One Hundred and Fifty-Five.

Fifteen Days: Officer Elections, Pillars Week, Diamond Dash, Last Colony Meeting, Sports Week, Officer Training, Diamond Days, Initiation, Installation, Officer Transition Workshop, Two Recruitment Workshops & First/Last Chapter Meeting.

Needless to say, it’s been a busy last half of May in Riverside! The colony elected their first officer class, and those women have been working hard on their training before the summer months start. The colony also participated in their first Pillars Week and Sports Week within the Fraternity Sorority Community.

Perhaps the most exciting (and the busiest) week was Diamond Days. The charter members took time on the night before their Initiation to do a Sister Share, where they each shared their favorite ADPi memory. I loved hearing what mean the most to them in the past eight weeks.

Saturday, May 30th was Initiation and Installation Day! We welcome 107 sisters into Delta membership and the 155th active chapter of Alpha Delta Pi was installed as the Theta Omega chapter. The weekend brought lots of friendly faces back to Riverside, including our fabulous installation team! At times it was chaotic, but it was one of my favorite Alpha Delta Pi memories to date. The realization (and the waterworks) hit when our charter members were singing two of the most perfect ADPi Song: “Pass It On” and “Home” by Phillip Phillips. It was incredible to see how far this colony, and now chapter, has come in eight weeks and how it has brought the most incredible new sisters into my life. I thank my lucky stars that I was choose to help colonize at UCR!

After the excitment of the night, we still weren’t quite finished for the quarter! We held Officer Transition Workshop the morning after, along with a Recruitment Workshop facilitated by the Remarkable Rebecca Gentry that night. The jam-packed schedule was worth it to end the quarter talking about who this chapter is, where they are and where they are going!

I also loved having my fellow consultant sisters close throughout these crazy two weeks! I am so thankful for their constant love and support, along with all the amazing things that they have done for Theta Omega!

It’s not quite goodbye to Riverside! I will be here until I fly to Arizonia for Grand Convention. For now, it’s wrap-up officer meetings and recruitment prep for the next few weeks (along with enjoying my remaining time in Sunny California!).

Double the DLCs, Double the Fun

After finishing up a break weekend in Atlanta and Nashville, I returned to Oxford to spend a couple weeks with my Delta Sigma sisters! The chapter was gearing up for their first officer transition since their recolonization, so there was lots of work to be done. I have enjoyed working with this first officer class over the fall and will definitely miss spending time in meetings with them, but I am so excited to see how the next officers will build on their work!

I got an unexpected opportunity to work our first District Leadership Conference of the year with our District II chapters! I hopped on a plane and traveled to the Tri-Cities to spend the weekend in Kingsport, Tennessee. It was great to see my consultant sister Nicole and other International Officers that I had met on the road. I also was able to surprise the officers of the four chapters I had visited in North Carolina. I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed seeing the women of Eta Upsilon, Zeta Beta, Zeta Mu and Zeta Psi!

After a quick trip, I returned to Ole Miss for a week full of officer transition workshop, officer installation and meetings before heading back to the airport to travel to District I DLC in Atlanta. This was my fourth time at DLC I, since my home chapter is in District I, but my first time experiencing this DLC as an alumna! Again, the weekend was full of seeing chapters I’ve visited and IOs and advisors I’ve met on the road or while I was a chapter officer. I also had four glorious days with my consultant sister Rachel, hang out time with my Violet Sister Haley and a mini-reunion with my Eta sisters. I love having the chance to see so many people I love and who have shaped my Alpha Delta Pi experience!

What’s next? I’m heading back to spending my last couple weeks with my Delta Sigma sisters! If you haven’t already seen my big news, I will be spending the last months of my consultant year in Riverside, CA, helping with our next colony at University of California, Riverside. I am looking forward to experiencing West Coast life and being a colony consultant, as well as, another opportunity to work with our New Chapter Development Team, which has become quite a passion for me!

Leadership Seminar 2014

Leadership Seminar 2014 in Atlanta was my first official “stop” as an incoming Leadership Consultant. As excited as I was to see my chapter sisters and other Alpha Delta Pi women I had come to know with during my four years as a collegiate, I was even more anxious to meet the eight other incoming LCs.

During new member education, DLCs, recruitment and other events, we tell each other that Alpha Delta Pi provides women with common values and a purpose. It doesn’t matter where you are from or what college you attended, ADPi provides an immediate relationship and conversation when you meet another sister. Meeting my fellow consultant sisters was a prime example of the message of common ground we cherish. After some stilted conversation, the nine of us fell into a natural friendship like we had know each for three years, rather than three hours.

First group picture of the incoming LCs

Our time at Leadership Seminar included lunch with Grand Council, a photo shoot for Alpha Delta Pi’s The Adelphean, a video interview (where we found out who excelled in front of the camera…) and participation in the Adelphean Compass. The Alpha Delta Pi Foundation funds leadership training for its collegiate members through IMPACT ADPi and the Adelphean Compass. As a participant in Adelphean Compass, our facilitators showed us the importance of leading with self, leading with vision, leading with action and leading with relationship. The incoming consultants were honored to have Mrs. Beth Mannle (affectionately known as Mother Mannle) as our small group leaders. All the Compass facilitators were ADPi alumnae who have shown exceptional leadership in both a professional and sorority capacity.

Diamond Group with Mother Mannle

On Saturday, we took a trip to Memorial Headquarters and Executive Office. The incoming LCs made a beeline for the bunk room, where we will be sleeping for three weeks during our training in July. We later walked around both buildings that house ADPi heirlooms, history and the offices of staff members. One of my favorite things at Memorial Headquarters is the map of the US and Canada, which shows all the active and dormant chapters. It was a stunning visual representation of our sisterhood!

In front of Memorial Headquarters

Close up of the Alabama chapters (Hey Eta!)

Leadership Seminar wrapped up with awards, Grand Council’s skit and the outgoing Leadership Consultants’ skit. The incoming LCs also received their Violet sister (Shout out to Haley Massey!).

My Sweet Vi!

As my first ADPi event as an alumna and a Leadership Consultant, I thoroughly enjoyed meeting new sisters, reconnecting with old friends and getting a glimpse of my year to come. Can’t wait to start training in July!

Two of my favorite consultant sisters!