ΑΦΩ-Χ

ΑΦΩ-Χ News Hub: Hey what's up everybody? Welcome to our blog! Check in here for weekly newsletters/updates and posts! ;o

[apo-x-blog]

REVELATIONS, Alpha Rho Term

Revelations is a really magical time - the excitement is palpable & everyone is eager to find out who has been chosen to mentor this current class of pledges. It is not just that though - it is in fact much more than that. You don’t just find out who your Big is at Revelations, but also the line & family that you belong to. It is one of the rare times that you realise as a pledge just how many people in the Chapter care about you - when the spotlight is solely on you, albeit very briefly, and you really bask in everybody’s full and undivided attention. It’s this mixture of excitement, suspense, and raw unadulterated eagerness that really makes Revelations special to me. The construct of the big/little relationship is a fascinating one - it’s one that says that you’ll both care and help for one another, one that goes above and beyond a friendship. It’s made of the same fabric that makes us a fraternity, that our bonds are more special than just normal friendships, and that at the end of the day we know that we can call each other Brothers. The moment of each reveal is a truly special one, filled with joy, delight, and seeing what the future has in store for them, and even as someone who barely understands or shows any emotion, I can’t help but have a wide grin on my face after seeing every pair get revealed. To all the pledges & Bigs - please realise how lucky and special this relationship you now possess is. You are extremely fortunate to be a part of this sacred process, and although things may or may not have worked out the way you expected it to, at the end of the day you are now in a relationship where both of you care for each other. You are now bound to each other, and it is up to both of you to learn, understand, and communicate with each other. Who you were paired with shouldn’t change the fact that you both owe it to each other to try and make the relationship work, and only when that happens can special things blossom. The excitement I feel going to Revelations still hasn't diminished one bit after all of my terms in APO, and I genuinely feel happy when I see the smiles on other people's faces. It's one of the few times where I feel truly at peace, where I can suspend any worries or concerns I have elsewhere, & just focus on the sheer amount of joy that we can bring one another if we really put our minds to it. Revelations is a truly beautiful event in the term, & I can't wait to see what the future has in store for all of the lucky pairs on Sunday. P.S. Shoutout to Kathy (you're okay I guess) - I'm really over the moon to have picked you up 

[apo-x-blog]

LOVE LETTER 3 from Yvonne Lu, to Brian Lee

I first met this active at a Thanksgiving party last year and even though we had zero things in common, we managed to get along really well right from the start. I was close friends with his little already and I remember mentioning how annoying I thought she was (just kidding). To this day I am still amazed at how friendships form in APO. Kindness to others and genuine concern for other people seem to come naturally to so many people here. It’s been one year since I pledged and I can confidently say that APO has changed my life. I know. Everyone says that. And everyone says that everyone says that. But it’s only because it’s true.

I am going to attempt to write a letter that is as good as Lindzi’s and John’s, I know I am nowhere as eloquent, But I am going to try anyway. First of all, thank you (to this active) for being a fun person to hang out with even though 90% of the time it’s crude humor. Thank you for always taking me and your lil out to eat literally whenever we are stressed or just needed someone to rant to. TY for always laughing at our stresses and then encouraging us after, just to show us that our worries really aren’t as bad as they seem. Trying to be a good Membership Vice President while trying to go to med school will probably be one of the hardest things I’ll have to do in my college career. Thank you for being there to guide me.

I would also like to take this time to thank my pbros as well. I would never have gone through pledging and ran for MVP if it weren’t for you guys (sry, a lil sappy but tru. Yay AO!!!). I feel stronger and more accomplished because all of you guys were like that. I wanted to be the same.

Lastly, to go back to my original point of this letter, thank you, the recipient of this love letter, for literally being a text away when I need something. And for putting a smile on my face with your dumb marshmallow games and old man advice. I’ve come to understand what you mean when you say that you won’t remember the night you stayed home.  I don’t think I’ll forget.

[apo-x-blog]

Love Letter 2 from Lindzi Tran, to Yvonne Lu

Pledging APO was honestly something that was a true blessing to me. I have made some of the most amazing friends here and I can honestly say that these are the people I will for life.

Throughout pledging, I was blessed enough to have made a friend that truly made me believe that blood was not thicker than water. While pledging we did everything together, we had sleepovers almost everyday to the point where my actual roommates were concern why I never came home. Pulled way too many all nighters together before exams, stressed together about every small detail in our lives together that wasn’t going right, and we were there to catch each other when the other one needed support.  

I took her to her first RAVE, talked about being each other’s children godmother one day, and cried when summer came because we will not get to see each other everyday anymore.

My most memorable moment with her was at JT's leadership workshop. For some reason going around in circles talking about our experience became slightly emotional. That moment was when I realize I had an amazing friend and that we could conquer anything together. When I cried she started crying too, when she laughed I would laugh too, like john said before when you care about someone their problems become yours too. So her problems became mines and my problems became hers.

The definition of a true friend to me is like a “mirror” and “shadow". Because a mirror never lies and a shadow never leaves you. They are the people who inspires you to live up to your best potential, and that was the type of friend she was to me because throughout every rainstorm she acted as my rainbow.

She’s someone who I call a steel magnolia, beautiful on the outside and strong on the inside. She’s someone who’s going to be there with me for the rest of my life. My best friend, sister, pbro, and my co.

[apo-x-blog]

CAMPOUT, Alpha Rho Term 

So this campout was my third campout, and I’ve seen a different perspective with each one. I remember being a pledge, freezing my ass off and pushing through all of the games with my pbros. Last campout, I was PAC and was able to see the work that goes into the pledge program and watching the pledges develop together as I put the strings together for the spider web and cheered the pledges on. This campout, I spent it on the membership side and saw how much membership puts into making campout possible while preparing all of the food and helping to make sure all of the games went smoothly. I realized that as a pledge, you get so into the activities that you don’t recognize how much effort the active body puts into giving you a singular pledge experience. You don’t see the work of the others because you get lost in the fun. I saw the cycle of the fraternity. If you’re the one having fun, it’s because somebody else made it possible for you. That’s what the leadership in this fraternity is about. If you believe the chapter has given you so much to be thankful for, put in some work to give somebody else that feeling you experienced. We’ve all been that pledge freezing in a tent that would enrage a park ranger and make a package of sardines feel thankful for the amount of room they have amongst themselves, but those memories are some of my favorites. It might be a struggle for both the pledges and the actives, but campout is definitely one of the more important chapter events we put on. It’s warming to be able to say I’ve seen what work makes campout possible, and I am so much more thankful for those who sacrifice their time and energy to make it exceptional.

by, Jake Reyna

PC: Kelly Ma

[apo-x-blog]

Volunteering @ Hollywood Half Marathon

Alpha Rho Term 4/8/17

It was the second time I volunteered for a marathon. The first time I worked at packet pick up, so working at the water station was a new and interesting experience. I had a lot of fun setting up the stacks of water cups before the marathon. When the runners came, we were instructed to hold out cups of water to make it easier for them to grab. I was standing toward the end of the line up, so jot a lot of runners received water from me. A few runners didn't even slow down, and the force they used to grab the water startled me the first few times. It was really inspirational watching all the runners make their way past us, and I found myself quietly encouraging them a I handed out water. When they came back around for the last stretch of the marathon, I ended up at the beginning of the line up. A small girl helped hand out water with us in the second half, and it gave the runners more motivation to continue. Many runners thanked us for volunteering to hand out water, and I'm glad i got to be a part of this event. It was such a positive and energetic event, and it felt nice knowing I could help them out in this small but important way. I would definitely recommend volunteering for the marathon at least once.

by, Joann Tran

Waking up at 3 am was definitely not something that happened often, but that was what happened when we volunteered at the Hollywood Half Marathon (bless Jenn and Josh for driving everyone there)! We helped set up a water station and poured cups of water for runners before the half marathon began. When the marathon began, we stood in a line to hold out water cups to the runners. We were at the first water station on the course, so we were able to see all the runners as they started running and the end of the half marathoners’ runs. It was really impressive to see all these people run such a long distance, and being thanked by the runners as they ran by was nice feeling. Near the end of the half marathon, there was this really cute little girl who helped us hand out water to runners and she was sooooo precious ;o; Because it wasn’t a really hot day, we had cups of water left over, so after the half marathon, we were allowed to flip the water station tables over and pour out the extra water, which was fun. Everyone also got to take pictures on Sunset Boulevard while it was still closed off from traffic, and we even got to take some of the leftover water back with us, so overall, volunteering at the half marathon was a fun experience worth waking up for. o u o)/

by, Sara Tran

[apo-x-blog]

LOVE LETTER 1 from John Oriola, to Lindzi Tran 

Hiya guys,

I’m super happy I get the opportunity to put a spotlight on someone I’ve held incredibly dear to me since I started pledging.

I met this p-bro at initiation and the first thing we talked about when we were walking out of Ackerman was, “PLUR”. From then on, we spent so much time together. We became family, like two wild siblings who decided to pledge APhiO together. She kept a sack of clothes and bathroom supplies tucked underneath my bed because she slept on my floor so often.

Outside of pledging, we shared our histories and backgrounds, our dreams and aspirations. We talked about high school drama, and all the fun and stupid shit we’ve gone through in college thus far. Some weeks, we turned up Thursday nights up until Sunday morning. Okay, maybe it was some months, from what I can remember haha. We went to different events together but we also got food together and gymmed and pulled all-nighters studying for exams.

She was there to listen to me every time I panicked about turning in interview write-ups, she was always by my side as we made sure we got all our schoolwork and responsibilities done before we headed out to Ralphs or CVS to procure some alch...aline water ;). We’ve traveled around LA together, visited other schools together, went to Vegas together, and I was there for every random dude, and occasional lady, that hit on her. All her problems became mine, my problems became hers.

These words, at best, will wile you, and probably won’t mean much to you. You haven’t experienced them. But for me and the many others that know her, she is remarkable and extraordinary and someone you keep close for a lifetime.

She’s become my big sister in college, and I’m sure she loves having me as the most cumbersome little brother she could’ve ever accidentally adopted /sarcasm. Her lighthearted and ambitious nature anchors my unbridled rowdiness. When I reflect on what I have gotten out of my time here in APhiO, I have always pointed to her as a blessing.

Seriously, I love you Lindzi, thank you for being an amazing human being. I hope everyone here gets to experience all the sides of you and the depth in you that you’ve showed me throughout the year.