As the world turns...

It seems as though time at Transy just skipped an entire weekend because of the sheer intensity of the events that transpired from Friday to Monday, yes folks I am talking about that special and very unique event of Woman's Greek Recruitment.

If you hadn't heard, Transy is very Greek and we are consistently ranked in the Top 10 universities with a "Major Frat and Sorority Scene" by The Princeton Review (this year we're #4.) When I first saw this during my online college search I was almost immediately turned off, I didn't want to be surrounded by pretentious men and women prancing around campus sporting their letters, all looking the same and limiting their social circles to only include their brothers or sisters. Reminded by my mother that not all things are the way they may look on the outside, I went ahead with my investigation of Transy. So at the last possible moment before winter break I scheduled an overnight and was surprised to find that I wasn't meet any of the preconceived ideas I had about the students on the campus. Sure there were more Sperry's, J. Crew, and Vera Bradley than I was use to but I think that kind of goes along with the whole college scene right now.

After I got to campus, I still wasn't sold on the idea and I remained independent my first year, but as a sophomore I went through recruitment (check out my very first two posts,) pledged and later joined one of the awesome women's chapters on campus. (For the sake of anonymity, I'm not going to talk about my specific chapter, just know they're all amazing.) Since joining my chapter I have loved giving back through our philanthropic efforts, have fun at social events, and learning more from my sisters than I could have ever imagined.

The whole point of this story is that yes, Transylvania University is chalk-full of "Greeks" but because of many different factors we don't subscribe to school of thought that members of one chapter can't be friends with members of another chapter or for that matter that affiliated students can't be friends with unaffiliated students. Although there are many different organizations on campus, as cheesy as it may sound, we all really do identity ourselves as Transylvania students first and it was that unity that I finally saw during the course of my first year that showed me I could be whoever I want to be within or outside of a Greek organization.

If you have any further questions about Transy's Greek Life you should check out the website and remember to keep an open mind about the labels that are attached to every school you look at.

My sisters and me on the last night of recruitment

I hope everything's going swell for you! I think I may be getting sick, so I wish you all the best of health!

Heeeeyyy Yaaa! Hey Yaaa!

That's Hey Ya as in Outkast, if you're clueless about it still... youtube it. :)

Anyway... School has started, class is in session, and the [hypothetical] party has begun. Already this year looks like it's going to be quite an adventure. As I told you many moons ago, this year I'm tackling the Resident Assistant role and because of that I've been on campus for three weeks. Training was way intense but I'm glad of that because I feel ready for the year, or as ready as I can be. It's really interesting to be back in the realm of first years even as an RA, its very fun to watch my residents start to blossom into women away from their families. Move in was an exciting ordeal, watching all of the parents moving the "children" in to their dorms and eventually leaving them "under my watch."

One of the exciting things about being an RA is planning CBA's or Community Building Activities, already I've had two plus a hall meeting- our first CBA was "Speed Dating" with one of the boys halls, where the girls lined up and just talked for three minutes with all the guys. Our second activity was having Laina, the nurse, come to talk to the girls about the services she offers and good practices for remaining healthy. Another fun thing I got to do as an RA was to decorate my hall in whatever theme I wanted, I choose "Save our Earth" here are some pictures:

The first bulletin board, not so much about saving the earth, but background is made up of the scraps of my other projects (and is 100% recycled paper) and a reused calendar I found in the trash.

Second bulletin board, boasting most of the contents of my recycling bin, and useful info on: recycling, carpooling, and how to get involved at Transy.

Each of the rooms in Forrer has one of these little bulletin boards outside of them; on each of them is each roommate's name and a photo so everyone will know each others face.

There are a bunch of fun themes on the first year halls this year, there's a Dr. Suess's "Oh the Places You'll Go!" theme; a Survivor theme; a Saved by the Bell theme; and a bunch of other neat ideas.

I hope you all are starting your own school year off right and hope you're having some fun!

Till next time! Abby

PS. Since the city of Lexington is lame and thinks that people care about the Bengals ;) I didn't get to watch the Colts game today. But in case you didn't hear... they won!!