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.

And this is why I don't check bags....

So, I'm usually not a complainer. (Or at least, that's what I like to think.) But despite all the amazingness that Grand Convention was (more on that tomorrow), there were quite a few things that went wrong this weekend (namely, today). So if you don't like to read complaints (and who does?) please skip this blog and wait for my much more positive report tomorrow. I don't want to lessen your opinion of me.

(Also, as a journalism major, I have to apologize for the irritating amount of parenthetical phrases in the last paragraph. And for this one.)

All photos courtesy of Pinterest

1. I don't like to check bags. There are several reasons for this, but primarily I (a) don't want to pay for checked bags and (b) don't like waiting around for them at the baggage claim. Because sometimes they never come around the carousel. Like tonight.

The story: I packed my carry-on like normal and arrived at the gate in Phoenix, where I was told the flight would be very full, so the airline would be happy to check my bag for free. Because I was the only one in our group who was carrying on, I figured I would have to wait for their bags at the baggage claim anyway and should just check my bag. Bad decision.

Long story short: The carousel for my flight stopped without producing my bag, so after visiting both AirTran luggage offices multiple times and waiting around for approximately an hour, an attendant finally brought my bag over. I guess it got left behind at the gate and was put on the wrong luggage cart, so I had to wait for the next flight to land at that gate before they would bring my bag up. Or something like that. Yay.


2. Sketchy cab driver. Like, really. Of course, I had told the other interns to head home because I didn't want them to have to wait with me for my bag (and of course, my bag showed up about five minutes later), but the rest of the interns were arriving a few hours later so I knew I could catch a cab with them. And this driver was sketchy. He wanted us to sign our charge voucher before we even left the airport. Excuse me? So you can write $200 on there and stick EO with the bill? No thank you. So I was distrustful from the beginning. Also, the child lock on my window was activated, which prevented me from protecting my face as we drove 70 mph down the freeway. My left ear was freezing.


3. Small disappointment. Looking back to Convention, my chapter didn't win the award we were hoping for (whomp, whomp), which put a little damper on the weekend. But speaking of awards, I have to remember that everything has a silver lining. And for all the things I've been complaining about, there are a lot worse things that could have happened....


1. My bag could have not come in at all, and then I would have been in a little pickle before leaving the country on Friday. Or, I could have been on an international flight and stuck in a foreign country without any familiar clothes (eek!).

2. The cab driver could have actually overcharged us. Or kidnapped us and made lampshades out of our skin. Ew.

3. We could have not won any awards at all (and win awards, we did). And we're still up for the TOP LION of Alpha Delta Pi, the Golden Lion, at the next Convention!

So in retrospect, all the little things that went wrong really don't mean anything when I think about all the great things that I have in my life. What if I didn't have the chance to go to Phoenix this weekend? Or what if Alpha Delta Pi hadn't given me a bid? Or what if I couldn't even go to college in the first place?

I'll stop now before I get too mushy, but basically, I am thankful for a lot! Despite the negativity that began this blog. And now I shall sleep.

Good night!

Diamonds in the desert.

This year, Alpha Delta Pi sorority celebrates 160 years of existence. Wow. That's pretty cool. And considering we were the First. Finest. Forever., we get to be the first sorority to reach this milestone anniversary.


I, for one, am lucky enough to celebrate this special time as an attendee at Grand Convention in Phoenix, Ariz. (hence the turquoise anniversary badge, above). Grand Convention occurs every two years and is the premiere event for Alpha Delta Pi sorority. It includes business meetings (where we discuss and vote on important ADPi things such as by-law revisions and Grand Council candidates), leadership workshops, lots of awards presentations and, of course, fun Convention traditions!

I know it's not yet midnight, but I am exhausted. It might sound like I'm just living the sorority life this weekend, but it's harder than it sounds! So I will have to provide more details tomorrow ... or maybe Sunday ... or maybe Monday when I finally get back into my routine at Executive Office.

Until then, you can keep up with all the happenings at Grand Convention here, on the official Alpha Delta Pi Grand Convention blog.

Loyally,
Megan