First Week

HELLOOOO Indianapolis, Indiana! Actually, first thing is first. Thank you to my friends and family for coming to my parents' home the night before my departure. I had the best time hanging out with yall, and I really appreciate you being there to celebrate the good times.

Leaving the next morning was a very difficult thing to do. Of course, I started to say goodbye to Lady (my beloved dog) and I ended up basically giving her a bath with my tears. I love her so much, and we do everything together. I knew that not having my little beam of sunshine around would be so unfortunate, so naturally I could not control the tears. My mom proceeded to drive me to the airport with Vincent in the car. Everything was going well, and reality was sinking in that I was ultimately boarding a flight that would take me far from everything that is familiar. I balled my eyes out saying so long to Mom and Vincent, and boarded my plane. I read a note Claire wrote to me on the plane and continued to cry, and tried to be positive. I know that I will see my family again soon, I just really hate having the heart ache of missing them.

Plane lands, I sprint to my connector flight...lovely...Plane lands in Indy. My mood is completely changed and I have an air of excitement to see my TLC sisters. We all meet up and the rest is history!

For the past couple of days we have been in intense training at the International Office. I've been doing everything from taking random cameo tests to initiation tests, to being briefed and debriefed on positions, participating in ice breakers, learning the nitty gritty of ritual. You name it, I'm doing it. We even had a dance off to lead into another activity. All of the ladies and I sit in a board room for about 14+ hours a day haha and we share our ideas, old issues, new issues, and more about everything we talk about. I am learning a lot about how to implement new ideas into chapters, but not a lot of brand new information. While learning tools to implement new practices into chapters, I am becoming inspired to make a positive change wherever I am sent. That takes me to the next set of business....No, I still do not know where I will be going first! For those of you who know me well, which is most if you care enough to read my blog- I really like to be in control. This week alone is teaching me to start to give up control. SHOCKER! I am really trying, as an individual to put my trust in ZTA and know that I will be sent where I am needed. Ohhhh the places I'll go....

Sitting in a room for over half the day will teach you a lot about different people. I am learning so much about my 17 other co workers. They are also learning that I have LOTS of questions and LOTS of comments, and I get ridiculously slap happy after sitting in a chair for over 4 hours. I am slowly learning different ways to communicate with different people and know when to share feed back, or keep to myself. It is very very cool to see 18 different leaders in a room, and see how we all interact with one another. It is very surprising to see what roles people take, and how we depict certain activities.

Well, that is all for now, my lovely readers!

Tomorrow is another day and I have sleep to get to. I'll write in a few days, hopefully with knowledge of where I will be going first. Until then!

Lots of Zeta Love and Mine,

Lexie

Filling up my ZTA tank

Last night I flew back into Atlanta after a long week in New Orleans for a ZTA Convention. I went into the week more excited than ever to meet my other TLC sisters and put faces to names. I had been waiting for the time when we'd all be in the same room together to just share stories and talk about the year ahead of us. My expectations in terms of feeling the sisterhood and hearing positive stories about the upcoming year were very high. I had attended a Convention for ZTA 2 years ago, in Tuscan, Arizona. I left the week feeling sooo passionate about Zeta Tau Alpha, and I was ready to come back to my chapter with lots of great ideas, and a bigger picture about what ZTA really was. As a collegiate member, I had always been so focused on what was right in front of me, and did not take in the bigger picture of what ZTA actually is. Delta Lambda's needs were my biggest concerns, and prior to visiting Convention, they were my only focus. After having a ZTA life changing week in Tuscan, I was ready for another one this week. Oddly enough, my epiphany did not come until today. The other TLCs and the IO staff and I worked tirelessly the entire week, with absolutely no down time except to get ready, or sleep. With a lack of "please and thank yous" for manual labor my attitude was faltering towards the end of the week. However, I did enjoy multiple experiences during the week. All of the errands and tasks we had to do, we all did together. So in between unloading the trucks I learned about Elise's life from the University of Maryland. During blowing up 100+ balloons, I learned about Gemma's life in a great depth. While practicing for ritual, I learned that Brittany, Courtney, Elyse, Gemma and Katie and I could laugh about anything. I also learned that Sami, Ali, and Robyn are master hustlers while fighting off the mad flood of people during "Midnight Maddess" at Crown and Company. Harriette and I share the common bond of wanting to improve ourselves in the next year, and could talk about any subject until 2 AM. Needless to say, I made so many amazing relationships over the past week with the sisters I will be embarking in this experience with. Thank the heavens for these women, because they kept me sane and afloat this week. Oh and Shaina and Sami are amazing at doing crafts, and I really envy their talents!

I heard so many mixed stories this week...more negative than positive and I was becoming worried about what could possibly be awaiting me. I left on the plane with a heavy heart, eager to be reunited with my sisters, but anxious about leaving.

Vincent took me out for pizza today and we talked at length about my week, and I told him about all of the fabulous TLCs. I also told him that I was feeling a little low about having more negative than positive about the experiences as a TLC. For all of you that have met Vincent, he is not quite the "cheerleader" type. Without a second thought, he began to try to fill up my ZTA tank with praise and good stories, cheers, and whatever else he could pull out of his back pocket to make me feel better about the next year. I greatly appreciated everything he said and it really got me thinking. I thought about how the week started off, with only the National Officers that were there to get organized. And how it ended, with the new installation of National Council and a sisterhood circle. I thought about all the women who had attended countless Conventions and had served as past National Presidents, past National Council and Officers, the Housing Corporation and the Foundation. The hundreds of women who have taken part of their life and selflessly dedicated it to Zeta Tau Alpha...all the hours, the weeks, the months, the years of life that have been given to guarantee the success of this amazing fraternity. Because becoming ZTA was not just for four years, it is forever. Sisterhood doesn't just magically happen for only four years and then sisters are just crap out of luck for the rest of their lives. There will always be hundreds of thousands of sisters everywhere in the world that are there for the good times and the bad, the risk management and the fun, the planning and the partaking. Every step of life, ZTA will always be there. I have never doubted the amazingness (yes, I made that word up) of ZTA before, so why was I doing it now? I know that ZTA is worth any small hardship or uncomfortable challenge that I may endure. Even though I heard some negative stories, they shouldn't make me anxious about this year. I realized (after some coaxing) that I need to approach every situation with a positive attitude and unconditional love for ZTA. This fraternity provides support in every channel of life, and I need not be worried about what the future holds. Thank you to the sisters that fill up my ZTA tank. Your relentless dedication, passion and most of all, love- have changed my life for ever. Like most things in life, we need to take the negative and turn it into a positive. Here we go...Cheers to an amazing year!