So here I go.....
 

Hello everyone!

So I've been on GC for a few months and since I've gotten on here a lot of things have changed. After getting to know more about all the NPC groups I've decided to pursue AI. I've noticed that a lot of PNAM's share their journey on here so I figured I would too. So here it goes! I'll keep everyone posted on how it goes.

Strap in for a wild ride! Best of luck to you, and please keep us posted. If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me.

Shout out to someone who went to my old school! Best of luck!

As You can see, some took longer than others, but it was none less the Most Rewarding Experience.

Never give up as it may take longer. Have Heart and Keep Working.:)

Thanks everyone for such warm words!!!! :) Oh and hello to my fellow ECU alum! :D :D :D I'll be sure to share things as they come up in this journey and I thank those of you whom I've spoken to already and those who have offered to be there for a fellow PNAM. So I thank you in advance for all the times you all will be there for me! :) I'll make another post later and detail the journey so far b/c I have already been working on this for a little while before I decided to post my saga. Like I said already but I can't say it enough.... thank you, thank you, thank you!!:D :cool: :)

Welcome! There is a wealth of information on AI here. Read and enjoy the journey.:)

So, to give the background on this so far. I finally decided in January to give the AI process a go. I reasearched virtually all 26 groups to see where I would fit and reached out to ones where I thought I would fit. At this time there are 2 that I really love and cant wait to meet some alumnae members! Most other threads that i have read give their groups code names... I am a shoe freak so mine get to be named after shoes :) Right now I am waiting to get to meet with alums in Jimmy Choo and Manulo Blanick (love the shoes but cant spell...sorry). So when I actually have a chance to meet with anyone from these groups I will let everyone know! So that's the saga to date. If anything happens I will keep all informed. And once again, thank you everyone for the warm welcome. It will make this very trying process a little easier. :)

Good luck! I hope things work out!! If you need any cheering up or cheering on, please PM me!:)

Thanks MJo19! As I get further down this AI road I am POSITIVE I will need both cheering on and cheering up!

And jill, not only did we go to the same college I am soooo excited to see that you are also a Duke fan!!!!!!! That makes you even cooler.... can't wait until we have that national title to celebrate in a couple of weeks :D :D :D

ok, so an update... a third group has entered the picture :)


Jill....clean out your PM box :D

Good luck, but be careful that you don't get involved with too many groups...

Thanks kddani,

Saying your talking to more than one group is one of those things that I've noticed can create some debate. I guess my reasoning for it is that since AI can be very lengthy I just wanted to look at multiple groups at the same time. This process is going to take a while anyway, I just don't want it to take any longer than it has to. But like I said, I do appreciate the advice :)

Update
 

Good news!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was contacted by a local alumnae chapter!! We are going to set up a time to meet!!! Yeah!!!!!! I'm so happy! When I have more details I will post them. This contact is with group #3.

Have you met with the alumnae group yet? Anymore news? Hope all is going well with your AI journey!

No we haven't met yet.... but we are going to coordinate our schedules after Easter and set a time for me to meet with some members of the local alum chapter. So I'm really excited to have some time of time frame to deal with. I don't know about other PNAM's but I can say I felt a HUGE weight lifted just knowing that the contact had been made with the local chapter. It's a great feeling to know that this journey actually will move foward; not just stay in a holding patern. So as soon as I know when I get to meet and greet I will post it right away!!!

Oh I don't mind at all. Honestly i was wondering how long before someone brought that up. To make a long story short, and I don't mean to sound disrepectful towards my local sisters, but the amount of work that was going to have to go into that turned them off. It never really sank in until we tried to get into it. Without giving out every sordid detail I finally had to say to them "How serious are you b/c this will not be easy and it will take years!! if ever..." Pretty much, they all said that was too much to commit to. And b/c I'm trying to go back to school, I can't do it all. So, I must say I was crushed. I mean like really depressed! When I kinda turned the corner was around Homecoming. Almost all my friends had their house to go to and I didn't. One of the girls I was with had been one of my sisters in my local (she AI'd into the national that took us over). She was telling me about how her biological sisters joined the same national and how she couldn't wait to have kids so they could join it too. It hit me that if I were to ever have a child, they wouldn't be a legacy to anything! So that's when I started giving this AI process some serious thought. As for joining the org that took over my local, that I'm still thinking about. I've actually met some ladies who joined that org right after it went national and they are awesome!!!! But I'm not sure if it's the right group for me. That may sound silly but.... I just don't get as excited as I do about other groups.
I hope this makes a little sense.....

ecipidelta-
I am going out on a limb here, but I am saying good for you! I am happy that you have discovered for yourself that even though a national group took over your local GLO, it isn't the fit for you. Good for you for not joining through AI through that outlet because it may be an "easier" way (being an absorbed member through a local to me seems easier to me then starting out GDI, please do not take offense..just my opinion ) and trying to find the group that is right for you!
In the same sense, I am sad for your local GLO. Where I went to school had only local GLOs and they have been going strong for close to 50 years. I wish you nothign but the best on your quest for home!

Thank you MJo!!!! That is so sweet!!!! Trust me, it's hard to not just pursue the national that took over my local. Then i would get to be with all my sisters again but I also know that if I'm not comfortable then I will never be an active alum either. And for me that's the whole point. Thank you for the kind words! :D :D

You're welcome:)

Good luck with everything sweetie! I hope it works out for you!

Thank you!!! :)

Hi, ecupidelta.
I just read your thread for the first time, and I want to wish you luck. Whatever happens, it is wonderful that you had the experience with your local sorority. I do understand your desire for alum activity.

Best wishes on your journey.

And thanks for your post on my thread.

LM:)

Thank you LouisaMay!!! Best of luck to you too!!! I know someday that you and i BOTH will have guessing threads someday for everyone to participate in!!!:D

a little update
 

Some time has passed but I thought I would give out a status check. I have recently spoken with someone from group #1 (Jimmy Choo) so I know what's going there and my info is now in transist to the local level. I had not heard from group #2 in a while (Manolo) so I emailed my contact there as well for a follow up. I had made local contact with my 3rd group...via HQ... (which I realized I never named.... so let's call them Stuart Weizman) but I had spoken to that person in a while. So emailed them back to see how things were going and if we could set up a time to meet and greet (we had been in the process of doing that but some scheduling things went wonky and we had to put it off for a couple weeks). So that's where we are. This thread may get quiet really soon b/c I had not thought about this (but it was pointed out on another thread) that most all NPC groups have conventions this summer and even if they don't their members, esp. HQ will be taking a well-deserved rest. So for me, I may not hear back from some people for a while unless my info gets to local groups in the next couple weeks.

So that's where things stand for now..... still in mini-limbo.... :D but at least I know the process is still in motion!

Ami

I'm so happy to see another PNAM post her story here.

I have done my research for which GLOs to pursue.

I have named the ones I will contact- and a few others that were in my undergrad school (all the ones present in my grad school were at my undergrad U., but not vice-versa). I gave them star names because I'm a science person and like astronomy.

I have PMed people in GC about the process.

I go on my vacation tomorrow and may not get internet access again until next Monday. But hopefully then I will be able to start contacting the necessary people.

Several of the GLOs I am interested in do have conventions in the summer. And I just found out just how busily booked I will be at work during the months of May and June. So waiting until after convention to contact them if necessary won't be too bad.

Good luck with AI. Let us know more.

UPDATE: I will be meeting with some people from my Stuart Weizman group on Friday!!! If anything changes I will let everyone know and also I will let every know how it goes.

Also.... random sidebar.... I have hockey tickets for the Stanley Cup finals to Game Five which is tommorow night. the Hurricanes could clinch it all tom. night and I could be there!!! I so friggin' excited! :D

Good luck! You certainly have the energy for it. Let us know what happens!

Thanks! I'm glad it seems like I still have some energy left!! Things haven't exactly been really fun at my job lately so that has been quite draining. Also I was consumed with studying for the LSAT (which I took yesterday) which was exhausting! I can't wait til I feel like I have my energy back :) But at least I do have some good news on the AI front!

Well, I got to meet with my Stuart Weizman group tonight.... and things seemed to go ok.... I got to meet with the alum prez and a couple other alums. We'll see what they thought hopefully soon...

Seems like things are moving along. Hope something fabulous comes out of this :) I'm applying to law school for 2006-07 academic year and right now studying for the LSAT. How was the test? It does not seem bad cracking the info just a lot of discipline. Good luck with everything! ;)

Thank you!! Clearly I hope everything continues to move along in the AI process as well..... :D As for the LSAT... yuck is all I can say! The material itself isn't too terrible and I could do well in practice, without a time limit! :o However once the timer was on... well... things weren't as good.... but all I know is its over! and I'm thrilled! Whatever happens, happens. But if you have any questions feel free to pm me and I will be more than happy to help! I'm very knowledgable until the timer is turned on ;)

Did I miss something? Did you already hear back from Tri Delta or does jbj52503 have you confused with another PNAM?

Welcome, jbj52503.
I know that you will find this forum to be a big help during your journey. Good luck.

LM

I have considered the transfer route if my score isn't stellar. I just wanted a decent score so i could go to law school here locally. UNC may be a state school but they have a very good ranking and a very competitive to get into! Even for in-state residents!
Yes, she did have me confused with another PNAM.... for a minute I was wondering did I miss something :D

And just a shameless plug...... GO CANES!!!!!!

Oh and by the way... welcome to GC jbj52503... the people here are awesome and if you pursue AI there are so many people on here who are wonderful!! They are just great resources as are the multiple pages of info that as been compiled about AI. Use it all to your advantage when you begin your journey!

I've been told by so many people where you go to school will probably be where you end up. Since I love the south :D a great program like UNC would work well for me! (although I love Duke, I like UNC's program much better.... it's much better suited for the types of law I would want to practice). I thank you so much for the kind words! I look at it this way, I did the best I could do and whatever happens next was supposed to happen. Maybe I wasn't supposed to end up in law school? Who knows, we'll see! But i really do thank you for your warm words.... it means a great deal! :)

Amazingly I'm not really that stressed about it anymore.... I know I gave it my all and that was all I had. Now I just hope I can go somewhere :p And if it doesn't work out, that's ok. I have backup plans!! :D

Ok, so there are some changes in my life! I have been miserable in my job for quite some time. I finally got sick of all the bull and quit 2 weeks ago! My last day is Saturday and I haven't felt this good in years. Even though I do not have another job locked down I do have a few things in the pipeline so I won't be out of work long.... the break will be kind of nice! And on the LSAT front.... well the score was not what I hoped for :( But like I said before, maybe that was not meant to be. So now I'm going to be re-looking at schools and considering some other possibilities.

I do have question though for those on this board. How can you tell if you are being blown off by a group?

I thought I should better clarify what I meant by the ending of my last post. I've read on here a lot that people can tell if a PNAM has prematurely dropped a group and what not. I kinda feel like if I group had a good time with you and thought you might be a good fit that they would get back in touch with you quickly. That does not appear to be the case to me. I guess my question is am I overreacting to the silence I am getting from this group or am I getting blown off and no one will tell me so? Because if this group doens't think I'm a match, that's ok. But I don't want give up on a group too soon. So that's kinda the type of answer I am looking for. Thank you to anyone who can shed some light on this.