Seniors in OH Kappa Pi Beta Phi

           As a senior of Pi Phi, you may experience many events. For example, we host alternative meetings where we discuss things ranging from what it means to leave a legacy behind to what kinds of socials we’d like to have. You participate in socials, some of which the chapter sponsors, but beyond that, the seniors attend events to make us closer as a class. This quarter, specifically, we are attending a chapter-sponsored event where we will do paintings on canvases together, just us senior class. Next quarter, we hope to attend other events such as comedy shows, baseball games, or simply having a night out at dinner!

            When a senior is graduating, we host a ceremony called Senior Farewell Ceremony. The Vice President of Membership is highly involved in this process, as well as our AAC members (or our alumni members). This ceremony is important in transitioning the seniors into the real world as adults. What is different about the ceremony coming up on March 6^th for Lori Sobolewski (our only graduating senior) is that we will have a Region 2 Pi Phi in town! Leisa Lowrey is the Regional Director for Region 2, which is a huge deal! This ceremony is followed by the Seniors Toasts, which is where other Pi Phi’s send off the graduating Pi Phis with funny, tearful sayings to cap off their year as graduating seniors!

            All of these ceremonies and events are special to specifically seniors, giving us one last push until we’re out in the real world as adults! Being a Pi Phi cannot be summed up in two paragraphs, but this is just a glimpse into several ceremonies involved in a Pi Phi senior’s life!

Written by: Sara Ventrella

Celebrating our Differences

Over this past Hanukkah season, some of my Pi Phi sisters and I had an interesting opportunity to help one of my sisters, Becca, and her family.  What we had to do was pretty simple; help prepare a dinner from scratch for several hundred people.  It is something her family does every year, they help host and prepare a dinner sponsored by the Herb Byer memorial fund.  The dinner is open to the entire community and has a fantastic turnout each year.  My sister asked for some extra assistance for her mother, who works the whole week preparing food for this dinner, entirely from scratch.

I was only able to help one day out of the week, from nine a.m. until about three p.m.  Our first task was peeling potatoes for the latkes, which are extremely delicious potato pancakes.  (One perk of the job was taste testing!)  After peeling hundreds of pounds of potatoes with Becca’s whole family we moved on to place settings.  Each place setting needed to be set and each table needed decorated.  However, when you put six sorority sisters in charge of this the task goes nice and quick, and gets very entertaining.  Luckily Becca’s grandmother was there to keep us on task and make sure everything looked as it should.  Even our lunch break became an education when we learned all about kosher foods.  What makes them kosher, the importance and the history.  We even ordered kosher pizza for lunch!  Our last task of the day was peeling and cutting apples so Becca’s mother could make homemade applesauce.  Again, it was proven that many hands make light work and we were done in no time. 

Throughout the day we had been asking Becca many questions about the Jewish faith, her synagogue, Hanukkah traditions and anything else we could think of.  She was extremely patient with us and answered everything and fascinated us with her answers.  Then we were able to get a tour of her temple, The Adath Israel Synagogue.  It’s a beautiful building and our tour guide was excellent in explaining everything that perplexed us.  We all left that day with a much better understanding of the Jewish faith and its traditions as well as some entertaining memories that can only come from peeling hundreds of pounds of apples and potatoes and setting tables to seat hundreds.


By: Alex Hartke

Pizza-Movie-Sundays!

PMS is the newest, funniest thing to hit the Ohio Kappa chapter of Pi Beta Phi. PMS (Pizza, Movie, Sunday) is a sisterhood where the girls meet at our beautiful home on Sunday afternoons to enjoy a movie, pizza, and their sisters company.  At the very first PMS the girls watched Confessions of a Shopaholic, which was a huge success.  The TV Room’s couches were full and girls were even scattered on the floor.  For me, I really enjoyed the sisterhood, it gave the older girls a relaxed setting to get to know the younger girls.  Being able to talk to girls is the best way for me to get to know all of my sisters on a deeper level. I’ve truly enjoyed this experience, and cannot wait to watch our next movies.  

By: Lori Sobolewski

UIFI

Over the summer, I had the opportunity to attend the Undergraduate Fraternity Institute at Indiana University. Founded to enhance the commitment of sorority and fraternity leaders to Ritual and values-based leadership, the five day retreat brings together students and advisors from all over the country.

There was a large emphasis on ritual and how we should “Learn it, live it, teach it, expect it.” We also focused on the intent of our founders and living up to the vision that they hoped for when starting each of our chapters. Something that struck me was a comparison of joining a Greek organization to marriage – something founded on similar beliefs, and an intangible connection, but also something that takes effort and hard work to succeed. With proper communication, dedication, mutual respect, and adherence to the promises we make, it allows for the betterment of those involved.

Over the five days, I was able to make friends from Greek systems from California to Florida; gain a new understanding and appreciation for the tradition and values on which we were founded; and discover ways to improve our chapter and community.

By: Bethany Maynard

Teach for America Chooses an Ohio Kappa!

Teach for America is one of America’s largest and strongest organizations.  Making an impact in education for children living in poverty, it is both an honor and a privilege to be chosen as a corp member.  Based upon the themes that “Poverty is not Destiny," Teach for America chooses recent college graduates to start teaching for a minimum of two years in a low-income community.  It is in this program these teachers create an impact that works to close the education gap in cities across America.

Ohio Kappa Michelle Tufano was selected to be a 2012 Teach for America corp member. Michelle, a senior journalism and English student, and former Vice President of Membership holds a special place in the hearts of Ohio Kappa. Intensive summer training, career development, and an increased understanding of the program and its workings are in Michelle’s future.

Michelle has worked very hard for this opportunity, and has the support of her sisters wherever it may lead her. As for now, after graduating, she will be headed to Charlotte, North Carolina to teach high school English.

We wish her the best of luck and will be sending both our love and our support from Cincinnati.