Archives du mot-clé kappa sigma

Initiation Day (Fraternity Delta Sigma Pi)

2A (2ème année) EMStrasbourg à l'étranger USA, 2A La vie étudiante américaine, In English please ;), , , , , , , , , , , , ,
DSP

Yesterday was my first initiation as a brother of Delta Sigma Pi. I should tell you that it is an amazing experience to be on the other side… It is less stressful obviously. I have never experimented something like that before. I will not explain to you what is exactly initiation in details because I am not allowed to. Indeed, being a brother is the only way to figure out what is the process to become a brother. That was my first and last initiation as a brother… so emotional! (Business professional attire was required)

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Me and my chinese brother Zhenni

I could not stop thinking that I had just one month left here… Time flies. I keep in mind that everything is going to be over soon. American people tend to exaggerate by saying “this is the saddest thing ever!” This time, I totally agree with them… I don’t say that I am not happy to come back home. As a matter of fact, I miss my family and my country. However, this experience has been exceptional and I have learnt so much about me. Anyway, let’s talk about the initiation and stop digressing.

After 12 weeks of pledge process, which means “promesse” in French, the chapter determines if each pledge is ready to become a brother through a voting meeting. A few days after, the ceremony takes place on campus. As far as I am concerned, I got initiated in November during Fall 2013 but not at IUPUI. I missed that ceremony so I got to go on another campus at Bloomington. I was not alone so this experience allowed me to discover a new city! It was still Indiana University but another campus. Business clothes are almost always required as you can see on pictures.

All the brothers

What I can tell, and with a great enthusiasm, is that it is again a new event to meet people and to enjoy your time. I am really glad that I could meet my new brothers. Even if you don’t know them, you are related to each other through the fraternity. That’s it. Everyone depends on you and you depend of them.

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After this initiation, we went to a social event mixed with Relay of Life. Relay for Life is a  overnight fundraising event dedicated to raise money for cancer research.

The opportunity to share great moments with your brothers and to support a noble cause is real. It lasts 10 hours from 5 pm to 5 am. I stayed a little bit but at midnight, my entire body was exhausted (and frozen!). After my great performance at the Zumba activity at 11:30pm, I almost fell down and then I decided to come back home. The brutal winter in Indianapolis is not totally over!

Having a rich social life makes you feel alive here. All American students are involved in at least one student club. If you have the opportunity to join one of them, wherever you are in the US, grasp it and be really involved. It is the “win win” principle: the more you give, the more you get. 

Pictures taken by Maria L. and Zhenni L.

100th article: « Meet the chapter »

2A (2ème année) EMStrasbourg à l'étranger USA, 2A La vie étudiante américaine, In English please ;), , , , , ,

Hello everyone, I am glad to write you a new article, the first one in the US for the year 2014 (Happy New Year!). I finally arrived last week to a -20 degree weather… I must add that American people have never seen such a bitter cold weather since 20 years. Well, for my 100th article, I wanted to write something special and important to me. Obviously, this article is going to concern Delta Sigma Pi, the fraternity I have joined.  According to the DSP traditions, today was the event « Meet the Chapter« . After 2 weeks of recruiting, Meet the Chapter is THE event when all the potentials (business students who want to join the fraternity) can meet the brothers and also have an interview to get admitted in the pledge process.

This event was really joyful. After the Christmas break, students are not motivated to come back to school. Being together helps a lot! We could meet some new potentials and explain to them how the fraternity works. It was actually -25 degrees outside: it is almost impossible to stay out more than 10 minutes without freezing. Despite the cold temperatures, some potentials pledges braved the cold. I think thus people who came were really interested in pledging at Delta Sigma Pi.

In addition, Professional attire was mandatory: you can’t imagine how many girls were in the bathrooms to change their clothes! I was effectively wearing two sweaters, a jacket, one dress, a jean, a legging, my socks and my boots. I was glad when an IUPUI service employee gave me a ride to the business building. Americans are always helpful!

We took pictures and then, after interviews, we went to the Campus Center in the game room. We had such a great time there, singing karaoke, playing guitar hero and eating pizzas. I think that joining this fraternity was the best idea I have ever had since I am here.  I encourage you to follow DSP_IUPUI on Twitter if you want to know more about that.

PS: As you can see, I changed my camera for a new one… My pictures seem better, don’t they?

Becoming a new brother of Delta Sigma Pi

2A (2ème année) EMStrasbourg à l'étranger USA, 2A La vie étudiante américaine, In English please ;), , , , ,

Once I passed the final exam of the Pledge Process, I was relieved. I became a brother of Delta Sigma Pi on November, 7th, 2013, exactly 106 years after the creation of the fraternity.  Since my initiation, I have had the pleasure to experiment what it means to be a brother.

My roommate Maria, the vice president of fundraising at DSP, encouraged me to be a part of a fundraising event. There are many fundraising events organized to raise money for the fraternity. For example, the fraternity works at the Lucas Oil Stadium selling concessions for american football games. The concession stand sells food and beverages. Recently, I had the opportunity to work in the stadium. In order to be successful, each brother has to work as a team member electing to be a cashier or a cook. As a matter of fact, I was totally exhausted at the end of the day: I worked for 7 hours. Nevertheless, the stadium’s ambiance was amazing and working in team made work easier and funnier. My pair was the fraternity’s president, Josh, and we had a lot of fun. In the end, I know that I was working in the interest of the fraternity and that brings me joy! I want to point out I think it’s a very good opportunity to gain experience.

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In other news, I I started thinking about running for a position in the executive board of the fraternity. I had time to balance the pros and the cons. I knew that a position would take up a lot of my time: however,  it is another way for me to become more involved in the fraternity.  I decided to run for the VP Information Technology position with a great enthusiasm because my responsibilities in this position would be very diverse. As a VP Information technology, I have to manage social networks’ pages and work on the website renewal…The good news is, after a voting competition, I have been elected for the position and will be working with my brother Chuwen, for the rest of the school year. Lastly, we shared a potluck lunch with special recipes from around the world !

Initiation: I do !

2A (2ème année) EMStrasbourg à l'étranger USA, 2A La vie étudiante américaine, In English please ;), , , ,

I have officially become a brother of Delta Sigma Pi, 106 years after the foundation of the fraternity. I came to Bloomington for my initiation at Indiana University. The Chapter Alpha Pi was very nice with me. You can see a picture of my big brother and me below (with the brother’s pin !)

I can’t tell you how was the initiation (secret !) but  this experience is AMAZING. More questions ? Comment or email :)

I am a brother now :)