spirits…” Pedro Arrupe. On Friday afternoon, the first cut into the ground for the new building at Rockhurst began. The day was perfect and for me it seemed like a really nice beginning to a new building. I can only hope that the same sun will be out and shining for the grand opening of Arrupe Hall, unlike the grand opening of Rockhurst high school. When they opened the doors of Sedgewick hall, it was pouring rain for the first day. I am bummed that I won’t be taking classes in Arrupe Hall unless I end up going to grad school here. So, that is a tempting factor to come here for PT school, of course that wouldn’t be the only reason, but it would be nice to take classes for the first time in the building.

                The ceremony was really fun and it was nice seeing all of the people in the community coming out to see the ceremonial event. The joke was cracked many times that it took us 100 years to break ground and a new academic building. All of this is part of a twenty year plan at Rockhurst. I really can’t wait to come back twenty years from now to see all of the changes that have been made to enhance the student experience here at Rockhurst. I already love the campus, but I can see the positive difference that this would create in the community here at Rockhurst. It makes me sad to see my days at Rockhurst closing, and seeing the new beginnings that are sprouting up all around campus. I know when I am older and God willing I will walk the halls of all these buildings again and see how the final plan turned out!

What Are You Going to Do After your Graduate?

   

That is the question I have been getting lately. What are you going to do after you graduate? I don’t know that was the question of the century for the longest time. I feel like by now I should be like all of my friends and know what I am going to do, who I am going to work for, where I am going to go to school. There are so many things happening right now. Not only am I supposed to be figuring out all of that stuff I am also supposed to be keeping up with all of my school work, RA duties, ambassador duties, and enjoy my last semester. All of those commitments make it difficult to look for jobs on top of it. However, that’s not something that I can just push off until later. So, like any good student I went to the career center and asked for advice. I was amazed by all the different opportunities that they suggested for me. I know that after I left my head was swimming with all of the different things that I could do with my life next year. I know that I want to grad school, and I think I want to go for physical therapy, but I know that right now I can’t afford it, so it was nice to talk to them about different things that I would be able to do to make my application look even better since I am taking the year off. When I was getting interviews to different jobs, I went to the career center again to ask about dress attire, for a dinner interview and what I should do if it I haven’t heard back from a job in a while. They did a lot to soothe my troubled mind about what my options were and could be for next year. I am happy to say that I have found and accepted a job that I feel very lucky to have found and been offered. Who knows, I may have found my niche in a different career field from physical therapy. So, next time someone asks, I can proudly tell them my plan and look like I have a thing or two figured out in my crazy world right now. I am really happy that the career center was there to work with me. I wish that I had used them as a source more often than just this year. I feel like they are an underutilized resource on campus even though they have so much to offer.

Photo Citation: http://www.athleticscholarships.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/UnderstandingTheRecruitingProcessAfterGrad-175x300.jpg  

Dear Dominican Republic, I Can't Wait to Meet You!

Spring Break is less than two weeks away and I am excited and nervous, anxious, and ready to go! Very soon I will be in the Dominican Republic helping to construct buildings, and working in coffee fields to set up a sustainable way for the Dominicans to continue a profitable business when we leave. There have been several meetings so far that have been prepping me for our departure. The first one was a time where I got to meet the group of ten people that I will be going with and we just chatted about our expectations and our personality types and how all of our differences are going to help make this trip that much better. Every day of the trip we will be doing prayer and reflection; we each have one of the core values that we will represent on our day. My partner and I were given cura personalis or care for the whole person. I think that this will be fun to do some sort of reflection on in the morning time because the whole point of the trip is to help someone else, and to understand them. Not to put them as person of their circumstances, but as a human being who is striving to be beyond their circumstances. I really hope this trip will help me to act more in line with this value, because it is one that I have never been quite sure how I can express it or how I can be better at it, and I think this trip will help me explore that more. I am excited for the experiences and hard labor that will be coming from this week and the insight that I hope to gain from it. I encourage everyone to try to go on one of these trips, to get out of your comfort zone and open your mind to the different things that are happening in the world around us. For me that is what I have been challenged to do ever since I have come to Rockhurst. To challenge my preconceived ideas and to think through them to new insights, and new reasons for how everything works.  

Photo Citation: http://tarletonphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/galleries/post-45/full/ILAC_Dominican%20Republic05.jpg 

Love Your Letters!

Valentine’s day was on a Friday this year, and as president of Order of Omega I wanted to try to do a Greek unity event on that day. So, we sponsored a wear your letters day, where faculty, staff, students, and anyone else that goes to Rockhurst or was on campus could wear their Greek letters. I think that it went pretty well, for it being the first time and I hope that we can keep up the tradition that around Valentine’s day that everyone will be invited to wear their letters. I think that it was really cool getting to see everyone in their letters. I almost felt like I was in a buzz feed titled, “Teachers That Were Greek!” I am looking forward to more things that we can do on campus this semester for Order of Omega. I want it to become a stronger organization here on campus. It makes me excited and gives me chills to think of a future where all the Greeks on campus will work together to accomplish something that we were not able to accomplish before. I think that were are starting to head in that direction! Next time that there is a letters day I want to include people who are in the Greek Honor societies, like the business fraternity, pre-med fraternity, the Spanish and French honor societies. It is a rare and amazing thing that we have so many men and women that are making themselves better men and women for others and I think that this is another way to be able to express that through the club and organizations that they are in. It is such a diverse community at Rockhurst and I am going to miss that a lot once I graduate, it is rapidly approaching and I am getting nervous as we approach under 90 days until graduation.

Picture Source: http://images2.fanpop.com/image/answers/83000/83744_1266090452577_319_206.jpg

The Best Day is a Snow Day!

 It’s been a while since I have blogged, so there is a lot to catch you all up on! One thing at a time though. As a senior I have been praying to have at least one snow day this year. You may be wondering why, but I think it’s really simple. This is the last year that I can just enjoy the day without worrying about the consequences of not going to my job, or if I am still going to be expected to go in. I don’t have to think about if the day off will count as vacation time or use up my sick days. Nope, I just get to chill out and take care of business. Which I did let me tell you! There was a huge snow ball fight on Lower Burke and I went down there and had a grand old time pelting people with snowballs, and getting my fair share of them in the face. After playing in the snow some more, I went to Starbucks on campus and got hot chocolate and went back to my room to, catch up on a lot of Residence Life work that I was a little behind on, as well as planning stuff out for the rest of the semester, so I could have adequate time to prepare everything. I got a lot accomplished on that first snow day, but I could not help hoping for one more. I did not want to be greedy though, so I did not bank on it, but it happened anyways! Two snow days, I could not have asked for more in my last semester here at Rockhurst. I used my second day to socialize and get ready for class the rest of the week. It was really nice only having to go to school for two more days that week. Since, my wish for a snow day was granted two fold, I am not banking on any more, but I think that would be awesome if we did get another one!

Make it a Day On, Not a Day Off

Monday was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. day. Since we were back in school this year for Dr. King’s birthday, Rockhurst decided to use our day off to do service. It’s part of a really cool initiative that says to make a day off a day on, and do things for others. I think that this is a really cool initiative and I am proud that Rockhurst has taken the time to be involved with it. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "Life's most persistent and urgent question is: 'What are you doing for others?'". I think this quote encompasses so much of Rockhurst’s mission. This year we went to several different sites including, Gillis Center, City Union Mission, Brush Creek, and the Holy Family House. My project was going down to 39^th and Troost to pass out hot chocolate and cookies. We took the bus to get there. It was really cool getting to ride the bus, since I haven’t tried riding the metro around here. I think that it was really smart riding the bus because some students at Rockhurst (like me) haven’t taken advantage of the free bus pass that we get as a student. It was really fun giving out the hot chocolate and seeing everyone’s face because the act of kindness was so unexpected. We gave hot chocolate to some kids who were at a daycare not to far from 39^th. Their group leaders came back two more times so that all the kids could get hot chocolate. We ran out of cups so they brought their own because we had plenty of hot chocolate to go around. I really enjoyed the day of service.

My favorite part of the day was when we got on the bus on our way to our site we met a guy that was standing at our stop. We gave him a cookie and I talked to him as we rode down Troost. He told me that his day was already looking up because he was going to start his first day at a new job and he just got a free cookie. He said that he was on the top of the world and already starting his day of right. It’s moments like these when you don’t know what a small gesture of kindness means to someone. This was the moment that made the day for me. It just helped me see so much clearer the things that I can do to help others, and they can be as simple as giving someone a free cookie they weren’t expecting. So, next year on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, make it a day on not a day off.

There's No Place Like Home

                I came back to school in a whirlwind of activity. It’s crazy to think that I have only been on campus for three weeks. I moved back early for Residence Life training as well as sorority recruitment. This was my last year being able to help with recruitment, before I become an alumni of my sorority. So, this year was a little bittersweet for me. I think that recruitment is great opportunity for women to meet new people that they may not see that often. This year was no different. I met so many different and amazing young women. I can’t wait to see them blossom in the organizations that they picked. Even if people decided that Greek life is not for them, they still meet a lot of people, so if you are just looking for more friends at Rockhurst this is a great way to do it. There are a lot of stereotypes that people connect with sororities and a lot of them are not true. I encourage everyone to get to know some Greeks, you may be surprised if they change your mind on how you think about Greeks and the things they do. Especially, at Rockhurst the Greek community here is different from at larger schools. With delayed recruitment and no Greek row it makes it easy to see your friends who may be Greek all the time without feeling like an outcast. After Sorority recruitment we are now 405 Greek Women strong. Starting last week, the fraternities began their recruitment. The Greek community is becoming larger here at Rockhurst, and as President of Order of Omega, my goal this semester is to begin a larger project on Greek unity and service here at Rockhurst. I think that the community that we have at Rockhurst is unique and it is something that needs to be taken advantage of. I love it here at Rockhurst, and being Greek made me feel more at home here.