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

Pi Phi Summer Days; Jesse

Following in the footsteps of our former VPC (snaps for Kashka) we're bringing back, and if you already read the title you must know, Pi Phi Summer Days!

Once (or twice if I'll feeling devious) a week I'll update with posts featuring all the amazing things our Pi Phi sisters are doing. From Vogue to digs in Rome, our sisters are bringing their Hopkins smarts and Pi Phi values to their jobs and internships around the world!

For our first installment, I bring you Jesse. Jesse is a rising sophomore and a fellow writing seminars major. She loves her pham, long walks on the beach, spelunking, and more recently, interning in Washington, D.C.in the office of Congressman Mark Takano.

Just look at that pretty face, soon she'll be dominating capitol hill!

 "As an intern in the office I basically just help keep the office running smoothly--I deliver letters/notes to other congressional offices, give our district's constituents tours when they visit, answer constituent correspondence, and do anything the staff in my office need me to do. I also attend special lectures/courses held by the Congress just for interns--last week I heard Congressman Gregg Harper and Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Terrance Gainer speak, and that was just my first week on the job!" 

Jesse is interning through the Taiwanese American Citizens League (TACL) and their Political Internship Program (PIP). While there she is focusing her efforts on the Advocacy Project, a program tradition started in 2004. This year's project focuses on immigration, because of the extensive immigration reform efforts currently going on. 

"I had the idea of starting a tumblr that collects submissions from Asian Pacific American immigrants/children of immigrants all across the country who want to share their immigration story, because lots of times Asian Pacific American people don't see immigration as a priority, but in reality they make up at least 10% of the people affected by the new bill. We'll be using this Tumblr... to advocate and lobby for the immigration reform bill in various Congresspeople's offices." 

Even though Jesse does not see herself going into politics anytime soon, she enjoys taking her skills and applying them in philanthropic services (an important Pi Phi value).

"I'm not exactly interested in being in politics, per se, but I love being involved in changing my community for the better, and I felt like doing this internship could really teach me a lot, not only about my community and about how the US legislative system works, but also about how to make an impact on others and what I can do to make a change."

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

PPL & M,
Gaby

Got a Diploma- left a legacy

 It is a simple concept, twenty-three women graduate today. What they did and who they are, however, is something way more elaborate than anyone could have thought. They are the last remnants of the MD Gamma Charter Class. Any words I will type out will never accurately illustrate the dedication and amazing feat that the Charter Class accomplished. What they did laid the foundation for hundreds of Hopkins women to follow. It was epic. It was awesome. And try as I might, I don't think I'll do them justice. Today Pi Phi loses some amazing women and on behalf of MD Gamma, I can only say, "Thank you."

(Check out the very first photo of MD Gamma!)

Three years ago a group of young women gathered at Johns Hopkins University to colonize Pi Beta Phi as the fourth sorority on campus. These strong and courageous women made up the charter class of MD Gamma for Pi Beta Phi. Since they colonized, they created the foundation for an amazing group of individuals who have dominated campus from the moment they gathered. Two weeks after they colonized they proved everyone wrong and won both Powderpuff and Greek week. 

The next year they did it again. 

I highly doubt that when the charter class gathered in a room in Charles Commons, they could have realized the lasting effects of what they accomplished. They went from around seventy to over one hundred and fifty strong and intellectual women. They pushed against every person who said they couldn't do it and proved them wrong again and again. 

Our latest class on Bid Night!

It's hard to believe that they went from that small class to a recruiting class of SIXTY women (our most recent class from Spring Recruitment 2013) in only three years. 

While not all of our graduating seniors where in the charter class, a large portion of the twenty-three women leaving were. And, of course, a farewell was in order. Two sundays ago, these women expressed their love and memories from their years as a Pi Phi and, in turn, had their littles (or closest sister) profess their love right back at them. Many tears where shed- I believe we all collectively used up several tissue boxes- and they were presented with their paddles, painted by their Pi Phi Family. 

Several matriarchs of their respective"Phamilies" gather for a picture! 

The Mission statement of Pi Beta Phi, as a Fraternity for Women, is to promote friendship, develop women of intellect and integrity, cultivate leadership potential and enrich lives through community service.

And I'll be darned if they didn't do just that.

Charter Class Out.

Reppin' Pi Phi at JHU

The last couple weeks have been crazy busy for MD Gamma. Spring semester always brings two major events: Spring Fair and Homecoming. During these weekends we show our spirit for both Pi Phi but also as students at Johns Hopkins. Whether we wear our letters while at a lacrosse game or while in line for deep fried oreos at Spring Fair (yes, they are as good as they sound), MD Gamma always shows how much we love what brought us all together.

During Spring Fair we promote our philanthropy Read. Lead. Achieve. through an event used around the world by Pi Phi chapters, Pie A Pi Phi. Just as the event sounds like, spectators have the chance to pie a Pi Phi sister through a donation made to Read. Lead. Achieve. We brought in professors and other JHU sorority and fraternity members to also be pied!

Homecoming put Pi Phi sisters front and center for the last home game with the Hopkins Men Lacrosse team! We cheered loud and proud for them while they faced another great Baltimore team, Loyola!


Let's find some Pi Phi's showing their support:

Spring Fair brings the whole Pham together!

Pi Phi's show their support for the home team!

MD Gamma says, "Go Hop!"

Cori has just been pied- wonder if she liked it?

Nothing says sisterly love like a pie to the face!

Additionally, there were many other events where Pi Phi represented. We hosted a wing challenge for our philanthropy- where we worked closely with a campus hang out to create the HOTTEST wings ever! And Dance Marathon, an all night dance festival in order to raise money for the JHU children's center, had many sisters attend.

Our Philanthropy chair, Shari, hangs out with the winner, Camille-also a Pi Phi!

A terrific showing at Dance Marathon!

Whether we're in different clubs or teams, Pi Phi's always come together to show their support for what they love the most: Pi Beta Phi and Johns Hopkins. So whenever there's an opportunity to celebrate both, you know there will be many Pi Phi's just around the corner. 

PPL & M,
Gaby

Life outside of Hopkins??

Contrary to popular belief, students at Johns Hopkins do have a life outside of the Homewood campus. Our sisters frequently represent Pi Phi outside of our chapter, sometimes as close as Washington D.C. or as far away as Rome!

A phrase that we love to tell our new members, because of its ties to one of our values "lifelong commitment", is that joining Pi Phi is not just four years but it's for life! Therefore when our sisters leave for the scary "real world", getting a job or continuing their education they carry what they learned through their experiences with Pi Phi with them.

Let's see our Pi Phi's represent around the world:

Studying in France is nothing for Clea!

These charter class sisters spent Spring Break in the Bahamas! 

Emily Markert makes some new friends while in London!

The DC Nike Half-Marathon was nothing for these Pi Phi Sisters!

Allison Borko does as the Romans do in beautiful Rome!

Even while hiking, MD Gamma sisters stick together!

To running a half marathon together or something as simple as meeting up while abroad, Pi Phi's show their pride wherever they go!


PPL & M,
Gaby