Tπis is How We DΦ It

Sophomore Sarah White talks about what she's involved in on campus. 

My entire life, I have made seemingly (note the key word “seemingly”) arbitrary decisions that have made those around me question my abilities to properly make decisions and assess my life choices. I took Latin in middle and high school, suffering through countless exams for a supposedly dead, useless language.  While I was scanning The Aeneid, my other friends were taking oral exams, grooming their marketable language skills, lecturing me on where I went wrong.  However, now, as the rest of my art history class struggles to connect Hellenistic art to its ancient Greek and Roman politics, mythology, and culture, I am proudly making deeper connections than I ever believed that I could.  What still surprises those close to me is that I continue to make these same kinds of decisions, decisions that lack the purest form of practicality that Hopkins students often thrive on.   I do choose some activities based on practicality, yes, but I also choose ones for pure enjoyment.

My finest example of this is my involvement in JOSH, JHU’s all-female Bollywood Fusion dance group.  By “fusion”, we mean that we combine more traditional styles of Indian dance with contemporary dance such as hip-hop.  Yes, I joined an Indian dance team.  And as my name and appearance suggest, I am far from Indian.  But none of the JOSH girls seemed to mind when I entered the audition last spring, nor do they care now that I’m a member of this really spectacular team. I’ll admit, I have a relatively small amount of experience with dance, let alone with Indian dance (you should see me stumble over classical style choreography—sad life).  However, I don’t mind having to shower at midnight after practice or working extra hard to learn the moves because spending time dancing with these girls is insane amounts of fun (sisters Serena Durrani and Sahini Pothireddy can attest to this).  All we care about is dancing as best as we can and having fun together. 

Sarah White, Serena Durrani, and Sahini Pothireddy pose with their team.

I was also a film and media studies major for a year.  In order to gain experience with leadership in the field, I became a part of the organization committee for the Hopkins Film Conference. It was a forum based here on the Hopkins campus for students, faculty, and industry professionals from across the mid-Atlantic region to discuss their ideas on a given topic.  This year the topic was “Film and Technology,” leading us to call upon artists such as Toni Dove (2000/2003 Government Advisory Committee on Information Technology and Creativity, Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, etc.) to speak at our event. Though I’m no longer a film major, the main thing I’ve learned from my experience on this committee is that I have the ability to take a significant leadership role on a brand new project and aid in it’s success.  So bottom line: it’s so typical that I ended up doing something ELSE unrelated to what I want to do with my life (which is unknown, just by the way), but it provided me with skills and the knowledge of my own abilities that I wouldn’t have gained just by sitting in class.

My friend from home and I have a mantra: “do it for the story”.  I strongly urge everyone to pick something they want to do just because of that little voice inside you that says, “I want to join an Indian dance team because it looks like fun.”  No matter how many people will tell you that you’re wasting your time, time is never wasted on expanding your mind in directions you didn’t know it could stretch.  I firmly believe that those who do things just for the hell of it have more fun and learn more overall. Now that I’m a writing seminars major (or will be once I get that form signed, oops…), I can tell the stories I’ve been working to collect.  As a Pi Phi, I can’t wait to pass this wisdom on to my little and baby angels to come. 

Pi Phi Takes Hopkins

Whether it's simply within our own sorority or as part of the Hopkins community at large, Pi Phis keep busy. While a lot of that is certainly academics, many of our girls make it a point to go above and beyond and truly become an active member of our campus as whole. In this post sophomore Jesse Chen talks about what she's involved in on campus.

On any given day, I can be spotted frantically rushing across campus from work to class to club meetings. One of the best things about Hopkins is the ability to explore a wide variety of interests, and like most of the sisters of MD Gamma, I take full advantage of this by being involved in lots of student groups on campus.

One of the groups I'm most involved in (other than Pi Phi) is the Taiwanese American Students Association (TASA). As a first-generation Taiwanese-American, it's sometimes hard to feel connected to my parents' heritage and culture; hanging out with my TASA friends helps me keep that connection strong! TASA is one of the more well-known cultural groups on campus—most of our events consist of us cooking delicious Taiwanese food and feeding the Hopkins student body for free, so we're pretty popular! This year we're looking towards expanding our events to include more cultural events, like a Taiwanese umbrella painting workshop and a calligraphy workshop, as well as bringing prominent Taiwanese-Americans to speak at Hopkins. Lisa Ni, a fellow Pi Phi, serves as the president of TASA, and we always love to find each other at date parties and take “TASA takes Pi Phi!” photos.

Jesse C. and Lisa N. with other TASA members at Pi Phi Formal

Another group I'm involved in is HopMUN, the Johns Hopkins University competitive traveling Model UN team. We travel to several conferences a year in locations all over the country and in Canada. One of the great things about HopMUN is the modest size of the team; because we keep our team small, we're able to get to know each other really well, and competing in conferences is lots of fun because we get to hang out with each other for an entire weekend while doing something that we're passionate about! My HopMUN memories are some of my favorite from freshman year, and thanks to joining the team I've met and befriended lots of people whom I never would have interacted with otherwise. HopMUN is also a pretty popular place for Pi Phis—aside from myself, the HopMUN team also includes Emily Weber and Victoria Laney, two Pi Phis from my pledge class! Going into recruitment together helped solidify all the friendships that I made with the girls in Pi Phi, and now I'm lucky enough to be able to call two of them my sisters.

Aside from TASA, HopMUN, and of course, Pi Phi, I'm involved in a variety of other activities on campus. As a Writing Seminars major, I serve on the prose committee of Thoroughfare, one of our literary magazines, where I read submissions and help decide what makes it into our fall and spring editions. In addition, I serve as a contributing writer for HerCampus JHU, an online community for college-aged women, as well as a columnist for the News-Letter's Your Weekend section. I'm also a staffer for the Johns Hopkins University Model United Nations Conference (JHUMUNC), the conference we run for high school MUN delegations, a popular group for other Pi Phis (shout-out to alumna Hannah Weinberg-Wolf and to Leah Barresi for serving on last year’s Secretariat and Directorate of JHUMUNC!). I also am on the National Board of the Intercollegiate Taiwanese American Students Association, a non-profit dedicated to connecting, inspiring, and empowering Taiwanese American college students across the country. I am also a new member of the Woodrow Wilson Research Fellowship program, a research fellowship for students in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences that is dedicated to promoting curiosity and a drive to research in Hopkins students!

Though the number of activities I'm involved in is unusual for a Pi Phi, or a Hopkins student in general, my love of being involved on campus is not. Across campus, Pi Phis can be found in a variety of different activities and groups. From the track team to the SGA, from the Outdoors Club to the Eclectics, and from Tutorial Project to the equestrian team, no matter where you are or what you're doing, you can always be sure that you'll find at least one sister, reppin' the wine and blue!

Pi Phi Summer Days: Bonnie

For this edition of Pi Phi Summer Days, I bring you Ms. Bonnie. Bonnie will always hold a special place in my heart as she prefed me during recruitment! Recruitment is a long a stressful process, but Bonnie's bubbly personality lead me to making one of the best decisions I've ever made. So thank you, Bonnie!

Bonnie is a rising senior and hails from Alaska! She likes Doctor Who, long walks in the desert looks for ancient civilizations, and wearing hipster glasses. Bonnie, like her little, Ali (who was in a previous Pi Phi Summer Days), majors in Archaeology. This summer she traveled all the way to Italy for two amazing opportunities for field work.

Reppin' Pi Phi while getting dirty on her dig in Italy

"I am working a two separate field schools for archaeology! The first one is two hours outside of Rome at a roman and Etruscan site. The second is about half an hour outside of Siena studying an Etruscan tile workshop! This is my second year at the Siena excavation and as such will be working as staff! Highlights of the summer include some really interesting artifact finds, as well as a viewing the Palio horse race, and swimming in the Mediterranean ocean!"

We hope you had a great time this summer, Bonnie, and can't wait to see you in the fall!

PPL & M,

Gaby

Pi Phi Summer Days (Alumnae Edition); Brittany

Welcome to week four of Pi Phi Summer Days where we feature one of our lovely MD Gamma ladies and talk about whatever fascinating things they're doing this summer! This post, like the last is one of our Alumnae Editions! Side note: how is it august already? There's only a month left of freedom before school starts! Ain't nobody got time for that.

Nevertheless, today we're featuring the fabulous, the amazing, none other than the matriarch of the taco pham, Brittany T., everybody!! 

Hailing from Ebensburg, Pennsylvania, Brittany graduated in May along with many other MD Gamma charter class members. She was a member the Sirens, Hopkins's female acapella group, pre-med, and now has an official day named after her in her hometown (for real, guys).

Since she graduated from Hopkins she has been living in Hinche, Haiti, working with an NGO there called Midwives for Haiti. The organization's main goal is to decrease birth-related infant and mother mortality rates in Haiti. 

Congratulations, Britanny! We know you're going to go far.

"Their primary focus is the midwifery school that they run, as well as a teaching program for community birth attendants. They run a mobile clinic, where graduates of our midwifery program go out to remote villages in a big pink jeep and provide pre- and post-natal care to women who otherwise don't have access to maternity care. As the In-Country Coordinator, or the only American from organization who is in the country full-time, my job is to coordinate all things to do with volunteers (like transportation, translators, food, etc.), supplies for the mobile clinic/hospital/classes, house maintenance (I'm basically a host for up to 12 people at a time, and to see to the needs of any midwifery students, any matrons, any instructors, staff, or volunteers. It's a busy job!"

Congratulations on this amazing opportunity, Britanny; we know you're going to change so many lives. We wish you all the best and hope to see you soon!

PPL & M,

Gaby

 

Pi Phi Summer Days (Alumnae Edition) ; Nicole

On the third week of blogging, my sisters gave to me:

Twelve founding sisters

Eleven spirit wear orders

Ten recruitment chants

Nine exec members

Eight vice-presidents

Seven members of grand council

Six Pi Phi Values

Five sorority squats

Four date parties

Three days of greek "week"

Two semi-formals

And a new post for the pi phi blog

Welcome to The Hunger Games! Wait- no wrong event. Welcome to the newest week of Pi Phi Summer Days! I sincerely apologize for "Twelve days of Pi Phi", but even though it is the summer, I have the Twelve Days of Christmas stuck in my head.

Nevertheless, drumroll please, welcome a recently graduated Pi Phi sister (and my former coworker), Nicole! Nicole is a graduated senior and while at Hopkins she majored in Archaeology and Classics. She enjoys studying abroad in Scotland (she spent a year abroad!), eating at Mums, shopping online, and finding new and interesting places to eat. Before she goes off to get her Master's degree in the United Kingdom, she is interning in the Anthropology Department at the National Museum of Natural History.

Werkin' it in her initiation whites

"As an intern, I will be researching primarily on the Cattle Oiler site at the Missouri River Basin. It is a Native American site from the Initial Middle Missouri and Extended Missouri periods. It's primarily a two-part internship that includes a research component and a practical, hands-on collections management component. I am assigned to develop a research question (especially on the topic of culture contact), do research, and write a blog post on the Rogers Archaeology Lab blog. ... The other part of my job is to help catalog the archaeological artifacts from the Missouri River Basin excavations at the Museum Support Center in Suitland, MD. Lastly, as an intern with the Smithsonian, I am encouraged to attend lectures, presentations, and talks hosted by the institution in order to get a better grasp of how a museum runs on an every day basis and to learn about all the other research projects the curators and researchers are conducting. Dr. Rogers [the head of the lab] is an Adjunct Professor at GW and runs his classes at the Museum, and I have been able to attend those as well."

On her first day day as an intern she was able to sit in a class that had a guest speaker talking about the intentionality and impact of a museum and its responsibility to adhere to its mission, values, and goals. She hope to do the same in the future and combine her love of museums with the important values she learned as a charter member. 

"... this internship has been an awesome, valuable, and eye-opening experience so far. I am making all-important connections, learning a lot about museum research, museum functions, and archaeology in general. Being in the Natural History Museum is a dream come true and affirms my love for museums and my aim for a museum career. [One of the best parts] I get to go behind-the-scenes and get discounts at the gift shop and cafe!"

We wish all the best with your internship and hope to see you soon!

PPL & M,
Gaby

P.S. Nicole, don't leave me. You better see me when I go abroad!!

Pi Phi Summer Days; Ali

Yes, I know. I said I'd be back soon. And here I am (I take the definition of soon rather liberally). Many PPL apologies!

For the next installment, I bring you Ali. Ali is a rising junior and majoring in Archaeology and minoring in museum studies. She is an avid fan of Steven Colbert, mustaches, and salsa dancing in the moonlight. For five weeks this summer, however, she has traveled all the way to Europe to participate in an archaeological field school in Spain. 

Embodying the spanish flair while abroad!

"I'm currently in Sant llorenc de montgai, Spain (1 hour west of Barcelona in the southeastern Pyrenees). This field school teaches undergraduates (there are 4 other girls in the program from colleges in the USA and Canada and possibly some students from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona) important information about field work methods, lab techniques, artifact analysis, and object conservation. We'll be working at a site called Cova Gran (Big Cave in Catalan) to learn about the differences between Neanderthal and Anatomically Modern Human behavior as well as transition from hunter-gatherer to shepherd-farmer practices." 

Since the archaeology major at Hopkins requires field school credit to promote the importance the applying the methods and theories they learn at Hopkins to real archaeological sites, Ali specifically chose this program based on her previous interests. Ali follows in the path of her big, Bonnie, who is currently on a professional dig in Italy!

"I specifically chose the Cova Gran field school because I am especially interested in Neanderthal history and culture. Not many undergraduate digs provide the opportunity to study prehistorical sites--so I am ridiculously excited! Plus I love to eat dinner on the later side, and since we are in Spain, dinner is at 10pm!"

You can find a picture of the gorgeous town Ali is studying in here. And a picture of the epic site is located here (be careful, Ali)! 



We wish you the best of luck for your internship and see you in the Fall! 

PPL & M,
Gabrielle

Pi Phi Convention 2013: Ocean to Ocean

Welcome to San Diego! 

For the 69th Pi Beta Phi Convention, MD Gamma's President, AAC delegate, and alternate delegate (that's me!) have traveled ALL the way across the country to meet with alumni and members from all chapters across the world. 

There are women from as near as Maryland and as far as Alberta, Canada. As the main function of the convention is to promote leadership and vote on upcoming councils and laws, these four days will be filled with classes and networking with other chapters. 

Since MD Gamma was only colonized four years ago, my favorite part so far (it's only the second day!) has been seeing the newest chapters become officially initiated into Pi Phi. Congratulations to the Connecticut Gamma, Ohio Lamda, and Illinois Kappa chapters!!

Our beautiful president reppin' at the second general session

Even though it's halfway through the second day, the president and I are already having so much fun! I'll be back later with another post.

PPL,

Gaby

P.S. since I am unwilling to pay for internet, all of this post has been typed from my phone! #collegestudent #ialreadyspenttoomuchmoneyatpiphiexpressoops #igohard