It's Gone, Gone...All Gone!!!

Hey! This song was on my heart so I thought I'd share it!!!! Enjoy!

Are You Listening?

A walk in the cold.

During our last class we were instructed to go out into the community and interview members of the Greek community.We were given very strict directions to follow. I felt like I was on the Amazing Race or ANTM (on one of the go see episodes). We were racing against time to get as much of the task done as possible. Our council walked down 15th and knocked on doors, stopped people and even called people over the phone. We even stopped by Jimmy John's on the way back to class and still managed to make it back on time.

This was a great way to bring our council together( see picture on right, NPHC together inside and outside the classroom :D). We were competing against the other councils. We all worked together and came to a concensus on how we would go about completing this task. We decided to split up into two groups since there were only four members of our council present. This activity was also a great way for us to reach out to members of the other councils besides those who are enrolled in this class. Everyone was surprisingly very polite and excited to help us; that is with an exception to some members of our class. When our other group went up to one of the houses there were members of our class from another council who were already there. The people who lived at the house were willing to be interviewed by both groups but the other group told members of my council they couldn't come in and shut the door. Ok so I know that we were competing and we all want our councils to come out on top on the end but that was just plain RUDE. This class is meant to bring us all together as a Greek community and actions like that may cause tension. We forgive the ones who did that BUT we would hope that they would not continue to do such things because actions like that to noto promote unity.

With that said I will continue to elaborate on this experience. I really felt more connected with the other three ladies of the exec board of my council from this experience. This was our first real experience of working together since we have been elected. We worked on the values paper together but this was a greater experience. I enjoyed the experience and the cold did not phase me once I got into it. As a very competitive person I really got a kick out of this experience. When our group met back up before returning to class we were able to eliminate some of our interviews to aviod having to many people from one council. We based our decisions off of the answers the interviewees gave us. For example we had too many interviewees from the NPHC so we eliminated one because he did not state his organization's principles as his values and we knew that if he had done that we would get more points, where as the other NPHC interviewees had all done so.

This brings me to another point. Another reason for this activity was for us to look at what we consider our values compared to what the values of our organizations are. Though when asked what our values are we may not always spit mation or recite our organizations values, it is interesting to see how closely the two paralell. They should come very close to being the same seeing as how we represent our organizations and our organizations represent us as well.

This activity caused me to self reflect on myself and how well I represent the values of Zeta and how Zeta represents me.

Though the weather was freezing this was a great experience and was one that I'd say was much needed.

What I value

Before I state what my values are I feel that is important for me to say what the term "values" means to me. Values are a way of life. The term describes what you feel is right, important to your life and the laws that you live by. Values are more than just saying "I think something should be this way or should go that way." A statement is only a true value when you live by it. So with that I will begin going into what my values are; what my way of life is.
Honesty is one of my greatest values. I feel that honesty is very important in life. Anyone that truely knows me will tell you that I am one of the most honest people you will ever meet. I do not like to be lied to nor do I like when people try to cover things up so I do not do that to others. I have found that my most successful relationships (of any type) have been based around honesty. Life is just easier when you keep it real. I like to stay in reality so I am honest with myself at all times. I am working on being more optimistic but at the end of the day I feel it is best to think logically rather than irrationally. I truely belive that staying optimistic about a situation always helps you reach a goal easily but in order to keep myself from disappointment I never loose the sense of the other option: not getting what I want. Now dont mistake this at all, I will always work hard to reach my goal, I am just prepared for either turnout.
Loyalty would have to be the next greatest value that I have. This one goes along with honesty. If I am tied to you I will always protect you and defend you whether you are in my presence or not. There are times when I do not get along with my most loyal friend but I will NEVER stop taking up for them. I am what you call a ride or die chick (lol that was the best way I could think to describe it), meaning if Im there for you Im there for you no matter what. This is one of the reasons my line name was ExTREme MeasureZ. I take relationships with people very seriously. This is sometimes a downfall for me. I expect for people to put into me what I put into them. I sometimes end up hurt because of this. My soror Lomax often tells me to "stop putting your faith into man!" I'm still working on that. But hey I guess thats the optimistic side of me hoping that all people will put as much into me as I put in them.
Serving and giving back is another value that I have. I have always been enthsiastic about serving. It is a part of my life and has been for most of it. I feel like whether or not you are wealthy, the fact that you have more than most is a blessing and you should always give back.
All three of these values are interwound with the values of the NPHC. In 1930 the organization stated it's mission as “Unanimity of thought and action as far as possible in the conduct of Greek letter collegiate fraternities and sororities, and to consider problems of mutual interest to its member organizations.” Unanimity is a term that refers to unity. Honesty and loyalty is a part of unity. In order to stick together we must be truthful and allegiant to one another at all times. We can easily act as if we a unified when being watched, but as I said earlier, values are only true values when practiced and put into action. With that said as a council we need to work on being more honest and loyal to one another so that we may have values instead of great thoughts that would be good values. Service is obviously a value of the NPHC. Every organization of the NPHC have values based in serving others and their community.
It is important that you have strong values before joining an organization. It is also important that the organization you are going to join have the same values as you. Our founders didnt set up values for us to go by just because it sounds good. It is up to US as a community, council and individual to carry them out!

Sickness Blues

Ok so this has nothing to do with this class but I just wanted to say that I am feeling very bad right now. My neck is stiff, throat is swollen and head hurts. I dont even have time to be sick.. man oh man.. I think I may need to get my tonsils taken out.... Somebody HELP PLEASE!!!!!!!!!

It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time!!!!!

What better way to start off a class about fraternal change than to do a service project. Considering Service is a part of a majority of our organization's principles, service should almost be expected as a part of this experience. Helping others is a great way to promote change in our community. This project gave our classmates the opportunity to work together and to get to know each other. That is what service does, it brings people together. It is a unifying act. While making the peanut butter & jelly sandwiches I learned a lot about the members of the other councils. We are more alike than we would have ever imagined. Ben Hubener(sorry for the spelling) was my partner. He is very involved on campus and his fraternity is ot his ownly activity. He is a very hard worker and his mission is just the same as ours (NPHC)... TO SUCCEED!!! Bringing the councils together was a great step towards fraternal change. THE MOVEMENT IS COMING!!!!

Welcome to the World of E-V-E!!!

Hello all!!! My name is Evelyn Denise Ward. I am a 3rd year Biology student with a minor in Forensic Science. I plan on going into education in the future. I am a new member of the eXquisite Xi Gamma chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. here at THE Ohio State University. I serve as treasurer for both my chapter and the council that my organization belongs to, The National Pan-Hellenic Council or what is more commonly called the NPHC. I am also a member of MANRRS or Multicultural Students in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences where I serve as Secretary.
When I first came to this university I saw a lot of hype behind Greek life. I first became interested during the Spring quarter of my freshman year. That is when I saw a lot of Black Greek organizations in the spot light. The hype can easily draw a person in but I saw a deeper meaning behind Greek life. I saw how serious everyone took their letters and how close they were with those who shared them and even with those of other Greek lettered organizations. I also saw how committed these organizations were to bettering our community through service and programs to help the campus. I began to reasearch the three different NPHC sororities that were present on our campus at the time. I seemed to mesh instantly with the ladies who were members of what is now MY organization ( :), feels good to say that... na... IT FEELS GREAT!!!). We all shared the same interests and values and I was able to be myself around them. Since becoming a member, I have become a better person all around. I had already had a strong background in service (from being a member of Girl Scouts as a child and throughout my high school years) but my desire to serve has increased even more. I always thought it was a nice thing to do but I have a greater understanding and appreciation for serving. I realize that the world is so much greater than my personal world and that I could expand my personal world by opening up to others and not only serving them, but understanding their struggle. I have also gained a greater sense of family since I've joined my organization. I never really had a strong family background. When it came to family I was always cold and distant. I have learned to forgive and forget and appreciate the people around me. I have learned the importance of increasing the amount of people in my life and realizing that I make mistakes just as other people do. I have grown so much in every sense be it physically, mentally or spiritually. I love being a part of my organization and I wouldn't have made any other decision.
After reading blogbus in it's entirety I look forward to taking this class and growing even more from my decision to join a Greek Lettered Organization. This is an exciting and different way to do assignments for a class and is just another representation of how Greek Lettered Organizations promote CHANGE!!!