What fills your bucket? In other words, what fills your heart with joy and causes you to smile until your face hurts from smiling? For me, spending time with Theta Phi Alphas fills my bucket! My bucket is overflowing after attending Officer Leadership Training (OLT) at the University of Maryland and a gathering for alumnae in the Washington D.C. area this month.
OLT saw the largest in-person gathering of Theta Phis since our 2018 Convention due to the pandemic, with 250 collegians, alumnae, facilitators, and staff in attendance. Laughter, hugs, cute t-shirts, Instagram photo moments, and love for Theta Phi Alpha was apparent throughout the event.
OLT provided a learning and growth mindset environment for our collegians. This allowed them to identify and dissect many areas of skill sets that may look different individually in their chapters but ultimately fit the puzzle to help each of them become the best leaders as members collectively. Theta Phi Alpha was able to provide these learning opportunities through the generous support of the Theta Phi Alpha Foundation, which allowed us to invest in a five-year contract with Phired Up. As Phired Up states, people join people, not organizations! Phired Up will provide leadership and recruitment education training for our collegiate members, education and training for our national officers who work with our chapters in the area of recruitment, and technology to help our chapters manage the recruitment process. Our keynote speaker was Bonny Shade, whose presentation titled “She Belongs Here!” discussed belonging in the sorority community. This included deepening connections within the chapter by being intentional, having hard discussions, and taking small steps towards big changes within the chapter. Tips for deepening connections outside the chapter included being open to deeper conversations, being honest about fears, and building relationships and friendships first regardless of membership. This powerful presentation and honest discussion that occurred, along with the tools provided through Phired Up will help prepare our chapters to engage with each other and potential new members during recruitment.
How does Theta Phi Alpha fill your bucket? If you would like to share, email [email protected].
Please enjoy some photos from OLT!
yitbos,
Kristin Henkenius
National President