It’s Been Awhile…

Hello everyone! As I write this I am sitting in the airport in Chicago. I left Omaha this morning at 5:40, and I am headed to Purdue University in Indiana. I will be staying at Purdue during their Recruitment Work Week. I am very excited!

The past few weeks have been busy! Here’s what has been going on…

We headed to Atlanta, Georgia for a few days of training with my boss Elysia, and Gretchen, our Director of Membership Growth. Then, our entire ELC team road tripped it to Auburn University in Alabama to help the chapter prepare for recruitment.

While at Auburn I had the opportunity to put my “concentration in Fine Arts” and my theater background to use because Winter and I were put in charge of working on the skit. We “spiced up” the script with some humor, we offered ideas, suggestions and helped the women feel more confident in making it their own. We also insisted that every person in the chapter would participate in the skit in some way, and they did! Laura, Sam and Samantha were the “detail divas” (I just made that title up by the way), but they helped the women put together their costumes and worked with the dancers to perfect the dances. Everyone worked so hard and even though I was not able to see the final product, everyone who did see it said it was a success!
Auburn’s recruitment went very well. I am so proud of the women in that chapter. They have an amazing sisterhood and dedicated members and their hard work paid off! They made Quota, which is a HUGE deal! I am so happy to have been a part of that experience.

I was the first ELC to leave the bunch and head out on my own. On Tuesday, August 12, I headed to the University of Iowa, Sigma chapter, to work with them during their Recruitment Work Week. The women in the chapter really made me feel welcome. As much as I did enjoy the South, it was nice to be back in the Midwest. Iowa feels a lot like Nebraska, and I never thought I would ever say this, but it was nice to see wide open corn fields! I had a lot of fun working with the Sigma chapter! They did a great job working hard and keeping positive attitudes. They also really impressed me with their singing abilities! I am excited to go back and visit them again!

On Friday, August 15, I headed home for my graduation from the University of Nebraska- Lincoln. I was coming from Iowa City, so I rented a car to make the trip. They ended up giving me a very awesome sports car, a Grand AM G-6. Silver, with leather seats and a sun roof, I pretty much felt like a rockstar driving that home! Saturday was a lot of fun! Even though I’ve been done with classes for a few months, going through the graduation ceremony made it all feel real. The ceremony went very quick, only an hour and forty minutes. Afterwards, we went out to lunch at Old Chicago, and Kim and her family met us their. Kim was my boss at the YMCA for three years. She was not only my boss, but she is a good friend, mentor and an Alpha Xi Delta sister! Her and her husband, Ben, and their kids, Mason and Alyssa, were like my second family this summer, and they let me stay at their house! So it was really great that they were able to hang out with us.

I was also very lucky because I was able to spend a lot of time with my grandparents this weekend. They came to my graduation, to my house that night and then to my mom and Caleb’s birthday. I am so lucky to have such supportive and loving grandparents and I wouldn’t trade them for the world! I am so lucky to have such a loving a supportive family! I love you all! I also want to say thank you to my parents for getting me through college. It means more to me than I could ever explain.

On Sunday, I was able to go to church with the family. Afterwards, my mom and I went to lunch with Andrea. It was great to catch up! After lunch we stopped my the Matis house. Jayme and Mary Beth had made a cut out of my face, which they took with them on the family vacation to Okoboji! When we stopped by their house last night, Jamie had made me a book of all of the places “I went” in Okoboji. It was pretty cute. It felt good to know that even though I was not able to physically be there, I was their in spirit and they took me with them the whole time. After the stop at the Matis house, we went over to Juli and Dave’s for Caleb and my mom’s birthday party. It was a busy weekend, but it was so nice to be home and to spend some time with the people I love!

I really love my job and I am so glad I have been given this opportunity. I learning a lot and building skills that I know I will use as a teacher. I am not the same girl who left Omaha on July 13. I am still Emmalie, but I feel so much stronger, more independent and confident. I had never done anything like this on my own. I have always depended on others, which I not a bad thing at all, but I had no idea how to be independent and depend on myself. In fact, the idea scared me. I have always been a happy person, but now, a lot of my happiness has to come from within myself. I have learned how to stand on my own two feet. I have the love and support from the people I love, and I carry that with me, everywhere I go, but I am now also carrying a stronger sense of self. I have to think for myself, think quick and make decision on my own. It is the strangest feeling to try and describe. I have always believe that God let’s everything happen for a reason, and I realize how true that is more and more, each and everyday.