Antoinette Mongelli!!!

Epsilon Kappa had always talked about having a woman speaker come to our meeting. Promoting women in music, and more generally, music, is what we do so what could be more appropriate? When Nathalie put the “Women in Music Series” as part of her platform for the office of Director of Service and Music, we were all very excited at the return of this great idea that we had never gotten around to putting on.

We had the grand kickoff to the series this month on November 14^th with a woman highly recommended by our sponsor Jennifer Judkins. She was none other than Antoinette Mongelli, the Executive Director of the UCLA Volunteer Center! It would be an understatement to say that I was blown away. Professionally, she has a long history with UCLA and an endless list of accomplishments. She has been the Executive Director of Special Events and Protocol and has also been the Assistant Chancellor. Talk about rocking the world! But what really captivated us were her charismatic personality and her dynamic storytelling skills (such an EK personality)! We were so excited for her to come and we had set up a music stand at the front for her as the sisters sat in arcs. The first she did when she walked in was sit down in a chair and tell all of us to scoot in closer. She wanted to chat with us! “I don’t do the 60 minute speech thing,” she said. As she talked us through her early childhood with immigrant parents and the “alpha personality” she developed as the oldest sibling, I felt like I was just listening to a good friend over a cup of coffee. She explained how service had always been a part of her life, not as something that you’re supposed to do but rather something you just DO. Her life story was filled with unexpected opportunities, new places to explore, obstacles to face and overcome, and you never knew where she would go next. She advised us to not be afraid to try new things and that everything you do should be done for joy. Ms. Mongelli reinforced the idea of “joy” with every story of her life and in the end that is what matters. You do everything because it makes you happy. If it doesn’t make you happy, find something else to do.

When I decided to write this Lyre article, my head was filled with all of the great things I could say about the wonderful night and yet now I surprisingly find myself at a loss of words. She is simply one of those people that you meet and you think, “Wow, I want to be just like her.”  But what is great about her is that she isn’t someone that you just look up to, she talks to you like you’re her friend and shows you than you CAN be like her. She ended the session by asking each and every one of us in the room what we dreamed to be when we were 5 years old (my favorite answer was Audrey’s: a princess!) and what we want to do after college. It was surprising how many great beautiful dreams were in that room that I didn’t know about. Sisters never cease to amaze me! Frankly, I don’t know what I want to do after I graduate and sometimes that scares me out of my mind. But after meeting Ms. Mongelli, I know that I will be just fine and I can’t wait to see all that awaits in this big world. As long as there is joy and tiramisu! J 

-Becca Toda, Alpha Nu

Progressive Dinner!

Laughs, food, creativity, and joint bonding filled the room during this Fall’s Progressive dinner. When I think of this event, I think of the love I have for my big bro, Derek Lee. Cooking with him for this event was so amazing because I am completely obsessed with purple and mint cookies; so we made mint cookies and added purple food coloring as a surprise for everyone in attendance. Our baking adventure was as wonderful as going through the three different apartments of Progressive Dinner; appetizers, entrées and desserts.

Opposite bigs and littles cooked together for the 3 different stations which were hosted conveniently on the same floor of Levering Heights. We started with appetizers such as sweet potato fries with 3 different sauces! After that warm up, we went to the entrée apartment where we ate fettuccini alfredo and tacos. Once the entrees were finished we divided into two teams for a drawing competition! One person from each team looked at a picture drawn by the judge, then the two teams raced to draw that picture on each other’s back, going off of what they felt the person before them draw while only using their hands.

After hopes of having the end drawing look similar to the original; Mickey Mouse became a man and a robot became a donut. Lastly, we ate desserts in the final destination of the night. Dessert included brownies, mint cookies, plátanos rellenos, magic cake and marshmallow brownies. We ended the night with a few rounds of Spanking Yoda, where we learned just how creative we all are and that individual interpretation can change the course of everything.

-Micah Shaw, Alpha Omicron

B/S Game Night!

By the end of the night, I was holding a plunger, had a target on my chest, a piece of paper attached to my forehead, and whenever someone engaged me in conversation I had to play peak-a-boo with them. This was my first experience with Quelf, a game introduced to me by my Little Bro and Director of Brotherhood/Sisterhood Relations counterpart, Kelsey Chesnut. 

Game Night was our first big B/S event of the quarter, and it was an absolute blast. As Brothers and Sisters showed up to Levering 20, we began by playing a card game called "Once Upon a Time," in which players used the cards they're dealt to improvise a fairytale on the spot. It was hilarious to see how people creatively combined their cards to reach their "Happily ever after."

After we had a larger number of people, everyone split off and started playing different games, like Combat UNO, Taboo, Jenga, and my personal new favorite, Quelf. The best way I could possibly describe Quelf is "Cranium for Adults." No matter what number you rolled with the die, what card you drew, you always ended up having to do something ridiculous. Early on in the game, Kelsey drew a card that made her clap her hands and say "Aaaaaaabraaaaaacadaaaaabrrrraaaaaa" with a magical gesture every time someone drew a card. Brendan and I had to read the instructions from a card aloud in a scary voice, backwards, but neither of us new exactly what we had to do until the third try, so we just kept saying utter nonsense over and over again. Jason Moore had to sing "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" until he reached the end or someone rolled a 3... No one rolled a 3. 

It was a really get way to kick off the year and get the PsiEK spirit going! I can't wait to plan more events with Kelsey for Winter and Spring quarter!

Marlee Newman, Alpha Nu

Mike & Molly TV Taping!

One of my favorite ways that EK raises money for our chapter is by
attending TV tapings. I had never been to a real TV taping before and
so I was super excited, especially because we were going to watch Mike
& Molly. I had seen the show once before and I thought it was
adorable, but actually watching it all happen was amazing. It was so
cool to see these famous actors goof around and be normal. Plus, it
was a joint fundraiser so I got to spend time with our awesome
brothers of Psi! The overall night was really fun accept for our MC.
He was a bit creepy at times but overall he was pretty funny. A few of
us even went up to participate in some of his shenanigans. For
example, one of the brothers, Allison Cardoso went up and was the
eligible bachelorette in the dating game that the MC conjured up for
her. Three “bachelors” were asked hilarious questions like “If you
were a candy bar, which one would you be?” By the end of the night we
all enjoyed ourselves and each others company and definitely left with
some stories.

-Audrey Urrutia, Alpha Omicron

Bake Sale!

This was my first bake sale as an active Sister! I was very excited being that I love being able to make a fool of myself for the sake of a couple of quarters. This bake sale happened to be on the last day of student government elections though, so everyone was in super "just look down and say 'no thank you" mode since the people in the yellow shirts had been bombarding them with voting questions and flyers for the past week or so. Even with this slight complication, we had a successful bake sale with a bountiful array of options including: brownies, brownie cupcakes, funfetti cupcakes with chocolate or vanilla icing, chocolate cupcakes with chocolate or vanilla icing, chocolate chip cookies, and s'mores bars (made by our wonderful sister Robyn Kamp). During my shift, the options didn't even matter being that we had a wonderful football player (I think number 8, I may be wrong though) who "dropped a twenty" on us. He said he was going to do it and kept to his word. He gave us $20 without wanting to take anything. We also had a funny police man come by. He didn't buy anything, but he was fun company for the slow times during class. I loved every second of that bake sale and I can't wait until I can do it again!


- Nastaishia Allen, Alpha Omicron 

Home Grown TV Taping!

Okay, so I love TV tapings! My mind was blown when I found that it was a good way for us to fundraise. I had gone to a So You Think You Can Dance TV taping previously, but sitcom TV tapings are much better. They filmed it in chronological order, which was nice. They even made sure to include the prerecorded sections to keep with the flow of things. But, I must say, our MC was the best part. He was hilarious! Our wonderful Psi brother, Kevin Hudson (who decided to call himself Chester), was picked on at the beginning. He had to dance for everyone to a boy band song. Then our lovely sister, Sarah Cox, was chosen to come up and speak with the MC. He did a lot of other slightly inappropriate, but funny, things which overall made this a wonderful experience, I can't wait to attend more TV Tapings.


- Nastaishia Allen, Alpha Omicron 

What an Amazing Race

I was running on 3 hours of sleep and 3 cups of coffee. After a 9-6 work day and traffic on the way home, I was not too hyped for the B/S Amazing Race. But once I got there I was pumped. I was on a team with my buddy, Joe Alonso, so I knew it was going to be fun. But I also realized that he was going to want to win…which meant running. Once the countdown happened, he ran up, grabbed the clue, and we started running.

Clue by clue we made it to the top of Bruinwalk with the concern of finding parking structure 4 in search of a car. Once we got there, we scavenged for the car marked with ‘PsiEK’ on the back window. Another team chose to look for the same thing, but after 20 minutes or so, neither us nor the other team could find it. After reviewing the clue we realized we were in the wrong section! We ran to the right area and I hurried down to the lowest level. There, in front of me, amidst the empty level, was the car. I jotted down the space number because the clue giver was nowhere in sight.

Joe and I ran off to meet with her and then to the next challenge: writing the PsiEK officer board down in less than a minute. I whipped that one out and we ran over to Janss steps to write down the B/S Song! I was trying to sing it out in my head but got stuck at one line. When we wrote it down, I still couldn’t get it, but after thinking about it for another minute or two we got it! Excitedly, we stood up to have our work checked and then ran up to earn 2^nd place!!!

This event has easily become my favorite B/S event—it was so much fun, especially because it was filmed like an actual episode. I can’t wait to see the show and participate in next year’s Amazing Race!

- Sarah Cox, Alpha Xi
Treasurer, 2010-2011

Monster Ball

It doesn't matter if you're a tuba or a capital S-A-X, at Band Ball, all are welcome. On April 3, 2011 band members of all persuasions came together at Kerkhoff Grand Salon for a night of music, dance, and celebration of the princess, hero, cartoon, and Little Monster within us all.

About a month before the event, I received a call from the Epsilon Kappa chapter of Tau Beta Sigma's Director of Social Activities, Allison Gill. She told me of this annual Band Ball event and asked if I, Mother Monster, would bestow the honor of my presence at this occasion. She told me how the event is held every year to bring together members of the UCLA Marching Band after football season, and how the band performed a field show based on my hit single "Bad Romance" this past fall. Needless to say, I was honored. Then, when Allison told me that her organization's mission was to serve and honor women in music, I was sold. I checked my touring schedule, canceled my concert in Adelaide, Australia (sorry, Little Monsters), and jetted to Los Angeles to turn this Band Ball into Monster Ball.

I pulled one of my tour costumes off the rack, the Thierry Mugler blue prismatic. Only the best for my Bruin Monsters. Plus, I heard the UCLA marching band has a thing for true blue. Disco stick in hand and donning the newest headgear from the Haus of Gaga, I was ready to dance in the dark.

Upon arrival, I was greeted by Allison and the Social Chair of the Psi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi, Katrina Madlansacay. Of course, the paparazzi was there to greet me as well. I indulged their shutter-happy wishes with my typical display of congenial apathy, chest out, paws up. Afterward, I patrolled the salon. It was nicely decorated to suit the theme, Lady and the Knight. There were posters of armor-clad medieval heroes slaying dragons and saving fair maidens; there was a cut out of Lady and the Tramp on the second floor; and at one point I turned around to find a 4'x3' 12-piece acrylic panel painting depicting my disembodied head wearing a shako. It was brilliant. I had never seen such artistry in my entire life. I asked Allison who the artist was and attempted to find her so I could invite her to join the Haus of Gaga. Unfortunately, the artist had only donated the piece for the event and could not attend. She was stuck in Adelaide, Australia.

Finally it was time to let the music take control.

Mother Monster took over the floor and commanded her vicious little ones to dance. Like my prized orbital Alexander McQueen, the world revolved around me, as I performed "Bad Romance" and "Telephone" to a sea of mesmerized gazes. I was even able to phone in a favor from Beyonce and got her to make a surprise guest appearance.

Meanwhile, in an adjacent room, a photo studio was set up to take souvenir photos as a fundraiser. It was a genius enterprise and with the option of a green screen, Little Monsters were able to choose their backdrop. I took photos with some of the band members, even became an honorary member of the UCLA trumpet section. I heard they made $100 off those photos. That's money, honey.

It was a killer night, and I had a great time getting to know these little Bruin monsters. I would say that I'll always remember the night and keep a piece of UCLA in my heart....  

... but I left my head and my heart on the dance floor.

MGITB, 

xo LG

Bonfire with JJ!

I was in the car with Ashley, Lauren, Andrea, and Micah on our way to Dockweiler to hang out with JJ. I was super excited since it’s a bonfire and we were going to hang out with JJ. When we got there JJ wasn’t there yet so we played some games until she got there. When JJ got there we started to make the fire, but it took us maybe an hour or two with all of the wind and having little wood. It was still fun though and finally we started our fire even though it was pretty small. We cooked hot dogs and after a while we sat to watch the sunset and get to know each other. We made s’mores and and made marshmallows go up in flames.  Then we tried to play Frisbee in the dark though that did not work out very well. After a while, JJ left and we started to pack up. We sang “The Affirmation” and finished cleaning up. Overall it was an awesome experience and I love hanging out with JJ and I’m sure everyone that came did too.

-Eugenia Leonardho, Alpha Omicron

Not Alone: My Journey Through the Candidate Process

My candidate process with Tau Beta Sigma, Epsilon Kappa has been the most fun, stressful, eye-opening, and memorable experience I’ve had in a very long time.  Between rushing around like a madwoman to get all of my interviews done, to the always-entertaining lessons with our Vice President I formed a bond with my candidate class that I cannot even begin to describe. 

I have to say that I think my favorite part about the candidate process was the interviews.  I got to ask the silly questions that don’t normally come up on a regular basis.  Those always bring up interesting conversations that expand into 4 hour discussions on how much Disney rocks my world or how awesome someone thinks gel pens are. 

But then, I also learned about what really makes people unique, not just the boring basics of major, year, instrument. 

The best part about the interviews were that they forced me to go outside of my little stubborn shell and sit down with people that I would never have spent 2 hours with at Bruin Café before.  At first, I was a little uncomfortable, to be honest.  Although I don’t seem shy once I get to know you, if I’m unfamiliar with someone, I can be cripplingly awkward.  Interviews made me get over that.  I’ll admit, I still get shy around new people, but I’m less guarded and more open to getting to know people, which is awesome.

Although the interviews were my favorite part of the candidate process, I can’t leave out the crazy lessons we had learning about TBΣ.  I really enjoyed learning the history of TBΣ in a way that didn’t bore me.  Although lessons got a little insane sometimes, I feel like that was an element that helped solidify the bond I formed with my class and got me really excited to become a part of the great organization I was learning about.

And naturally, there is no way I would be able to reflect on my candidate process without mentioning degrees.  First degree was just amazing and thrilling; I had no idea what to expect!  Second degree was no different.  I felt so honored to take part in those rituals.  And I know my third degree was not as traditional as people usually have, but I really appreciated the support I received from my friends when I had to go through it alone.  

Yet, I never really was alone.  After my third degree I realized that the amount of time I spent with my class already made them sisters to me, even before I was rewarded my active pin.  I realized that although I wasn’t able to be there when the rest of my class “graduated” to sisterhood, I was with them the whole time.  Yea, yea, mushy I know, but there’s really no other way to paint it.

Although the entire candidate process was a tough time for me with all the struggles I had to deal with in the other aspects of my life, I cannot cherish that time enough.  It made me closer with my class and extremely excited to become a sister and become equally as close with the rest of Epsilon Kappa. 

- Robyn Kamp, Alpha Omicron

AFV TV Taping at Disneyland!!!

Normally, EK goes to TV tapings in order to fundraise for the chapter.  When we've gone to tapings of America’s Funniest Videos for fundraising, they have us dress nicely in case we get on TV.  However, last week, we had a different, more casual AFV taping experience. Though it was a special kind of TV taping and they told us it would not make our chapter any money, our Treasurer still organized a trip to it, and we had so many people who wanted to go that we could not accommodate all of them since AFV capped our number of people who could go at 15.  The reason for the enthusiasm?  The TV taping was filmed at Disney California Adventure, and not only would we get to go there that night for the taping, but they were also going to give free park hoppers to those who attended.

It was so much fun driving to Disneyland last Thursday night, starting at 9 PM, to arrive and meet around 10:30 PM.  It felt really surreal to be doing homework and class all day but to know that pretty soon I’d be at Disneyland.  We couldn’t bring our phones to the TV taping, but we still all found each other in Downtown Disney in a timely manner, and then proceeded to the gates of California Adventure.  We went in around 11 PM after the park had already closed, and it was so interesting to be there with no one else around (except the thousand or so people at the taping).  We filled out a waiver for being filmed, and then they even gave us a fancy veggie sandwich!  Then we went and stood by the water, and we got to see characters in costumes, the water doing its beautiful lit-up, colorful swaying, and to show our enthusiasm for the fun trip by clapping a lot on camera.  We ended at 3:30, and then we got free park hoppers that we will be using together in the future as part of a Sisterhood event to go to Disneyland together.  That night was so much fun, and would have been fun even without the park hoppers, because the atmosphere around Disneyland and California Adventure is just so nice, whether you’re there during the day or in the middle of the night.  But it will be quite fun to go on the Sisterhood trip to Disneyland as well.

Starting at 3:30 AM, we had to make the drive back to UCLA.  Everyone was exhausted, but passengers helped keep their drivers awake, and all the sisters made it back to UCLA, safe and sound.  What a fun night!

- Helen Durand, Alpha Mu

Parliamentarian, 2010-2011

Breakfast For Dinner!

On Monday night of Sisterhood Week, the Epsilon Kappa usually go to a Sister’s apartment after meeting to cook and make things like pancakes and hash browns for our annual Breakfast for Dinner.  This year, however, two of our sisters were in the Percussion Ensemble concert, which was right after meeting on Monday night, so we wanted to go watch them first.  Their concert was amazing.  It is cool to see the wide variety of music you can play with percussion, because people normally don’t think of percussion as being played alone for concerts.

        

 Because we went to the Percussion Ensemble concert first, we did not cook Breakfast for Dinner this year, but instead were graciously hosted at the house of one of our Sisters, where we had pancakes, hash browns, and eggs from Denny’s, as well as fruit, milk, and orange juice on the side.  We started off the dinner with “Roses To,” and everyone had a lot of roses to give in appreciation of their Sisters, especially since we had just had our Sisterhood Retreat in the preceding days.  That night was really fun, a mixture of meeting, music, and dinner, and seeing our sisters all the way through.

- Helen Durand, Alpha Mu
Parliamentarian, 2010-2011

B/S Camping!

Every other year, the brothers and sisters of Psi and Epsilon Kappa go on a joint camping trip together.  This year’s camping trip was a huge success—and it wasn’t even a camping trip.

After the Brotherhood-Sisterhood Chairs (BS Chairs) of Psi and Epsilon Kappa had spent weeks of detailed planning for a camping trip in Morro Bay, crazy weather hit California in the days just before we were about to go camping.  Torrents of rain poured down, so that freeways were even flooded.  Because these conditions made it unsafe and unpleasant for brothers and sisters to make the trek from Los Angeles to Morro Bay, our BS Chairs had to make a quick change of plans—and instead of camping in the wild, we were graciously hosted at the house of Psi’s BS Chair for two nights and three days.

            

On the first night, after people arrived at the house, Psi and EK watched the Little Mermaid together.  The next day, the chapters played a lot of fun games together, including Psychologist and a game where we had to think of songs that had a certain word in them and sing a new one when called upon until no one had any more song ideas containing that word.  I was really impressed with the great BS Camping Trip and how much our BS Chairs made the event like camping despite the fact that we were not in tents outside.  We went to the park for hours one day, had a picnic lunch, and even roasted Smores on the grill.  Those were the best Smores I ever had!

            

After a fun day of being outside, we all went back to the house, had a delicious dinner called a “Hobopack,” and played many games throughout the night, including charades and Catchphrase.  We also had cobbler made using cake mix—a trick I had never seen before, but it came out great.  Throughout the camping trip, brothers and sisters also made a music video. 

            

The trip was a huge success, and I feel a lot closer to my brothers and sisters after going. 

- Helen Durand, Alpha Mu

Parliamentarian, 2010-2011

Band is a Battlefield

Slowly turning a corner—my heart pounding—I glanced back to make sure I wasn’t being followed. Taking a few more steps forward, I spotted the enemy. He had been hit, and recovered just in time for my attack. With both hands on the gun, I made my first kill. And then all of a sudden I was down. I’d forgotten to watch my back. Colorful lights began flashing right before my eyes. It was over.

This quarter Epsilon Kappa joined with the Psi Chapter of KKPsi to host a LASER TAG fundraiser. As treasurer of EK, I was both excited and nervous. I’d heard great things about this event from actives and bandsmen, but I’d never actually been laser tagging. All I knew about the activity was what I had gathered from watching “How I Met Your Mother”. My hope for the evening was a profitable event that was legendary.

I arrived about 5 minutes before a new game—just enough time to say hello to everyone and get pumped. When I entered the debriefing room I was placed on the red team and grabbed my equipment. The doors opened and people flooded to the battlefield. I was terrible on my first round, but my team got second place! And by the next round, I meant business. I was sneaky and protective of my team’s orb (which other teams would attack). I even ventured off to other orbs and raked in the points! When the round was over, the lights came back up and we left to see who’d taken first place.

Even though I stayed in 27^th place, laser tagging was an awesome experience. Even though we were all very busy surviving 8^th week, that night we took four hours to have fun. I saw people I didn’t normally, learned how to play laser tag, and helped EK and Psi earn some money. I absolutely loved this event and I can’t wait ‘til next quarter!

- Sarah Cox, Alpha Xi

Treasurer, 2010-2011

Roses To...

“Roses To”. It is the favorite part of meeting for many sisters of Epsilon Kappa. It is a time we dedicate to recognize the sisters that have helped us personally, shown true sisterhood, or just shined brilliantly for any reason throughout the week. No matter how stressed out or tired we are from school or life, “Roses To” is always refreshing, full of smiles, laughter, love and appreciation.  So I was very intrigued when Alli, our DOSA, announced that there would be a sisterhood event called “Roses To”!

It was amazing. It truly captured the essence of sisterhood and encompassed everything I love so much about Epsilon Kappa. Winter quarter was a particularly busy and chaotic quarter for us and this bonding event came at just the right time. As a chapter, we have always revered Ritual very sacredly and it was almost untouchable. But we discussed aspects of Ritual that move us and what it means to us and that was very powerful. We also honed our craft skills by making roses out of strips of shiny red fabric using fire and needles. It sounds dangerous and it most certainly was! Many hands were poked for the sake of the sisterhood but thankfully there were no accidental fires! Just the burning love for the bond! I have to admit that it was frustratingly difficult at times and my rose looked more like a ball of scraps than an elegant symbol of beauty. However with the encouragement of my sisters, I tried again and voila! A red rose eventually emerged out of the nearly hopeless mess. It now sits on my desk as a constant reminder of love and patience. As our final activity we passed our rose to the person on the right and we all said one thing that we appreciate about the person holding our work of art, literally “Roses to”. We kept passing the roses all throughout the circle until they made a full rotation back to the owners. It was so great to hear 10 different qualities that we admire about each sister. You always know that you love your sisters but it’s a whole new level of appreciation when you actually think about each person and articulate the influence they have on your life. It brought our close-knit chapter even closer and the love was permeating in every direction.

I may have overused the word “love” in this article but it is the foundation of our bond and there is no word that can replace it with the same depth or power. “Roses to” was that love at its finest. So, Roses to Epsilon Kappa!   

- Becca Toda, Alpha Nu

Reaching Out and Touching Lives

Leading up to this late night event, the Sisters of Epsilon Kappa had been going through a considerable amount of stress and emotional turmoil. It was a time when we all needed a chance to remember how connected we all are in the bond of our Sisterhood. Alli called for this mystery event so that we could mend our bonds. The event took place on the roof of a building in Westwood, overlooking the dark night lit by the city lights. Underneath the gazebo were piles of pillows and blankets, lit by white string lights. On one side of us stood 5 lit candles representing our Qualities, and on the other stood 8 lit candles for our Essential Factors, For the beginning of the night, we sat around, close to each other to stay warm, with blankets and in comfort of each other.  In our intimate setting, we unleashed our worries and embraced our Sisterhood. After a few minutes of getting cozy- Alli turned on the Enya music. This is when we all reached- out and touched the Sisters who have touched our lives. We all sat in a circle with our eyes closed and a few at a time stood up outside of the circle. These Sisters were asked, “Touch someone who has been a good Sister to you.” With eyes closed, all you could do was focus on that hand touching your shoulder as the words hung in the air. These words represented the things that I have done as a Sister and the taps on my shoulder represented the people I have affected.

“touch someone who makes you smile”

“…someone who has more potential than they think”

“…someone who makes you laugh”

“…someone who you have cried with”

“…someone who knows all your secrets”

“…someone who you want to get to know better”

“…someone you love”

We all took turns sitting and standing. When Alli read aloud the directions, the most rewarding part was getting the opportunity to run around the circle and touch those Sisters. I couldn’t make it around the circle in time to tap the shoulders of all of the Sisters who have affected my life in that night. Even if we had gone on all night, I would not have had enough time to explain to each Sister why and how I have been touched by that individual. I realized in that moment, that these men and women have changed my life in the experiences that we have shared with each other. This event was a great way for us to each, anonymously, be acknowledged by the Sisters that we have affected, reminding each of us how important our role is to Epsilon Kappa, and how deeply we have strengthened these bonds on a personal level. We also had the opportunity to realize how each Sister has affected us individually. I am so thankful that my Sisters have reached-out and touched my life. 

- Ashley McFadden, Alpha Mu

Western District Vice President of Membership, 2011-2012

Epsilon Kappa Secretary, 2010-2011

District Leadership Conference 2011

District Leadership Conferences is my favorite District event. Maybe because it marks the beginning of the “District season.” Maybe because it was the first District event I ever attended. Maybe because the focus of the whole event is learning how to make better leaders. Whichever the reason, there is no doubt in my mind that DLC ’11 changed my life.

It was a wonderful weekend, full of learning how to better lead as a Sister and creating friendships with Brothers and Sisters alike. Epsilon Kappa came out of DLC stronger than we had been when we entered. We found support in our District Officers and Counselor, in our Sisters and Brothers across the District, and in each other. From staying up until five in the morning, to crying during "The Affirmation," to helping everyone get home safely in spite of car troubles, Epsilon Kappa got stronger this weekend.

The workshops offered at this particular DLC were excellent. There was a workshop on balancing life within the sorority or fraternity with the rest of our lives, a crucial skill I’m still working on. Helen Cordova and Jess Schlosser (both from PsiEK!) ran this workshop and it was done so well! They gave us scenarios to discuss in groups and come up with solutions for them. There was also a communications workshop that focused on how to communicate most appropriately with different people based on the situation ran by Chelsea Cohen and Dan Schweichler. Both WD Presidents hosted a workshop about the Six E’s of Servant Leadership; Envision, Enlist, Embody, Empower, Evaluate and Encourage. All of these workshops were run in such a way that each person was able to take exactly what they needed from them and give it directly back to their Chapter. The Governor and Counselor’s workshop was about Leaving a Legacy, something we all hope to achieve, a way to help the Chapter even after we leave it behind.

It is amazing how much growth can happen in one weekend. I saw firsthand how much and individual can grow, and when many individuals grow the growth they can inspire in a larger group; I am so proud to be a Sister from Epsilon Kappa.

- Rachel Goldman, Alpha Mu

President, 2010-2011

State Days!

Psi and Epsilon Kappa hosted the 2010 California State Days this year from February 11^th to 13^th.  Sisters and Brothers from all across California came down for the grand event…and even a few exotic types from beyond the state lines!  My personal role in all this madness was Team Leader of Team Burgundy!  Now, before you judge me, let us be clear that I was originally set to lead the Gold Team to victory, but a change in bandana coloring steered my fate another way.  Still, my posse made the best of things and we quickly changed our name to the topical “Yazz Flutes.”  After quickly settling on the Anchorman theme, we instantly bonded and were constantly motivated to do Ron Burgundy proud. 

Before the team activities began that Saturday, however, we all gathered together Friday night in the LATC Clubhouse for some board games and initial meeting and greeting.  There were multiple tables of intense Combat UNO, a circle of people playing Ninja, and I was among the crowd attempting to cure the world from Pandemic!  Everyone then got sorted into their proper houses (aka a Psi Brother or EK Sister’s apartment) for a good night’s rest before the team competition the next day.

Saturday morning started with a glorious breakfast feast of cereal and fruit on Kerckhoff patio.  We then gathered inside the Ballroom for a splendid introduction and welcome from Ashley McFadden of Epsilon Kappa and Derek Lee of Psi, the heads of State Days planning.  We were all counted off and divided into team colors and kicked off the team bonding with team poster decorating and team name brainstorming.  The real competition began with each team leader being handed a “balloon baby” of their respective team color.  This “baby” was to be cared for during the remainder of the day and continued to provide added amusement and challenge to each task that came before us.

Once the teams became relatively familiar with themselves, we all headed outside for some outdoor activities (and Yazz Flute victories) before breaking for lunch.  A good portion of the gang also received tickets to the Men’s Basketball game vs. Oregon State (a Bruin victory!) during the lunch break, while the rest of us gathered for a viewing party in the apartments.  We later rejoined in the Kerckhoff Ballroom for more competition, including a trivia contest and a multi-leveled version of musical chairs.  The team competition ended with each team going up to perform their team chant, explain their poster, and present their balloon baby.  An awards ceremony followed, and sadly (and shockingly!), by the end of the day, the Yazz Flutes finished third, defeated only by The Midnight Pi Ninjas [pictured] and The Blue Starfish Navy. 

 

The night finished off with an optional “Carpe Noctem” activity, similar to a scavenger hunt across the UCLA campus.  On Sunday, groups of people took the bus down to Santa Monica for some classic Southern California beach time and shopping.  With State Days at a close, our visitors returned back to their respective homes with memories to last a lifetime! 


- Krystina Johnson, Alpha Mu
Vice President, 2010-2011

First Degree!

Epsilon Kappa had First Degree on Monday, January 17, 2011.  First Degree is always very exciting, because it’s fun seeing the new candidates take their first step in the candidate process.  It’s especially fun when you have a little sister.  This year, though, was a special Degree for Epsilon Kappa.  I have been in EK since I was a freshman, and I am now a senior.  All three candidate classes that I have seen before this year’s, from my candidate class Alpha Mu through the class Alpha Xi, have been about 8 or 9 people.  This year, however, we have an astounding 18 candidates!  We have more candidates than sisters, so several sisters even have multiple little sisters!  Seeing at Degree how there is such a great future for our chapter with all of these wonderful candidates was awesome and made that night really special.

            

After First Degree, all of the sisters and alumni who attended Degree went to a restaurant called Italian Express in Westwood with their littles.  This was great too, because we had the restaurant reserved for us since we were such an enormous party.  This helped us get to know each other better and really showed how bonded we all are.

I am so excited for our new candidate class Alpha Omicron and I can’t wait to see their progress through the upcoming candidate process.

- Helen Durand, Alpha Mu

Parliamentarian, 2010-2011

Welcome!

Hello, Sisters! Welcome to the new and improved Lyre! This new blog format was chosen for both its convenience and its immediacy. Now, you won't have to wait for the end of each quarter to read about the happenings of Epsilon Kappa; I will update the blog with articles as they're submitted!

I'm very excited to test out this new medium, so please subscribe, comment, and let me know what you think!

MLITB,

Marlee Newman
Secretary of History and Alumni, 2010-2011