Third Time's the Charm!Monday, February 13, 2012
“Runnin’ from the cold up in New England, I was born to be a fiddler in an old time string band. My baby plays the guitar, I pick the banjo now. Oh north country winters keep getting’ me low, and I lost my money playin’ poker so I had to up and leave. But I ain’t turning back to live that old life no more…” – Old Crow Medicine Show, “Wagon Wheel”
I asked Lindsey as I was writing this for a suggestion for the quote for this post. I asked her what song would sum up our experience in January and my overall experience and without hesitation, she responded, “Wagon Wheel.” It doesn’t make much sense, but I do love that song. Shout out to Lindsey, by the way, for keeping me sane that month. I never could have survived without her!! Or without Christa, Kendra, Misty, Sam, and pretty much everyone else in Phi Mu World!
What an incredible journey it’s been. There’s really no other way to describe it. This roller coaster ride of resident consultant life has come to an end, and I could not have asked for a more perfect ending.
For those of you who haven’t heard, the Delta Chapter at Tulane University matched quota plus 3!!!!!!!!!!!! This was the chapter’s third formal recruitment since re-colonizing back in the fall of 2009. I can’t even begin to describe how happy I am for this chapter. It’s been a long road to get to this point, with recruitment workshops in the fall and a full week of workshops at the beginning of January. But, that Sunday was proof that hard work truly pays off. We pushed them and made them practice more than they probably ever imagined was possible. Some of them I’m sure hated me before it was all said and done. But seeing their faces and their reaction when they found out that they matched quota plus 3 (doesn’t that sound just so GREAT?!) made it all so worth it. I can’t even put into words how proud I am of them and how excited I am to see them take this huge next step.
During the first weekend were the Open House and Philanthropy Rounds and here are some pics!
don't the outfits look great?! last minute changes somehow always turn out for the best
Michelle, outgoing Membership Director and Caroline, incoming President
During the second weekend, Sisterhood Round was Friday night and the members killed it that night! They looked great and sounded great – really set the tone for the rest of the weekend!
seniors including some of the Founding Members!
 
juniors and sophomores!
Preference Round was Saturday night and the ceremony was absolutely perfect!
Michelle and I after we survived!
"Shadow" and I - she got this nickname during Spirit Week when she literally followed me around everywhere I went because I promised that I would explain the timing of each party to her in 15 minutes, and 20 minutes later she would ask me if I was ready to talk to her yet. then I would promise her in another 10 minutes I would explain it to her, and 30 minutes later she would ask me about it - you get the picture. thanks for your patience, Kaitlin!
Lindsey and I! I think I would've lost my mind without her here. thanks for the laughs and the "don't tweet that" poster on the back of our door. I'm still laughing about all of our quotes!
Sunday was Bid Day aka the moment of truth. We woke up really early on Sunday morning to submit our bid lists and then tried to go back to sleep. I was so anxious that I of course couldn’t fall back asleep. I couldn’t eat anything that morning because the nerves were getting to me. I literally had the same feeling before playing in the HCAC Volleyball Championship game my freshman year. I usually have a pretty good control of my nerves but that morning but just not good at all. We were told that the low end of quota was 61, so Lindsey and I were expecting quota to be anywhere between 65-68. The moment of truth came when I was straightening my hair and Lindsey ran into the bathroom and said, “Brittany just texted me and said that her computer is showing that we matched 73!” Brittany was the reference chair throughout recruitment so we had worked closely with her all week. We both screamed for a second and then I about fell over because I was shocked. The next missing piece was finding out what quota actually was because matching 73 didn’t mean anything without knowing what quota was! So we all ran downstairs to the reference room where we searched and kept refreshing pages to find out quota. I was so anxious that I couldn’t stop shaking and Brittany and Lindsey both yelled at me to leave the room because I was making them so nervous. Then I went over to Brittany’s computer with her and she refreshed the page and there it was… QUOTA: 70. We both saw it at the same time and SCREAMEDDDD! I then got a little teary-eyed, hugged Lindsey (well, hugged anyone I saw!), and ran to the backyard to call my boss. I was shaking, freaking out, having a minor panic attack, didn’t really know what to do with myself because I was so happy/shocked/excited/couldn’t believe it!
the best phone call I've ever made! this is not a staged photo, Lindsey and I were literally freaking out
The phone call went something like this:
Christa: Hello?
Me: CHRISTA, QUOTA WAS 70 AND WE MATCHED 73!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Christa: WAIT, WHAT? OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG YOU’RE LYING OMG OMG OMG OMG I’M GONNA START CRYING OMG OMG OMG I CAN’T BREATHE OMG OMG OMG I’M GOING TO WRECK MY CAR OMG OMG OMG I’M SO PROUD OF THEM OMG OMG OMG!
PRECIOUS. Lindsey and Michelle a few seconds after Michelle found out the great news!
During that phone call Michelle walked out to the backyard and we told her that we had matched quota and at that point it was all worth it. To see her immediately break down into tears of joy from all of the hard work, all of the emails, all of the planning, all of the all-nighters, all of the stress…just everything she went through this fall and through the month of January, both the good and the bad, made me remember why I love this job. It’s hard for me to put into words how proud I am of her and her committee for what they accomplished this year.
Anna, Assistant Membership Director and Michelle!
Emily, Jackie, Ali, Anna, Erica, and Michelle - the amazing Membership Committee!
Regan, Brittany, Becca, Blair - Reference Committee! we had some good laughs behind the scenes
After a mad scramble to make a few more signs and put together a few more Phi packs, it was time to head outside and wait for the new members to run to the house! There were so many of them! After all, we matched quota plus 3 (I told you that just sounds so great to say out loud!)!!
the view from my room...they tried.
Phis running home!
introducing the new "Spring Collection"
This picture below sums up every reason for why I do this job. This was the reaction of the chapter when Michelle said, “I know there have been some rumors going around this morning, but I want you all to know, we didn’t match quota…WE HAVE QUOTA ADDITIONS!” It was a moment I’ll never, ever forget. Some of the founding members burst into tears and we all just sat there and screamed for a good 5 minutes. At that moment, it was all worth it.
can't even put into words how happy this pictures makes me
So to my sweet little Delta Chapter, you all should be very proud of yourselves for what you have accomplished. I honestly cannot wait to see the great things you all will do in the future! Don’t settle. You saw the amount of work that’s needed to be successful and I think Bid Day was proof that hard work really does pay off! I love you all and struggled through every goodbye with each of you. Thank you for all of the kind words as I was leaving! Please keep in touch!
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