As a graduate student now, I look back at my undergraduate years, and I reflect on experiences and involvement that I took on while being a full-time student taking 16-18 credits per semester. I was also a dual-degree student, studying the fields of music and statistics. I took lessons in both piano and violin. I spent two and a half summers just to finish my requirements within four years. However, my top experience was being an active member of a fraternity.
The fraternity I rushed, initiated, and activated into was Alpha Phi Omega, the co-ed national service fraternity, at the Gamma Pi Chapter (University of Michigan). I joined the fraternity in the middle of my junior year, and here are 12 reasons being in a fraternity was worth the commitment:
1. Being a Big
Once a brother becomes activated, he or she is required to apply to be a big. What I love about being a big is that it is a leadership opportunity and an opportunity to connect. An active brother in any fraternity has displayed an understanding the morals and values of being a brother, and has promised to abide by and uphold them. I made the pledge (pun intended) of doing that as an active brother for Alpha Phi Omega. I was fortunate to be a Big for a guy who displayed the similar passion that I had for the fraternity. My little was someone who I also had a successful time communicating with about staying on top of fraternity requirements for attendance, service, fellowships, and doing one-on-ones with other members to get connected. I had a big who made sure of it for me, and it is an amazing feeling to be there for another person where I was the Big, knowing that I play a part in their success as a member of the fraternity.
2. Performing community service
Community service is the top reason I wanted to be a part of Alpha Phi Omega. My mother was very involved in the community when I was a kid. My mom is closest to me of anybody. I had it in me to perform community service once I joined National Honor Society in my junior year of high school. Just like in Alpha Phi Omega, performing community service was required to remain a part of the group. But I did it because I loved to do it. I felt so much that it was more than myself, and I have the heart to put other people ahead of myself. Being involved in performing community service made me feel more complete as a person.
3. Attending chapter
Chapter meetings provide a sense of routine. In Alpha Phi Omega, chapter meetings were on Sunday evenings, and when I joined, I always had an activity to look forward to on the day that people go out the least, aside from going to church. There was an incentive for me to attend also because I was a chair under the Communications Vice President. I had the opportunity to stand up and ask questions to a randomly selected fraternity brother each week for entertainment purposes at chapter, called "hot seat". I loved to see everybody laughing at chapter as well. I wrote jokes in the "Forget-Me-Not" Box which notes put inside the box would be read at the end of chapter. Elections took place during each winter and I wanted to have a say in how the fraternity is run at the university, as well as who runs it.
4. Proposing Ideas to the Chapter
I attended a couple of meetings that were hosted by executive board members of the fraternity, but I had some opinions that I wanted to share. I did not mind as much about whether or not my ideas would resonate with the rest of the executive board or if they would resonate with the membership of the fraternity. I knew that I was content with the direction in which Alpha Phi Omega was going even though my ideas were ultimately overruled, since I gave what I wanted to give. I spoke from the heart when proposing ideas to the chapter.
5. Recruitment!
Every year, members come and go. To uphold the involvement of students, it is imperative to reach out to potential members who are looking to get involved in the community. The opportunities are endless; service opportunities include doing knitting for the homeless, writing letters for military soldiers, or being a pen pal for an elementary school student. There are opportunities for leadership, including running for executive positions, being a chair, and building one's own service project is a leadership opportunity as well. I got to make new friends as a part of Alpha Phi Omega, and they discovered why they belong in Alpha Phi Omega. The fraternity looks for these dedicated leaders, friends, and servicemen and servicewomen to uphold the tradition that Alpha Phi Omega has. At the Gamma Pi Chapter, there are approximately 300 active members, but the chapter reloads every year with new members who are inspired to make an impact. Everybody is welcome to Alpha Phi Omega, and the rush process is completely up to the individual instead of a selection process.
6. Fellowships
The Gamma Pi chapter had six different families, and the family that I was in is called "Mad Hatters". Each family had times where the members would meet each other and get to know one another. I formed a close bond with my family heads and I was really happy that they recognized me quickly. (I had one family head for each year I was in the fraternity) Fellowships were not just limited by the family, though. Multiple fellowship opportunities existed, and they included, but were not limited to, intramural sports, attending sporting events, dinners, marathons, and conferences.
7. One-on-Ones
Pledges are required to do five one-on-ones, of which one of them is with their Big. Needless to say, a Big is required to do one with his or her little. Of the one-on-ones that are required for pledges, four of the five are with active members. The active members that a pledge is required to do a one-on-one with are an executive member, a pledge planning committee member (family head), and the Big, leaving one other one-on-one for an active member. It sets up the opportunity to meet new people in the fraternity and build connections. For those who I connected with, I knew that they were in it for the long haul. I loved interacting with people who had the passion to do community service and be involved in the community.
8. Office Hours
I had questions that I wanted to be answered during my time in Alpha Phi Omega. The executive board members were gracious enough to host office hours during the week to stand by and talk to members in addition to providing their announcements at chapter and attending executive board meetings. Office Hours had always been an opportunity to encourage new ideas and ask questions. Earlier I talked about proposing new ideas to the chapter, and office hours was the perfect time for it. I brought up ideas that I had in mind during office hours that the executives hosted and they were all ears.
9. Sharing Stories
Aside from activities in Alpha Phi Omega, plenty of members joined with their friends. During one or two chapter meetings in the semester, brothers will be given the opportunity to share any interesting stories or experiences during their time in Alpha Phi Omega. I shared a story about a rush event at Buffalo Wild Wings where it was trivia night during my pledge semester. I had ordered a set of mozzarella sticks to eat and I shared it with a girl named Maggie, and I also met a guy named Evan. I also met the then-Vice President of Membership, Kelly. There were nearly 30 or 40 people at the event and at the end, I was the last one to leave. I noticed a pink-colored water bottle left there and I decided to take it to my apartment. It turned out that another pledge had left it there. I saw a girl asking about whether or not someone picked it up. I said that I did. Her name is Tanisha and when we met up to give her bottle back, we also did a one-on-one that day.
10. Initiation
I talked about recruitment in 5), but initiation is special when seeing the people that we reach out to consider actually pledging and follow through on that consideration. Those who followed through on consideration of pledging realized that they have the heart to give back to the community. Initiation is also the night where a pledge meets his/her Big. Not only did I get to meet my little (when I was a Big), I also got to know him (my little was a guy). I asked him questions to pick his brain a bit, and I also gave him the chance to do that with me. It served as a basis of what I talked about with him during our one-on-one.
11. Activation
At the end of the pledge semester, those who fulfill the requirements of a pledge in Alpha Phi Omega have shown that they deserve to move on to the next step of membership by becoming an active member. Activation is a special time for not only the little, but for the Big., The little has been contacted often by his or her big, and in my case, I called my little at least two or three times a week, making sure that he was staying on top of his requirements. I also called him to set up times to do requirements that we were required to do together, especially the one-on-one, and it is safe to say I got on his nerves. But my persistence in making sure he was on top of the requirements paid off as he was activated during his pledge semester.
12. Toast Song
At the end of each chapter meeting, the president calls for adjournment into the toast song. The toast song epitomizes the pillars of the fraternity, which are leadership, friendship, and service. All of the members have their own identity, having the desire to be leaders, friends, and of service. The identity is explained in the toast song. Alpha Phi Omega preaches loyalty in brotherhood, being true to each other and to themselves. By committing to be part of Alpha Phi Omega, each brother makes the effort to become a better person through involvement in the fraternity. All members think about more than just themselves, and they come together knowing that they all follow a mutual mission. They are true to Alpha Phi Omega.
