#TBT Recruitment in the 1960's at @AXO_FSU

This fabulous photograph was shared by one of our chapter's most devoted and FUN alumnae:  Linda Sanford. Linda moved to California years ago, but loves visiting Tallahassee often for football and sisterhood. She stayed involved with alumnae chapters and advised at collegiate chapters (SDSU, Gamma Nu) in the San Diego area, and of course Xi Omega Xi!

Of this photo Linda wrote, "Thinking of [recruitment] reminds me of the “ice water teas” on the first 2 days.  We wore long white formals, long gloves, & red & green sashes in the 60’s.  That’s me in the photo."

Alumnae Spotlight- Lauren Hodde

Below is a great recap from NM '03 Alumnae, Lauren Hodde. She recently went on a mission trip, spending most her time in Chimbote, which is six hours north of Lima. We asked her to give a recap of her experience for our Alumnae Spotlight

We stayed at a parish that was on the outskirts of town, where they are just now installing roads and sidewalks.  On a typical day, it's normal to see donkey carts pulling produce.  The unemployment rate is high after the fishing industry became overrun and changes in fishing due to El Nino.  Many families are just trying to survive.

We partnered with an organization called Friends of Chimbote, http://friendsofchimbote.org/, which have been successful at slowly growing the economy by creating job opportunities.  Partnering with this organization was extremely helpful, they are local and could tell us the biggest needs in the town.  I was led by the Go Fish team, which are amazing individuals that have been going back and serving Chimbote for nearly twenty years. 

One of the best parts of my trip was the first two days that we spent demolishing, then rebuilding a house for a very grateful family of 6 that was living in unthinkable conditions prior.  Cockroaches and bugs overran their 10' x 40' home.  Within a few days their housing was drastically improved, and the mother kept crying and saying how we would be in her heart forever.  This is a moment that will also remain in mine.  Ive attached her photo below.  In total, all of the teams were able to restore and/or rebuild six homes.

The third day we spent with men and women at a prison and later visiting a hospital.  The hospital serves a majority of low income families, many of which are unable to afford their medical expenses and/or prescriptions, especially since patients are required to pay up front before any surgeries or procedures.  As a group, we were able to bless 14 families that were unable to pay their financial expenses.  It was amazing, and a few lives were saved including a mother and her baby that needed an emergency c-section.  We were also so blessed to have a priest on the trip that has a rock n roll spirit, which proved highly valuable in the prison!  The inmates had an incredible time listening to him jam out and their spirits were completely different after being uplifted.

The last few days we spent time with the neighborhood children, 50 of which are disabled.  We were able to bring them to the beach and feed them lunch, which was such a treat since many of them are unable to see much outside their neighborhood.  They were so joyful as they played freely in the water and sand.  We also held a fiesta, where we provided over 500 people with a hot meal and lots of dancing!  The remainder of the food was provided to soup kitchens and will serve a meal to approximately  900-1000 people.

Again, I want to thank your encouragement and support. I have such amazing friends and family- seriously you are incredible!  Be on the lookout for more photos I'll be posting on Facebook soon!

Until my next adventure,
Lauren

Alumnae Sharon Lecter - Finalist for LIfetime Achievement Award!

  

Congrats to 1973 Beta Eta Alumna
Sharon Yates Lechter

SHARON LECHTER-FINALIST FOR A LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AND BEST COMPANY STEVIE® AWARD FOR WOMEN IN BUSINESS

by Sharon Lechter on Tuesday, November 1, 2011 at 7:02am

Stevie Award Winners to Be Announced in New York on November 11, 2011

Scottsdale, AZ, November 1, 2011:  Sharon Lechter, best selling author and financial literacy expert was named a Finalist in the Lifetime Achievement category in the 8th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business. Founder of Pay Your Family First, also a finalist for a Best Company category, Lechter continues to innovate new ways for families to teach financial responsibility globally.

The Stevie Awards for Women in Business honor women executives, entrepreneurs, and the companies they run –worldwide.  The Stevie Awards have been hailed as the world’s premier business awards.

“I’m honored to stand alongside so many accomplished women nominated for this prestigious award.  I hope that this honor sheds light on the importance of financial education as we continue our work to empower families and to inspire children to create financial independence,” said Lechter.

Nicknamed the Stevies for the Greek word “crowned,” winners will be announced during a gala event at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York on Friday, November 11.  Nominated women executives and entrepreneurs from the U.S.A and several other countries are expected to attend.   The presentations will be broadcast live on radio in the U.S.A. by the Business TalkRadio Network.

More than 1,300 entries – a record for the competition - were submitted this year for consideration in 75 categories, including Best Executive, Best Entrepreneur, Women Helping Women, and Communications Campaign of the Year.  Sharon Lechter is a Finalist in the Lifetime Achievement category.

Best selling author, entrepreneur, international speaker, CPA, philanthropist and proud mother and grandmother, Sharon Lechter passionately promotes financial literacy for families. A national spokesperson for the AICPA, Lechter also was honored to serve as a member of the first President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy.

Lechter has received a 2010 Mom’s Choice Gold Award® for her board game, ThriveTime for Teens, as well as a Gold award in 2011 for the YOUTHpreneur BIZkit.  Pay Your Family First resources have also been awarded a Dr. Toy award, WTS Toy Review’s 5 Star rating as well as Creative Child Magazine’s 2010 Game of The Year for ThriveTime for Teens.

Most recently, she published, Three Feet from Gold and Outwitting the Devil, in cooperation with the Napoleon Hill Foundation. Co-author of the international best selling book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Lechter continues to travel the globe empowering others to achieve prosperity.

For further information about Sharon Lechter, visit her online at http://www.sharonlechter.com/.  To explore Lechter’s games and tools for youth, visit http://www.payyourfamilyfirst.com/.

Details about the Stevie Awards for Women in Business and the list of Finalists in all categories are available at www.stevieawards.com/women.

About The Stevie Awards Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.  Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide.  Learn more about the Stevie Awards at www.stevieawards.com.

Sponsors and supporters of the 8th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business (as of October 12) include the Business TalkRadio Network, Coloredge, Infogroup, KeyBank | Key4Women, Melilea International Group of Companies, SDL, and Smart Reader Worldwide.

Media Contact:  Scott Kelly, Black Dog Promotions
scottkelly@blackdogpromotions.com

A look back, by Patty Garrard

Patty with her "Big Sister", Diane Campbell LeFiles in the dorm after the New Member (pledge as it was called then) Ceremony

Most of us have a vivid memory of the day 518 W. Park became home and Alpha Chi Omega entered our lives.  I needed Hera and a few good sisters to guide my way!  As a freshman, I went through formal rush/recruitment but my stars did not lead me to sorority membership. 

That spring, I began dating my future husband and became friends with several Alpha Chi sisters who were dating his fraternity brothers.  Returning for my sophomore year, I discovered that my dorm neighbors were-you guessed it- Alpha Chis.  I did not join in formal recruitment, but my BH friends made sure that I was a frequent guest at 518.  Hera had saved room for me, and in January I received my bid to become a member of Alpha Chi Omega.  We had a small pledge/new member class of 7.  At the big-little sis reveal, my big sister was none other than DC, one of my dorm neighbors.  Our bond remains connected, and we enjoy our Beta Eta reunions.

One of my pledge sisters became my roommate for the following two years.  After graduation, I married my Alpha Chi sweetheart and there were three Alpha Chi sisters in our wedding carrying nosegays of red carnations.

As an alumna, my Alpha Chi friends, experiences, and involvement remain an integral part of who I am.  However, each time I visit, I feel the special bond to Beta Eta and eagerly search for my brick in the drive of 518 W. Park where my lifetime commitment began.  There is no doubt when I am greeted by my sisters, the current residents of 518, that the Beta Eta legacy of love, sisterhood, and excellence continues.

 

The above picture is at our Spring Weekend at the Alpha Chi Omega chapter house. Patty is with her future husband, Walter.  Some will recognize the old tile floor.

Alumnae Spotlight: FSU Alpha Chi Med students

We are excited to share photos of Katie Wright, and Sarah Schmidt both Beta Eta, Alpha Chi Omegas, who will be attending Florida State University Medical School, class of 2015. You can click on their names above to read their full profile.

 

We are so proud of Katie and Sarah, and wish them both the best!

The photos above are from the official White Coat ceremony. The blurb below is from FSU College of Medicene

The official wardrobe of the Class of 2015 now includes 119 white coats. At an inspiring ceremony Aug. 19, the first-year College of Medicine students pledged to dedicate their lives to serving humanity and slipped on their new coats, symbols of the medical profession.

Students Robyn Rachesky, Saritha Tirumalasetty and James Zorn were each helped into their coats by one of their parents, members of the College of Medicine’s clerkship faculty.

Watching and cheering this rite of passage were relatives and friends so numerous that they filled Ruby Diamond Concert Hall. Afterward, a sea of white coats and proud parents encircled the fountain in front of the Westcott Building for the ultimate family photo op.

Also honored at the ceremony were 12 members of the Class of 2012. Based on nominations from faculty, staff and fellow students, they were inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society and saluted for having the ideal blend of knowledge and compassion. Those students were Kate (Cleary) Alonso, Natasha Demehri, Laura Diamond, Aaron Hilton, Brett Howard, Demetrios Konstas, Brandon Mauldin, Diana Mauldin, Ricardo Sequeira, Michael Silverstein, Elise Switzer and Helen Travis.

Speaking to the first-year students, fourth-year student Demehri passed along hard-won wisdom from a time during clinical rotations when her private and professional lives collided. “I never thought that the first patient I would lose would be my friend,” she told them. It was a moving story. (Read it on Pages 30-31 of the summer issue of FSU MED magazine.)

Among her other messages to the new students were these: “You have little to lose, and everything to gain, by letting a sick person into your heart…. What is humanism in medicine? It’s simple: It’s a relationship between two human beings, one of whom – you – happens to be a doctor.”

The evening’s featured speaker was Dr. Paul McLeod, senior associate dean for regional campuses, and dean of the Pensacola campus. He urged the new students to be willing to laugh at themselves – then invited them to laugh at him by telling tales of his own rookie shortcomings.

On one occasion, he said, “I encountered a young lady in the emergency department with a complaint of a swollen jaw. Having just finished studying diseases of the oral cavity, I thrust myself into a barrage of questions intended to uncover her occult dental abscess or her salivary gland tumor…. I gave a comprehensive presentation to my supervising resident. Appearing totally unimpressed by my efforts, he accompanied me back to the patient’s room…. He flung open the door, glanced in her direction and asked one question: ‘Someone hit you, ma’am?’ ‘Yes.’”

He also told a poignant story about a patient who was much too sick much too early in life – and how he wrestled with the questions of “Why her?” and “What if…?” and “Why didn’t I do something sooner?” (For the surprise ending to that story, watch the White Coat Ceremony video, starting shortly after the 1:05 mark.)

College of Medicine Dean John Fogarty thanked all who attended for supporting their favorite students – and jokingly warned the families not to seek medical advice from them just yet. He also encouraged the students to wear their white coats with pride.

“This ceremony serves as a reminder that you are not just going to school – you are joining a profession,” he said. “Ceremonies provide opportunities to commit or recommit to the oaths, vows and traditions of our profession.”

He reminded the first-year students that they have eight semesters of medical school remaining. But they have one completed, and now they have their white coats. It’s been a big summer.