A Trip Back East

So I am a little overdue for my post on Syracuse- sorry for the delay girls, but I guess some things are worth waiting for. I was originally scheduled to visit Syracuse in the Fall but Sandy put a little bit of a damper on that trip and instead of heading to the rather clear skies in upstate New York, I went home to Boston to weather the Hurricane. Fortunately though, they rescheduled my visit for the winter and I had a fantastic time with the ladies of Beta Tau- even though I was scared for my life on the tiniest plane I've ever traveled on.

The TINY Plane I took to Syracuse

The girls in their super cute round 1 outfits

Recruitment was in full swing but it didn’t deter the girls from having a ball. Within two hours of my arrival, I walked into a FULL ON dance party. I mean, on the coffee table yelling to the ceiling dance party. I tried to upload the video for y'all but blogspot didn't feel like being that cooperative. Oh well... 

KKG Dance Party. Typical.

The girls blew me away for their Philanthropy Round, the infamous Kappa Kandyland (with a K of course). I’ve never seen anything like it. The colors were unbelievable and the way they decorated even after a long night of recruitment/voting was crazy. They had girls in every corner taping things to the ceiling, the walls, maybe even the floor. The center part was my favorite though. It was a long table FULL of candy- airheads, skittles, starbursts, and lollipops. I’m not gonna lie, I may have stolen a couple…or a lot…of Starburst throughout the day. Whoops. 

The walls were covered in head to toe with decorations!

I spy some Starburst :)

Fortunately for me, recruitment events were only held on the weekends so I had the entire week to hang out with the girls and get some work done. I braved the storm and walked around on campus in the snowiest and blizzardiest place I think I’ve ever been. When I was a senior in high school, I was so sick of the cold and the snow. I mean I went about as far away as you possibly could from New England in escape of it (yaaa California). But it actually was kind of nice to be back in the wind chill. Scary thought I know but it’s pretty hard to get that fresh rosy-cheeked-wind-chill look without well, the freezing cold. Although I will say I did not miss the crazy temperature drops. After freezing my butt off and running inside it was like a race to take off my jacket and layers before I would start sweating. Clearly forgot that rule of winter and let me tell you, it really was not a good look for me. 

Anyways, one of my favorite parts about visiting chapters with houses is checking out the old composites. Beta Tau has been around since 1883 so you can imagine how old some of the memorabilia they have is. Typically the 80’s hairstyles are enough to get me chuckling but House Parents? What on earth were they thinking? I also did a little investigating and found SCU’s old Standards Adviser, Julie Forsberg! So funny/great seeing old pictures of her- although she looks the exact same. Still pretty cool.

House Parents

I also had the opportunity to meet some unbelievable alumnae. Kristen and Naz are just to name a few. Kristen had the fortunate opportunity to be my roomie for the 9 days I was there. Poor Kristen was not feeling well the day I got there and although it was kinda funny, our first meeting was a little out of the norm. Thankfully she was okay but the medicine the doctors ordered for her were hysterical and I first met Kristen as she was being ushered to bed by their VPO, Mandy. I guess you could say we were close within the first 5 minutes of us meeting :) I’m sure by the end of the week she was ready to kick me out and head back to DC. Just kidding, we actually had so much fun throughout the week, probably more so than some of the members. Alumnae like sleepovers too. Naz recently graduated from Beta Tau and she is hysterical. So poised and so smart, she was such a great asset and role model for the actives. Plus she endorsed me on Linkedin so we’re besties now. 

Kristen and Naz prom pic

Goof Balls

I really have to give the girls props. I was so impressed with the chapter throughout the week but they truly showed how capable and dedicated they were when we were informed that recruitment rounds would last until 2:30 AM. Yes. That is not a typo, 2:30 AM. Both the Kappas and the women going through Recruitment rocked it and I was so so proud of all the actives for keeping their heads high and energy up.  I know by the end of the night we were all dragging but by talking with these girls, you would never know it.

Kristens favorite House Tours prop

All in all, even with the craziness of Recruitment, watching Girls and the Bachelor, braving the freezing cold, rounds until 2:30 AM, and then literally running out the door to catch my cab for my 7 AM flight back to Cali, Beta Tau was tons of fun and craziness. I was so happy I had the opportunity to meet all the amazing women (Ari, Megan, Jess, Mandy, Coco, Jessie, Erin, Hannah, and the list goes on and on and on!) at Syracuse and can’t wait until our paths cross again- hopefully on a visit to Beantown! L&L