Sisterhood Week Event!

One of my favorite events from last year’s Sisterhood Week was Karaoke Night so naturally I was Drunk in Love when I heard that it would be happening again this year. It was so much fun to see sisters Let it Go and having fun in a setting that helps to display their Beautiful Soul and lovely voices. All of their inhibitions went out the window and they were no longer trapped like a Genie in a Bottle. That’s What Makes You Beautiful when sisters can share such a special experience such as karaoke and My oh My What a Wonderful Day it was. My heart went Bidi Bidi Bom Bom with excitement and joy to see all of the sisters enjoying themselves and really giving it their all. We came in like a Wrecking Ball that night at Max Karaoke, who definitely know how to Cater 2 U, and I hope they were Counting Stars because we were one talented group and we were no Dark Horse and nor were we Unfaithful to the magic and trueness that is Karaoke. I love my sisters and I love Karaoke. Who could ask for a better night.

Western District Convention!

Surfin’ on Sound Waves

This year, in sunny, beautiful L.A., the Epsilon Kappa Chapter of Tau Beta Sigma and the Psi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi hosted the 2014 Western District Convention. Amidst sisters and brothers, and accompanied by some perfect weather, the TBS and KKY chapters of the western district came together to discuss, vote, and grow in the magical bond that exists between our organizations. As my first district event, I couldn’t be more grateful or excited that WDC was held in L.A. and that I could participate in the election of our new district council. This was a weekend of many firsts for me--caucusing, seminars, and bonding on a district level; something I had never had the opportunity to do before. I learned so much in this short time that I know will help me become a better friend, sister, and leader.

We kicked off the start of WDC with an opening ceremony that I had never expected (in a good way), and it proceeded to turn into something I had never experienced before. There were surprises around every corner, I attended seminars taught by national TBS board members that gave me insight into my own chapter and what I could do to improve it and myself. In addition, I was able to see two wonderful sisters become honorary members of Tau Beta Sigma and be a part of their 2nd and 3rd degrees. Furthermore, there was a spectacular and powerful presentation from the “Women in Music Series” that just screamed women empowerment and made me proud to be a sister of TBS.

As the weekend came to a close, our last night was spent with our brothers and sisters coming together for a banquet, talent show (The school spirit was uncontainable!), and dance party. We danced (most of) the night away. Finally, and to all our dismay, after a prolonged night spent caucusing and discussing, we elected our new district council, voted on jurisdictional amendments, and had a bittersweet closing ceremony.

Overall, it was wonderful to interact with brothers and sisters from all over the district and to see how they do things differently from our chapter and, yet, remain just as dedicated and passionate about the ideals of Tau Beta Sigma and Kappa Kappa Psi.

Unfortunately, WDC ended, but it was an amazing weekend spent “Surfin’ on Sound Waves”.  

Written by:

Sydney Dychiao

April 28, 2014

Reading to Kids meets Marching and Music!

Every second Saturday of the month for two hours of the morning, parents, siblings, students, and children alike gather at seven elementary schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District to learn about cats in hats, hungry caterpillars, and mice ballerinas. For the third year in a row, the sisters and prospective candidates of Epsilon Kappa joined them for a special performance in honor of March as National Reading Month! In dedication to serving youth and exposing young audiences to the fun and joy of marching band, we traveled to Magnolia Elementary School and performed a few choice stand tunes!

The event was coordinated by EK’s Director of Service & Music, Sydney Dychiao of the Alpha Rho class. In preparation for this event, Sydney and 16 sisters combined to form a repertoire of four classic Solid Gold Sound tunes: “Sons of Westwood,” “How Far We’ve Come,” “Ow! Word Up,” and last but not least, “We Are the Mighty Bruins.” This was one of our first music events as a sorority to include one of every instrument, a feat we were incredibly proud of as a brass-limited group! Some creative switches, including our Parliamentarian Chris Torres switching from tuba to snare and Director of Sisterhood Activities Jessica Leatherman trading in her flag for some cymbals, enabled us to have the most complete instrumentation possible!

There were definitely a few special moments throughout the gig. After our first song, we had the kids learn the UCLA 8-clap with us. One girl shouted, “I learned this! I know this!” and was spot on! We also took a few minutes to introduce ourselves and all of our instruments’ unique names and sounds. (The crowd favorite was definitely the trombone, played by one of our candidates Brian Sydow!) But the best moment of the day was at the finish, when kids flooded us for pictures and one girl even handed us a note - “I like your music.”

It all brings home for me what it meant for me to join TBS more than three years ago as a freshman. And it underscores why it is so important to have music in children’s lives. I would not have made the friends and the values that I have today without having been part of music programs ever since the fourth grade. In addition to giving children an outlet of expression and a skill they will have their entire lives, reading and music are more intimately tied than we think! It is my humble opinion that music is our core language - it is read on a page, it is made up of symbols that are each attributed to a special character of sound, it follows rhythm, tempo, and patterns just as books do, and it helps us learn to listen, not only to ourselves but to each other.

(To learn more and sign up for a program near you, please visit the Reading to Kids website at <http://readingtokids.org/Home/main.php>!!!)

And with that, I leave you with two quotes about reading and music and how they make our lives better!

“You’re never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read with a child.”  

- Dr. Seuss

“Shh. Listen to the sounds that surround you. Notice the pitches, the volume, the timbre, the many lines of counterpoint. As light taught Monet to paint, the earth may be teaching you music.”

- Pete Seeger

Alyssa Lee

Alpha Omicron

March 10th, 2014

PsiEk's Flags!

Living in Los Angles, many PsiEK members have Disneyland passes and visit the park often, but there is also a growing number of brothers and sisters who have an interest in more extreme roller coasters. One weekend in January, nine brothers and sister ventured to Six Flags Magic Mountain for a day of fun and bonding. In what was a very successful day at a park that normally has two hour wait lines for a single line, we were able to ride many rides. While some brosters in attendance love roller coasters, others expanded their horizons by trying new rides. It was wonderful to experience so many different rides with brothers and sisters. The speed of Full Throttle, the belly-dropping height of Goliath, standing on Riddler’s Revenge, embracing our inner superhero on Superman, and experiencing so many things all at once on X2; every ride built upon the energy level of our group. It was a fun-filled day for the brothers and sister who went and we look forward to having the upcoming B/S events in these coming quarters.

Micah Shaw

Alpha Omicron

1/19/2014