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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Cliquer pour visualiser le diaporama.

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 !

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