by Annie Ortega, Gamma Iota – University of Florida
I am so grateful for my time at Alpha Delta Pi Leadership Seminar (LS) 2018 in Dallas, TX. Below are five things every ADPi should know that I learned at LS.
You are keeping families close.
“They ask me what I do and who I do it for.”
You make meals, decorate houses, host events and raise money all for Ronald McDonald House Charities.
Your work as an Alpha Delta Pi sister raising money for Ronald McDonald House Charities through Lion’s Share Challenges, or making meals for the families at the Ronald McDonald House near your campus is what continues to keep families close to loved ones in times of need.
Everyone at LS had the incredible opportunity to hear from our sister and Ronald McDonald House Charities President and Chief Executive Officer, Sheila Musolino. Grab some tissues and enjoy this moving video she shared with us.
I hope you are encouraged to take advantage of the opportunity being an Alpha Delta Pi sisters gives you to keep families together.
You Belong.
Our sister, Emily Torchiana, shared her story of redemption and how she battled her mental illness. She reminded us all to foster a sense of belonging within our chapters. Remember that you are never alone. In Alpha Delta Pi, “We Live for Each Other” and take seriously our responsibility to be present, lift each other up and be inclusive.
If you struggle with your mental health, or if your social identity is different than the majority of your chapter, I want you to know that you belong. You are more than your mental illness, your gender expression, your disability, your background or your physical appearance. You are a sister, cherished and adored.
You don’t have to be perfect.
On night one of LS, Amy Munroe, kicked off the weekend by assuring us that “effortless perfection” is indeed unachievable. I was humbled by Amy’s ability to admit that even she feels the pressure to attain “effortless perfection.”
Unfortunately, we live in a world that wakes us up each morning with the burden of striving for perfection. That may look different for each of us, whether it is our body, our Instagram aesthetic, our GPA, our involvement on campus, or our closet – we will never be able to perfect these aspects of our life.
Although it may be disheartening to think you will never be perfect, take heart because you are perfectly capable of being a success. However, there is one more thing the term “effortless perfection” gets wrong, the effortless part. You are capable, you are strong and you are worthy but you will never be able to achieve great things without effort, determination and persistence. “Effortless” insinuates that we should be born businesswomen, engineers, environmentalists, publicists and doctors. We should show no signs of working hard to achieve our dreams. How ridiculous does this sound?
I hope you know that no one asks you to be perfect in Alpha Delta Pi. You are called to be diligent and hard working, genuine and authentic, generous and humble, confident and brave, but never perfect nor without effort.
You are capable.
LS also brought to our attention the harsh realization that we all at one point or another felt undeserving of our accomplishments. Those of us at LS were fortunate enough to be inspired by Jackie Jones who warned us of falling victims to Imposter Syndrome. Imposter Syndrome is essentially feeling like a fraud, or feeling undeserving of your accomplishments despite clear competencies.
Ask yourself the last time you said “I just got lucky,” after months and months of preparing for that presentation, exam, performance, etc. Attributing your success to luck is saying, “I didn’t deserve that, I didn’t work hard, I’m not really capable of that success.”
Our creed states: Leadership requires confidence tempered with humility. Have confidence in your ability to achieve success, and be humble enough to take credit with grace, poise and gratitude.
You are a leader.
Every chapter member is different. There are the sisters that want to be president from the day they step on the lawn on bid day, and there are the girls that want absolutely nothing to do with being an officer at all.
Regardless of what you want or where you end up, you are a leader, you are a change agent, and you are responsible for upholding the highest ideals of being an Alpha Delta Pi sister. You do not need to have positional power to be a leader and make a difference.
Our creed continues: Leadership requires confidence tempered with humility and courage blended with tolerance. Be courageous by being a leader on your campus, in your classrooms, in the stadium, in the community, and at your chapter meetings. Have enough tolerance to be courageous and inclusive.
Whether you want to be or not, you are a leader and that is why I am lucky enough to call you my sister.
Thanks for leading by example and being a change agent Annie!! Great blog!