Footprints in My Life

Every day, people come into your life. Some walk out, leaving no impression behind them. Others will forever stay, or at least they will leave their footprints behind them.

I have many such people in my life. They have formed me, shaped me– me beliefs, my opinions, my self-confidence, my knowledge of everything I hold to be true. They have held me to higher standards than I hold myself to. They have never let me settle, and forced me to question. They have encouraged me when I feel that my life cannot get any worse. They have comforted me when my life really couldn’t get any worse. And congratulated me when it got better. They have been role models- no matter how young or old.

Though I don’t feel it appropriate to name all of these people, and I don’t know how plausible it would be to actually name these people, I hope that they read this and know who they are. My family- who as much as I like to whine about, are where I come from. They are my teachers from high school and college, who cared about me, and who made me think. My sorority sisters, who gave me courage and comfort, when no one else would. My camp friends, who know me more than almost anyone else in the world! The strong relationships that we built will never be forgotten, and I will always value the stressful, hot summer days, where we learned how to have fun in spite of everything. My campers– my girls. You will always be my girls. You gave me confidence, because you had confidence in me. You made me brave. You gave me direction, because of you, I want to be a teacher. I will always remember the fun times. My Ireland friends. We learned about a whole new world together. Ireland, yes, but also the world of independence. We had all the fun in the world those three weeks. I can’t wait to meet up with you in Colorado! And, the guys. Of course, I learned different lessons with each one. I have some memories that I will never let go of. But there is one, that is more than a footprint. I have hopes that he will be a constant presence. He has never let me settle, and always made me question. He has been my rock. He gives me confidence, and forces me to smile when I want to be pessimistic. A hopeless romantic, a positive influence, and a constant goof– the love of my life.

There are some people that walk right through your life, not even leaving an impression.

Others leave their footprints behind, influencing everything you do and say.

And others– they are a presence. Rather than influencing everything you do, they are right beside you saying “Let’s do it!”.

Pride, Accomplishment, Selflessness, and a Little Friendly Competition

Every year at Transylvania University, Chi Omega sorority puts on a philanthropy event to raise canned goods for God’s Pantry. In order to raise the most cans and to have as much fun as possible, they decided to make this event into a dance competition between the fraternities and sororities (and this year the Independent women got involved too! yay!). The event is called Campus Sing. This event is one of the most popular on campus drawing a crowd of hundreds of people. Sororities, especially, go all out. Alpha Omicron Pi, of which I’m a member, is no different.

Last year, we came in second place, losing by a mere seven tenths of a point. However, Chi Omega decided that since we were the smallest sorority on campus, and we had put our full effort into the can collection, that they would design a special award for us. Last year, they created the “Most Cans Per Active Member”, and we won with 106 cans per member. In the end, we were proud of our can raising attempts, and our sisterhood was closer than ever. In fact, we missed practicing so much that the girl who choreographed the dance decided to continue with the dancing. She had weekly sisterhood meetings that she called “Mexi’s remedial dance classes”. We couldn’t have been more pleased.

This year, though, we were determined to win. We set a goal of 110 cans per active member, and we worked our hardest to reach that goal. We got donations from businesses and our relatively young alumni base. Some of us retrieved cans from our hometowns. Girls went trick-or-canning in different neighborhoods around Lexington, asking others to donate their cans to the cause. When it came down to it, we collected all of the spare change from the chapter that we could muster. No laundry for us this week! It was a wonderful feeling on Wednesday afternoon when we carried box after box, and bag after bag, of cans into the cafeteria. The Chi Omegas had to set up a separate donation table for us, in order to keep up with our tally. The sisters of Alpha Omicron Pi were so filled with joy and pride. We were literally glowing with pride, spreading the love among sisters with hugs and high-fives. We had definitely accomplished our goal, all that was left now was the dance that we had been working on— or so we thought.

There was a twist! Another chapter had come in at the last minute and asked for an extension on the deadline. It had been granted! “OH NO!” we thought! We had worked so hard, devoting most of our time to can collection. At this point, it was all about respect. This was definitely not the way that we were going to be beat! We had worked too hard on the philanthropy portion to lose. With an hour extension on the deadline, a few of our sisters stepped up to the plate– calling family relatives, and even emptying their own bank accounts, in order to save our lead. These girls were truly selfless. Though just a friendly competition among sororities, they weren’t going to lose if there was anything they could do about it.

After our performance, which can be found at http://www.youtube.com/user/kylelibra , cheers erupted from the crowd. There were so many AOII supporters. We tried not to think about whether we were going to win or lose. That wasn’t the point. We had worked really hard. We had supported an amazing philanthropy to the best of our abilities. We had poured our hearts out into the dance. We had learned things about each other and grown as a sisterhood. AND, we had fun doing it! We had already accomplished so much.

When the Chi Omegas announced the winners of the competition, it was just icing on the cake. Our chapter once again won the Cans per member award, exceeding our original expectations, and collecting a whopping 123 cans per member! Even more than that, we had set a new record for the most cans collected with a total of 10,001 cans. Yes– ten thousand AND ONE– proving that every can donated counts! And to top it off, we won the overall Campus Sing award.

Our efforts had been rewarded. I think more than receiving the actual trophy, our reward was our sisterhood and the sense of accomplishment that it gives us. We are the youngest and smallest sorority on campus. At times, our chapter has struggled to stay afloat, and we haven’t always had the best public image. I think that’s why it meant so much to us. It was almost validation that hard work, determination, and love do pay off in the end.