This weekend was the New Member Retreat for PC ’12. Lauren Paine and I have been planning our new member program for quite a while and this retreat was a huge part of it. Between Bid Day and the Retreat within the span of one week—we have been BUSY around here. This weekend wasn't possible without our incredible new member team and additional officers that came along. We left the Tri Delta house on Friday afternoon and headed towards Lake Travis. We ate Jason’s Deli for dinner on the way there and played plenty of bus games. Speed Dating, “Delta” Hot Seat, Original Tunes, and so many more. It was an awfully long ride there—due to a few delays, but everything fell into place once we arrived. We began by dividing the girls into their Pearl Pal groups and settling into our cabins. The Pearl Pal Group’s consist of approximately 8-10 girls from their pledge class led by two older Tri Delts. It is a neat opportunity for them to get to know additional people in our chapter and bond with each other. Once we introduced ourselves, we grabbed our color coordinating bandanas and headed to the field for some activities. These girls were rather competitive—which made the games super fun! They each came up with a team name and cheer—and performed for everybody. I can’t lie… I was rather impressed by the final outcomes. However, Team OJ forever has my heart. We also had a dance competition to some classic songs in the conference room. These girls got some pretty sweet dance moves! The night continued on with advice from our senior officers and a unique opportunity for each girl to share something of importance. Even though this isn’t my first year in Tri Delta, I learned a ton of valuable lessons from listening to the seniors as well. Everyone brought their thing of importance—some goofy and some serious. Regardless, we shared laughs, tears, and countless stories with the group. The night came to a close in the wee hours of the morning and we headed back to our assigned cabins. When the morning rolled around, we all woke up and ate breakfast together near Lake Travis. Becca and Callie led us in a morning devotional about the four essential pillars for life and balancing them. We broke into small groups and discussed several other questions, goals, fears, and more stories. The rest of the morning, the girls had free time around camp. They could hike, swim, swing, or just hang out with their new sisters. We headed back to College Station around noon and I don’t think our retreat could have ran more smoothly. PC ’12 is incredible. They are funny, outspoken, and absolutely precious. They don’t care about what people think about them and each of them had a great attitude all weekend. I PRAY that they had fun- because I know all of the officers enjoyed getting to know them!!! I couldn’t be more excited for the remainder of our New Member Program. Lauren and I have countless more things in store for these girls. Our hope is that they begin forming lifelong friendships with each other and feel beyond welcome to Tri Delta. I know the next eight weeks will fly by, but I pray these girls cherish each and every moment.
“She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.” –Proverbs 31:25
