Top 10 Events of 2011

10. Researching Compassion

Working with Dr. Allen was an incredible experience. I learned so much about compassion and gained so much experience in designing research. Unfortunately we couldn't continue this semester, but we will be starting back up again this spring! #compassionfactory 

9. Leading a Bible study & Discipleship

I love my small Bible study of three girls, and I love 2:42. FOCUS has been such a great thing in my life. Meeting with Lori in the spring and Dana in the fall weekly has pushed me to go deeper into my faith. I love that these Christ-centered relationships allow us to be real with one another and to walk through life together. I'm grateful Lori saw leadership potential in my last year, asked me into discipleship, and started me on this journey with FOCUS. Dana picked up right where she left off and has been an incredible role model, mentor, and friend. 

8. FuturesQuest

Oh my gosh, FuturesQuest was one of the most incredible leadership experiences I was able to have to date. This incredible group of mentors worked together in teams to mentor men who had just joined their fraternities. We introduced the idea of value based living and value based fraternity to the participants and had so much fun while doing it. The best part of FuturesQuest was it took place at Camp T. At that point in my life, camp & greek life were the two biggest things I was involved in. It was such an incredible experience to have those two worlds collide. I will never forget being one of three women with Mia and Kate, carrying Kevin's flag while he carried mine on our silent walk through camp, standing around the fire at the council ring with the participants and then just the mentors, and saying DG's Oath right outside of Teton under the beautiful Tecumseh winter sky with Kate.

7. Initiating Stephanie

The moment I learned what a legacy was and that I could initiate my legacy, I secretly hoped Steph would join DG. I knew she wouldn't come to Drake since she wanted to do nursing, and I knew that chapters were different at every campus, so I tried not to get my hopes up even after she chose a school that had DG. I think I was more nervous than she was during recruitment and more excited than she was on bid day. The second she joined I put her initiation date on my calendar and tried really hard to keep it a secret. I was successful and was able to surprise her during the ritual. It was really neat to see the differences in Eta Theta's initiation ceremony and to pin Stephanie. As I've gotten older, TDH & Delta Gamma have only grown in my heart. I am so excited to be able to share this with her and I can only hope that it will give her what it has given me. I can't wait to share more things about our chapters as she gets more involved and walk with her as we become double sisters for life.

6. Living with Carley & Emily

I love having my own room, cooking for myself, making Carley braid my hair, making Emily hug me, sitting in our living room, watching weird NCIS shows, watching them creep on people, and always, always laughing. 523Love. 

5. Mission to the Bronx

I can't say enough good things about this trip. I was amazed by how alive Christ is in such a huge city. I was constantly challenged and inspired by the missionaries, friars, sisters, and other students on the trip. I grew so much in my faith in such a short amount of time. I turned 21 on St. Patricks day in NYC, went to mass at St. Patricks' Cathedral on my birthday, and celebrated by wrapping presents with the Sisters of Life for women in need. It was such a great experience and will forever serve as a reminder as to why I love the Catholic church.

4. Panhellenic

I was so nervous for a new council. The 2010 Panhellenic Council was incredible and there were so many women that I looked up to on it. Leading it was going to be a big change. I have absolutely loved working with every single one of these women and have never been more proud to be a part of group. They thought outside of the box, tired new things with their positions, were forward thinking, and helped challenge Drake's greek community to stick to their values. I have made some great friends that I will miss sitting around a table once a week with. They are all outstanding leaders and I can't wait to watch Rachel and Sarah be presidents of their chapters for this next semester. Recruitment Barbies For Life.

3. Being Pathfinder Coordinator 

There are two great parts of this job. The first is leading the unit and the second is getting to live with the oldest girls at camp in Teton. Never in my life would I have thought I would have applied to be Pathfinder coordinator. Every year, they were my last choice in unit and then in November of 2010 I found myself applying to lead the unit. Being coordinator was nothing like I thought it would be and everything I thought it would be at the same time. The kids were incredible, Ben had a great vision for the unit, and I loved the opportunity to write programs that taught kids about social excellence, relationships, and service. The best part about being coordinator was working with Mike, Tom, Ben, Stacey, & John. Second period coord time was always crazy busy and crazy hilarious. When things got hard over the summer the LV leadership team was there to support me, remind me of camp's vision, and inspire me to keep going. 

And then there's living in LV12. Memories of getting bombarded with flies for obnoxiously cheering "Hoorah for Teton," hour and a half long devotions, crying campers at the end of the week, laughing so much, having incredible DC counselors in the cabin, and making great friends with 15-year-old girls will always remain in my heart. I love Teton as much as the rest of the camp hates our cheer. But the best part was getting to work with Mary Catherine. MCT was an incredible partner. She has incredible patience, found teaching moments in everything we did, and always knew how to relate whatever we were doing back to Christ. Her rock solid faith inspired me so much and I know it helped our kids grow all summer long. She is a saint for putting up with me this summer and I am blessed to call her a friend. 

2. Not getting TFA

This was hard, embarrassing, and incredibly grounding. Though I wouldn't have asked for this to happen, not getting this job was the reality check I needed. The incredible thing about not getting this job is the peace Christ has given with about what is going to happen after graduation. Yes I am terrified because I have no idea what I want to do, but I have peace knowing that if I remain close to him I will be doing something incredible.

1. Consecration

I'm really bad at describing what this is, but I will try. Mary is the most perfect human to have ever lived. She was constantly a servant to God and never thought twice about doing his will. She is incredibly kind, loving, and humble. She was Christ's mother and she is our mother. She is so incredible humble that all love, devotion, and prayers that are asked of her she immediately directs towards and brings to her son. This makes her the perfect vessel to help us draw near to Jesus. At Fatima, Mary told the children that more should be devoted to her. Total consecration to Jesus through Mary is when one consecrates, or devotes, themselves to Mary in order to draw closer to Christ. These 33 days of prayer taught me so much about myself, Mary, and Christ. I now wear a simple chain on my wrist to remind myself that I am a slave to Christ, and I do all things with Mary, through Mary, and in Mary which will allow me to do all things with Christ, through Christ, and in Christ. I hope that this consecration will continue to lead me deeper in my faith in 2012.