Diamonds are forever.

Grand Convention this past weekend was a wonderful reminder that sorority is not just a four-year experience; it's for a lifetime.

Seeing all the alumnae at Convention who now serve as advisors, as International Officers, on House Corporations or as former officers made me want to stay involved with Alpha Delta Pi even after I graduate. (Does anyone need a Standards Advisor next year?) But the best part of the weekend was all the fabulous traditions I got to witness and experience. Here's a rundown of a few of the best:

1. Watching the great-great-granddaughter of one of our founders be initiated. That's right. Our archivists at Executive Office were able to locate two descendants of Elizabeth Williams Mitchell, one of the six founders of Alpha Delta Pi, and one of them was initiated in front of the whole body on Saturday. I don't know what was cooler: watching our Grand Council perform the ritual that my sisters and I perform every year, or watching someone's great-great-granddaughter turn into her sister (and mine!).


2. On that note, Elizabeth Mitchell was the last of our founders to have a portrait made in her likeness. The search for a photograph of Elizabeth was what led to her descendants in the first place. On Wednesday night, during the opening banquet, the brand-new portrait of Elizabeth Mitchell was revealed, which now completes the collection in our Founders' Gallery at Memorial Headquarters.


3. Carrying my chapter's flag in the Adelphean Processional. Pretty much everything about this day was cool: the head-to-toe white every Alpha Delt was wearing; the roll call that remembered all 202 of our chapters, active or closed; and the fact that this tradition was instituted by a member of my own Alpha Gamma chapter, Caralee Strock Stanard. (Read more about the tradition in my chapter blog.)

4. Having a voice in the biggest business meeting of Alpha Delta Pi. That's right, as chapter president, I was eligible to vote on the by-law revisions, amendments and resolutions presented at our business meeting at Grand Convention. I also got to cast my vote for the next Grand Council of Alpha Delta Pi. (One of the positions required three separate votes before a candidate garnered the majority vote! Politics can be exciting.) After learning the results of these new resolutions, I'm looking forward to the changes our International Organization is putting into place to help our sorority continue to be...

First. Finest. Forever.