Athletics - this was my first position and I was so excited about it! I really love sports, so I had a good time organizing the sports teams, but now I really like just being a member of the team, not the one who tells everyone what to do. It's also a big pain in the butt to find football coaches, etc. The only thing that really sucked was the fact that my first semester as a sister, I was Alpha Phi's Greek Week representative. I had no clue what I was getting myself into. We've since then recommended that new sisters shouldn't have this position because myself and the girl after me were both freshmen, and we had a hard time in particular with Greek Week.
Historian - one of my favorite positions (ok, I'll admit, I liked them all)! I've always been a picture person, and scrapbooking became an addiction. I got us a nice, smaller book from Creative Memories as opposed to those huge wooden albums that were just huge and impossible to lug around. The girls like it because it's more portable and easier to just plop down with it in your lap and thumb through it. I had to get my own scrapbook after I passed on the job to someone else. lol.
Guard - basically like an assistant Ritual person. It really wasn't much of a position when I had it, but I'm trying to help the girls make it what it should be. My little sister was recently appointed and I'm so proud! The most important thing about this position was it inspired me and made me realize how highly I placed Ritual. Hence...
Chaplain - I took on this position because at the time, I wasn't pleased with the direction of the chapter and wanted to make a positive influence on the new members, but didn't have time to be New Member Ed. I thought the best way to do that was to emphasize the importance of Ritual and make sure the girls understood it. I hoped that if they truly believed and understood the Ritual, they'd be better members in the end. While one of the most difficult positions I ever had, it was also the most fulfilling. I started crying this year at my last initiation, seeing 16 amazing women join our sisterhood. It was a truly powerful moment, because we had gone from obtaining only one girl at Formal Recruitment exactly one year earlier, to getting 13 and COBing the other 3 (2 were girls who had actually been pinned right before we left school in the Spring). I am proud of my chapter and the leaders I leave behind.
Director of Music - a new/old position that I revived. Girls were complaining that they were tired of the same old songs so they wanted me to teach new ones (and in the end, they learned one song because they didn't like any of the ones I taught! so
). In any event, we got much better at singing and I think new sisters learned the songs much quicker than they did before. It was also handy to be Chaplain at the same time because I was able to have "New Sister Education" sessions and teach them Ritual and songs at the same time. Otherwise I know I would have never been able to get them there to sing!
I never had an Executive Committee position, and sometimes I wish I had because I think I could have done some good things. But at the same time, having all of these smaller positions made me realize that it's not just always the "big dogs" that do all the work, but any group is largely dependent on everyone else to do their jobs. I've also learned that when you get all your work done, you get a lot of respect, sometimes more than the people above you have!
It's been really hard to not have a position my last semester, but I know it's important to let the new girls step up to the plate and have a chance and gain the experience they need. I'm just going to have to get involved with an alumnae group.
