“Spaghetti Winner”
Hungry for spaghetti? You should have attended the Alpha Omicon Pi Spaghetti Dinner on Thursday, February 02. Not only did the saucy noodles, salad and garlic bread, all donated from Costco, Panera Bread, Meijer, and Carrabba’s, satisfy the attendants’ appetites, but the profits will be given to Indian Trails Camp, a retreat for mentally and physically disabled adults and children on Lake Michigan Drive, to help satisfy their needs.
Over the years, the sorority has assisted the Camp in a variety of ways. With the profits from their bevy of fundraisers, which includes ‘Strike Out Arthritis’, another large bowling event put on by ATTO and some annual events, the sorority has singlehandedly opened the camp’s pool and given them a craft room, among other support.
“It’s nice to know where out money is going”, says Christine Nowak, a faithful member of ATTO since her freshman year.
The sisters also volunteer about once a month, whether it be to spring clean, help out at the Camp’s Trick or Treat event, or hunt for Easter eggs during one of their weekend ‘Respites’( retreats for the attendants). In return for their help, Indian Trails Camp gives back by allowing the sorority to have their own retreat at the Camp.
Now a senior, Nowak reflects on her experience in the sorority.
“One of the hardest things about graduating is going to be leaving the future of my chapter in the hands of other sisters; but seeing the fire in the younger members is really exciting and makes me comfortable passing down our sorority to them”.
If you’re like a lot of people, you’re seen those posts. On Facebook. A sorority sister turns 19 and every single sister, it seems, wishes her a happy birthday. Is this camaraderie real? Or are they paid to do this? Are they brainwashed?
When these questions were raised, Nowak shook her head in earnest and continues “One of our mottos is “Individually unique but together complete”. That really explains the atmosphere here.”
Kayla, a freshman and bubbly member of the sorority chimed in “You always have a sister here. I feel comfortable talking to and getting advice from any of the sisters.”
Friendships between the sisters isn’t limited to weekly chapter meetings, either.
“If anyone needs to go to Meijer, or want to watch a movie, they just ask around. We’ve turned the apartment into a house by having such a close-knit group”, said Nowak.
“We pretty much have an open door policy, too. We don’t even knock anymore,” notes Kayla.
This spaghetti dinner was not only delicious, but it exemplified that the Greek community here is very close and has good intentions.
Amber Cullison, the organizer of the spaghetti dinner, said “Indian Trails Camp is definitely close to our hearts. We love donating to them.”
If every Greek house is like ATTO, Grand Valley State University can be proud of what their sisters and brothers are doing.
“Where’s the Toast?”
On February 2, 2012, members of GVSU’s Downtown Toastmasters Club held their second Speak-A-Thon of the semester, the first of which was last week. Attendants of the 7:30am meeting were lured awake with coffee and oatmeal raisin cookies. There was no toast on the premises.
No toast? You may be wondering, “If there was no toast, then what is Toastmasters?” According to the Toastmasters International website, “Toastmasters helps men and women learn the arts of speaking, listening, and thinking – vital skills that promote self-actualization, enhance leadership potential, foster human understanding, and contribute to the betterment of mankind”.
Jenna Puisis, the Vice President of Public Relations and a Health Communications major in her last semester at GVSU said “This is a fun place to be. Really! We’re not here to tear anyone down. This is a comfortable place for people to improve their speaking skills, whether they are already good speakers of not. We’re here to work together”.
It works like this: a manual, with specific guidelines for different types of speeches, called “Competent Communication”, requires speakers to follow certain rules or objectives. The speaker can pick any topic to meet these guidelines. Each speaker is paired with an evaluator who takes notes, and afterwards gives them the third degree (not really…most of the advice is quite uplifting. Otherwise the membership of the club would be smaller than the number of people who can lick their elbows). The audience also participates, giving informal evaluations to the speaker via a fill-out paper form provided.
The club’s ‘Toastmaster’, or emcee for the meeting, Elaine Benoit, broke the ice with a few sly jokes. The evaluator, Asante Cain, introduced the evaluation team, which included the ‘Ah Counter’, Jeff Blair, (Yes, he does just what his description states…he counts the number of times the speaker says ‘filler words’ such as ‘like’, ‘um’, or ‘so’. Imagine if Snookie or JWow had an ‘Ah Counter’…), and Elizabeth Blair, who played an equally important role as the meeting grammarian. (She looked for misuse of words and grammar). Both the ‘filler words’ and grammatical error tallies were revealed at the end of the meeting.
Both Jeff and Elizabeth are college graduates. Elizabeth joined just three months ago, and has given two speeches thus far.
“I visited a few times after repeatedly seeing this event of GVSU’s calendar. I realized it was a great club and a good place to be”, said Elizabeth.
The three speakers for this meeting, Monica Kaiser, Diane Hvizdos, and Jenna Puisis, spoke for five to seven minutes apiece. The subject matter ranged from butterflies to Aminatta Forna to skin cancer, keeping the audience of roughly a dozen people entertained and attentive. After each speech, feedback was given by the evaluator politely, constructively, and supportively.
“It can be kind of intimidating, but even if you give a bad speech, the goal is to improve, and everyone here will give you their support”, said Jeff Blair. “You just power through”.
If you’re looking for a place to improve your speaking skills and build up confidence, Toastmasters is your locale. Everyone, despite age or profession, is welcome every Thursday, except on Thanksgiving and Christmas, at 7:30am. Just don’t expect there to be any toast at the next meeting.
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