Reflections & Reports

Reflection

My EDGE project helped me develop my leadership skills in two ways: by working with new sisters to help them gain the knowledge needed to enter the sorority and working with sisters who have held my position in the past and how they used it to their benefits in their current jobs. Working with the sisters taught me new teaching strategies that I can use in my classroom, this also helped me gain a higher level of patience, as well as what leadership styles work best for different learning styles and personalities. Being patient as a leader and as a teacher is very important because it allows the one leading to take a chance and learn from their mistakes, instead of just jumping in and taking over at the sign of trouble, which really applies in teaching because if the teacher always give the students answers the students never learn and patience as a teacher also allows the understanding need to help a struggling student. The leader can then teach the student another way at going about the situation to later be applied in the future. I saw the different ways sisters respond when learning about the ceremonies. Extroverted sisters picked up on the songs much faster and learned the ceremonies much faster, where as introverted sisters understood why the ceremony was that way and the meaning of each part. When it came to working with the sisters who previously held my position, I found it very beneficial because they gave me lots of knowledge to pass on about certain ceremonies which helped make the ceremonies more personal with each sister. At the end of the each ceremony I would ask a few sisters what they liked or didn't like aobut this ceremony so that I could use that feedback moving forward. Overall, I've learned that there are so many ways to be an effective leader and that there isn't one type that works for everyone.

Outcomes

In strengthening the connection of sisters this provided the eternal bonds needed to continue to be a strong organization that supports and empowers women. Also we, as older members, taught the value of what it means to be an Alpha Phi, because we promote living the values of Alpha Phi, which are: Sisterhood, Service, Scholarship, Leadership, Loyalty, Character Development; this allowed us sisters to bring a positive and encouraging environment to ourselves, our peers, campus and community. In this position, I strengthened my leadership skills by leading a department team, collaborating with the President to successfully carry-out the ceremonies, and delegating responsibilities to other members.

By completing my first goal, I was able to make the Theta Sigma Chapter of Alpha Phi about 83 girls, have a stronger connection with past, present, and future sisters. The benefit of this outcome is that these ceremony traditions can continue for years and years, and sisters were able to build connections with people they have never even met just by doing the same ceremony sisters did before them. Another benefit is that sisters were able to reflect of their love for Alpha Phi and strengthen the bonds that they created throughout their college experience.

By completing my second goal, I created a chance for the Theta Sigma Chapter of Alpha Phi to connection with the 10 Founders and the Alpha Phi Ritual. The benefit of this outcome was bringing a positive and valued outlook on our Founders and the Ritual they created for us so long ago. I believe that sisters could see the passion I had for our Founders and the Ritual that they wanted to enjoy and love them as much as I did, because without them we would not be sisters.

Key Takeaways

I feel that I got a lot out of my project personally than I thought I would. My goal was to make the Chapter fall in love with Alpha Phi more through ceremonies, but I think it made me fall more in love with them and Alpha Phi probably more than anyone else. As far as my leadership styles and abilities, my goal was to always be transparent and inclusive, I believe I followed this by letting girls know information as soon as I did and trying to make sure everyone had a chance to get involved if they wanted to. Again, this project allowed me to strengthen and grow and share my love for Alpha Phi ceremonies more than I expected, I stressed the importance of ceremonies but also tried to add emotional background to each ceremony. This allowed me to build relationships with sisters that I wasn’t super close with, but now I am, it also allowed me to grow my teaching strategies and understand more learning styles when trying to teach the younger girls songs and ceremonies. A few girls expressed to me throughout my term that they valued how much importance I stressed on ceremonies and how serious I took them. Some girls said that they were able to connect to ceremonies more because I let them come in and listen while I was explaining the history. I even had multiple girls wanting to take my position once my position ended, that really showed me that I did a good job.

One thing that I feel will benefit me in the future as a teacher that I learned from this project is to spread out things, because one of our initiation weeks fell on Midterms and it was hard for sisters to attend because they were studying. I can use this information when I teach so that I don’t give my students a ton of homework, because they may have other things they are doing outside of school that can be more important or more valuable to them, and if I can lighten the load as a teacher I would love to do that. Not on this project, but ones before this I never really reflected on them and I wish I would have so I could see what I would have changed or known what worked well and what didn’t because as I get further along in my teaching course reflection is a game changer.