What Does THAT mean????

Fridays at the school I teach at is considered "Casual Friday" for all teachers. On this particular day I decided to wear some Greek Paraphernalia. During my 3rd period class, three students were inquiring about the letters on my chest.

Student A: What does that mean Mrs. Love?

Me: I belong to a Greek Letter Organization

Student B: You're Greek? I thought you were Black

Student A: No dummy, she said an organization, my mom is one of those thingys

Me: Really?? Do you know which one?

Student A: The one that wears that ugly pink and yellow.

Me: You mean Pink and Greek??? (Laughing on the inside)

Student A: Yeah that's the one. Her and her sisters be screeching really loud!

Student C: Yeah my daddy is a DAWG, (starts hopping)

Student A: Well I'mma tell my moma I wanna be a member of YOUR organization Mrs. Love. I don't like my Mom's organization. They are so stuck up and snotty.

Me: Snotty? Don't you mean the word "snooty"

Student A: Yes, snooty.

Me: Well not ALL members are snooty Student A, so don't judge it just on that okay?

Student A: I don't care what you say, I wanna be one of ya'll. Ya'll cool and down to earth.

Me: Okay settle down class, let's get started on our concert, take out.............

Lesson For the Day : Children are always watching!

Food in Seoul Korea/DST Sisterhood Conference

The Food in Korea was SO delicious, I decided to create a blog post JUST about the food. I can't wait to go back to Next Year.

We slept ALL day, so my girl was nice enough to run out to grab us some McDonalds. Now Grant it i will say that it taste NO WHERE NEAR the McDonalds that we are use to in the US, however it was good enough to eat since we didn't eat anything all day.

South Korean Money

CHEETOS SNACK

This place was SO good we went back TWICE

Seoul Korea/DST Farwest Sisterhood Conference

I had an amazing time with my beautiful sorors at the farwest region International Sisterhood Conference. I wasn't even considering going until my principal (also my soror) insisted that I go. So glad that she did. We had a great time connecting with sorors from all over. We wanted to make the best of our trip, so we decided to fly in a few days early. This was a great way to shop, and connect with the Natives for South Korea. Oh did I mention where it was???? My bad, we went to South Korea.

When we first arrived, we stayed in this quaint little establishment where you need a code to gain access. We had bunk beds which was different for the both of us. The last time I slept in a bunk bed was when I was in college. Nevertheless, we got in late, but we were still on US time so it seemed like morning to us. We dropped off our luggage, took a quick shower and headed out for a night of fun.

I felt as if I was back in College again,,,,but considering we would only be there to lay our heads, I was fine with it. Also, we would only be there for three nights. When the sisterhood conference starts, we would then  stay on the military base. We just decided to go a few days prior to the conference so we could have some "us time, and shopping time." Just like College, I took the top bunk.

We walked down the street and found this CUTE little restaurant. We took off our shoes at the door, and sat at this cute little tables to order food. There were other natives there, and they were so friendly they came by to join us. It was funny because we barely knew how to speak Korean, and they were testing out their broken English on us. They came over to break bread with us...and we had a ton of fun!

This meal was DEE-LISH!!!!!!!





Letter of Recommendation: Who Should I ASK?????

So I know it's that time of year where a lot of prospective members are scrambling trying to get everything for them to pledge XYZ Sorority/Fraternity. As I stated before, each organization has its own process/procedure when applying for membership. Most orgs will ask you for a letter of recommendation from an active and financial member. Here are a few tips I can give you regarding this matter.

1. Ask someone you KNOW! This is SO important! They need to know who they are writing a letter. Do you know them personally? More importantly, do they know YOU personally? You want them to "brag" about you, and how can they brag if they can't tell you?

2. Are they active and more importantly FINANCIAL with the organizations? I am assuming if you are asking them then you have seen them participate in chapter events such as community service events, fundraising events, etc. Why is this important? Well, several organizations require that their prospective members get a letter of recommendation from a "dues paying" member. Are you trying to ask someone who hasn't been active for a while? Chances are if they have not been active with a chapter, they are not financial. This will deem your application of being invalid.

3. Always have an A, B, AND C plan as to someone writing your LOR. (Letter of Recommendation). I say this because you want to make sure you can get in touch with the person, prepare yourself for possibly getting a "no," or you may find out that the ONLY person you relied on is not financial. When I joined what feels like many moons ago, I had ONE person in mind — my ex-boyfriend's sister. I spoke to her on the phone a couple of times, and when the time came, she wasn't able to write me a letter of recommendation.  Then I met and grew close to another member at my job while we both were working as sales associates at Marshall Fields. It was funny because I ended up transferring to the school she pledged. Two years later when I asked for a LOR, I found out she was inactive. DANG! So disappointed, but THANKFULLY I had a C plan. And this Soror was more than willing to write me a letter of recommendation. I found out many years later that she NEVERS write a letter of recommendation for ANYONE, so the fact that she wrote me one tells me that I made quite an impression on her.

As for me???? I have been asked well over 25 times to write a LOR, and how many have I written? 1….YUP, JUST ONE! I am very picky about who I choose to write a letter to. I have to know you to write you a letter, and I just don't write letters all willy nilly.

3. The moment you find out you want to join XYZ organization, find out who you would like to write your letter of recommendation. This is important and will allow you figure out if they fit number 2 and if not, hopefully, you can talk to them openly about any suggestions that they may have as to who could write you a letter.

4. GIVE the recommender plenty of time to write your letter. Asking at the last min might result in delays of the chapter receiving your letter, or the person saying they don't have the time or just a point-blank NO!

These are the top FOUR I would suggest you follow when asking for a LOR.

I wish ALL the prospects for Spring 2014 all the best!

HAPPY 2014!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congrats to ALL of you who crossed over into Greek Land Fall Semester. I have received emails from followers who are now my sorors, Zetas, AKAs, Iotas, Kappas, and Alphas.

It's 2014, which means a HUGE celebration for Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. As I stated in my first post "Journey to Greekland" I have a ton of relatives in the "Blue and White" family.  I am truly excited for them, and I can't wait to see my Facebook "blow up" with a ton of posts from my family and friends of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc.  It just seems like on yesterday when my sorors and I were blowing up everyone's newsfeed on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter with posts about us turning 100.

I have received a ton of requests from neos if I can create a few posts about the "Life of Being a Neo" If you want to see more posts about this,,,, please replied to this post. Also, let me know what you would like to know.

My Beautiful Delta Finds…...

So while I was in DC, I did some MAJOR paraphernalia shopping. I saved for this moment for three years….YUP, I had a special "Delta Savings" account separated from my other savings and checking accounts. The great thing about going to National and Regional Conferences are VENDORRRRRSSSSS!!!!! (In my Oprah Winfrey Voice).

At first, I was VERY disappointed because they gave us "color-coded" bracelets and we were only allowed to visit the vendors during a particular time frame depending on our color. This sucked for me since most of my times were during choir rehearsals. At any rate after getting over my disappointment, I decided to make the best of the little time I did have.

Two days later, they made a decision NOT to worry about the color bracelets and would monitor how many people they would allow in the vending hall at a time. This was pure music to my ears. I was finally able to hit the vendors on day three, and I wanted to go with my ships. One was on her way back home to the Chi, so it was imperative that we all went together.

We just finished touring Howard, and my feet were KILLING ME! The first thing I was on the hunt for was Delta Slippers. Thankfully my one of my ships found me a pair. My feet were thanking me as I stepped out of my heels and into a piece of what seemed like heaven.

After stepping into heaven, we spent a  couple of hours in there until it closed (12 am) and I must say that we found some EXCELLENT para. So glad I saved my money for this moment. When I walked in and saw soooooo much Delta Red, My eyes lit up like a Christmas Tree. I didn't even know where to begin. During that time, I knew that I made the best decision of saving up for this very moment. Since this is the LARGEST convention, Delta decided to have three different locations for Vendors which included Howard Bookstore, the Renaissance Hotel, the Convention Center (which is where we were).

The funniest thing that happened was I ordered a special made Delta chair for myself right before the convention. I wanted it for the "Deltas On the Mall" function with  Singer "Brandy," but the owner of the shop, and I played phone the week before I was leaving for DC.  The shop was in Chicago, and after missing each other, I decided to try to connect with them when I returned home. Imagine my shock when I stumbled upon it at the Convention Center in DC while we were shopping. At first, I was like, Wow that's my chapter name, and then I was like, wait, that's my Ships' name, And then when I saw the crossing date and my line name I was like WAIT, THATS.MY.CHAIR!!!!!!! I whipped out my Credit Card to pay for it, but the owners were like PLEASE it's the only one we brought from Chicago, and I am getting a lot of orders because of it. I told them sure but laughed hysterically. We both decided that we would connect after the convention, so they could continue advertising my chair.

 My Personalize Delta Chair

When I returned home, we finally connected again and I am happy to report my chair made it back to me in one piece. Another great thing is they gave me a NICE discount since I allowed them to advertise.

Two of my ships bought this BEAUTIFUL case, and I am kicking myself for not getting one for myself.

I ended up finding some cute AKA (Yes, as in Alpha Kappa Alpha) stuff for my sister-n-love. She has always been there for me, so I couldn't pass up treating her with some pink and green.

Three hours later, I purchased quite a bit of stuff for myself……Here are a few photos of my Delta Finds…..I haven't worn them all as of yet, but I am looking forward to it. It was terrific browsing the vendors. I hate I only went to two of the three locations. (Howard and the Convention Center). I never made my way to the Renaissance Hotel and found out later that they had the BEST items there. (Go Figure) Thankfully, I was able to get a list of vendors there and connect with them online after the convention. I bought some CUTE "Delta Couture" from a vendor TMIR...Will post about that later especially for those of you are considering pledging Delta, AKA, Omega, or Kappa.  I bought EVERY SINGLE ITEM she had. Once again, none of the pictures below feature her items, as I feel she deserves her very own post, ;-)

One Small Portion....

My CUTE Delta Key Chain, Bracelets, and Necklace  

This is PERFECT for my Desk at School!  

I got a STEAL on these shirts, especially my "High Maintenance" High Heel Shirt

I love my new Delta mirror compact and bracelet! 

My Collective Delta Haul

I ended up buying a few hats, Shoes, 2 Jackets, 6 Shirts, 4 Sweaters, a Plaque, Watch, Pens, Pencils and a host of other things…... You name it; I bought it! :-) I felt like it was crossing night and I was at my neophyte celebration all over again. It was WONDERFUL!

Worth the Wait!!!!

Hello, Inspiring future Greek-ers!!! (Okay so I know that's not a word)
With the Fall Semester behind us,  I know most of you are gearing up for hopefully becoming a member of XYZ Sorority/Fraternity next semester (For those of you in College) or in the Spring (For those of you inspiring to join an Alumnae Chapter)

This is a time where your nerves may kick in, you are on the watch for flyers posted around your college campus/or in the community, or depending on the organization you want to join, you are praying that someone will sponsor you and ask you to an invitation-only Rush. (The latter usually happens only at the alumnae level only)

PREPARE!!!!

Well, I think I covered most of it in my previous blogs……….But here is one thing that I can't stress enough, make sure you triple, quadruple check your application. I have heard a lot of sad stories where people were denied based on the fact that their application was not complete. Also, make sure you KNOW the person who is writing your letter of recommendation. Another horror thing I heard was people getting letters of recs from INACTIVE members. Now the members should know better than to write you a letter of rec, knowing good-n-well they are not financial.

(Financial- Members who pay dues annually to the organization) That's why it is better than you ask someone you are close with, someone you know. Personally to write you a letter of recommendation. I have had some prospective members ask me HERE on this blog if I would write them one. Umm….I don't know you like that. Sure you sent me an email every now or then (and some that were the FIRST email they sent me), but I am not writing a LOR for anyone I don't personally know. Now there is one lady that I have established a relationship with since I started writing this blog four years ago. She was a  Junior in HS back then, and we have too many emails going back and forth to count. She also friended me on FB. Since then I felt as if I know her, and if SHE was to ask me to write her one, I might consider it because I feel as if I "know her."

Get your finances in order. Now, do I have to tell you that? I hope not! I would wish that the moment you decided to join a Greek letter organization, you started to save up. Also, make sure you know that IF you are chosen, being a member can be quite expensive. I can't even tell you how much money I spent on Delta….from national dues, conventions, conferences, etc. so be prepared!

All the other stuff is covered in my previous blogs, be there on time, dress to impress, etc.

Good luck to you all, and HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!! I hope to receive a ton of emails from you stating that you crossed into (insert_greek_letter) LAND!