Paranormal Sigma

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Rush. Rush. Rush. That’s all anyone can ever think about this time of the semester. However, no matter how busy the Sigmas get we always find time to reconnect with each other and have fun as a club.  That is why last weekend we had club get together. We decided to make it a Halloween party in honor of Halloween being celebrated that weekend. We all dressed up and got ready in each other’s dorm rooms before going. Some people dressed up as frat boys, people from the eighties, tigers, hippies, nerds, wonder woman, and even a cow. The get together was held at a house that six senior Sigmas live in. It was near campus which was very convenient for all the sophomores and juniors. Once we got there the seniors played a joke on us by turning out all the lights and acting like no one was home or that we had knocked on the wrong door.  They then opened the door and screamed. We freaked out maybe a little. After that we went inside and had a blast. There was food and music and after having our fill of Halloween candy, brownies and cookies, we all sat down and watched paranormal activity. I don’t think I have heard more screaming in my life. This ended a very successful night of sigma lovin.

Hanging with the Sigmas

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During Rush season Sigmas try and find as many opportunities as possible to get to know their rushees.  Besides one on one rush dates and formal rush parties, Sigmas also plan informal rush events. These events can range from all sorts of activities such as watching movies, picnics, carving pumpkins, and getting frozen yogurt.  We only invite a small group of eight to ten girls at a time. We do this in order to get to know the girls in a social setting. The most recent one we did was going on a picnic. We all met at Coates to grab food and then walked over to the Landa Library park. It was a relaxed time where we could just talk with the girls and see how  school and life was going with them. 

The Sigmas next informal rush event is going to a haunted house. Before each event Sigma Theta Tau makes fliers for each activity and hand deliver them to the rushees dorm rooms. We try and send them out at least five days in advance so the girls have time to fit it in to their busy schedules. This past time I delivered half of the invitations and met a lot of new girls. I am hoping that this upcoming event will be fun and allow us to get better acquainted with our rushees.

Sigma Safari!

So rush has finally started and what better way to start this new rush season off then with Sigma Safari! Sigma Safari is Sigma’s themed rush kickoff party where we introduce ourselves to the new rushes as a club. It was really a fun event because we had delicious food and on all the tables we had little party favor boxes filled with Hershey kisses (the Sigma’s signature chocolate candy).  We used this chance to get to know a lot of the girls. As I have mentioned before, Intentionality is very important to Sigma’s and we wanted to let the girls know that rush is a time for us to get to know them and let them get to know us as a club.                    

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During this event we also had art supplies on each of the tables so they could make their own magnets of safari animals. This was a nice icebreaker so it would be easier to talk to the girls while they are doing something fun. We also debuted our sigma video called Sigma Swag. We put it on YouTube to get our Sorority name out there. So far we have received over 4000 views. In my opinion Sigma Safari was a huge success.

Sigmas help SAYL

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Volunteering was one of the first things that attracted me to Sigmas. Not only does the entire club participate in Give every year together, but we also do many other service projects during the year. For example five of us Sigmas are volunteering this semester to help children in elementary school become stronger readers.  The Organization is called San Antonio Youth Literacy or SAYL for short.  The goal of this program is helping children master reading in its early stages so they will be able to succeed in middle and high school reading levels. This is important because many children especially in San Antonio do not have a good foundation of reading and fall through the cracks. They end up sliding by each class with a D or even fail and have to take summer school. This is why it is so important for young children in the beginning stages of reading to master it completely. 

This problem has drawn the attention of the Sigmas and when it was mentioned during a meeting I knew it was something I wanted to do. I spend an hour each week at Lamar Elementary School and work with two second graders for thirty minutes each. Each week we pick a new book to read that is interesting to them. If they are not in the mood to read we do not want to force them to because we want them to get a positive vibe from it. I am hoping to help these kids as much as I possibly can because I understand the importance of being able to read well. It not only helps you be successful in the classroom, but also out in the world.

Back to School

The beginning of this new school year began with a Sigma meeting held in Waxahachie in upstairs Coates. It had been a long summer and everyone was excited to see everyone again. It was nice seeing the remainder of the sorority grouped within one tight location. The room seemed empty at the beginning of this semester because most of the pledge class of ’09 had left to study abroad and there wasn’t going to be a new pledge class until the spring.

I was pumped to hear about all of the activities and social events that the Sigmas would be participating in this semester such as Beach and Give.  They also mentioned countless other opportunities to get involved in the Trinity and San Antonio communities.  

Permission granted by Ashley Rice

After the meeting ended, everyone immediately ran up to each other in order to plan some dates. Intentionality is very important within Sigmas. As a result, it is vital that all of us become closely acquainted with one another. By date, I’m referring to a variety of activities that we do together such as exercising, eating dinner, walking our dogs and volunteer work.  My PC planned a dinner together to start the year off. It is important that there are no cliques and we all can work together smoothly especially because we are going to be rushing new girls this fall. We want to make sure that we are united as a PC so Rush 2010 is the best year yet.