I’ve written before about my journey through Alpha Phi Omega, and this weekend, the story got a little bit longer thanks to our Regional event.
These events are open to all members of Alpha Phi Omega, but the focus of the conference is really for current students. The two full days of sessions on communication, conflict resolution, retention, officer transition…anything that undergraduate students would be dealing with as a chapter of the organization. So now, as an alumni, it seems like it wouldn’t be the right place for me, but it’s these conferences that I look most forward to each year.
Not only am I reconnecting with old friends who I met through APO, but I have the chance to watch students learn and grow from situations that I also had to deal with as an undergraduate student in the organization. Plus, I had the awesome opportunity to present to students about effective uses of social media marketing for their chapter, which I promise is way more fun than I made it sound.
Even though the entire weekend was spent running back and forth from presentation to presentation, preparing for my own, and even being trained to present leadership development material in the future, it was an awesome time! I had the chance to catch up with current students from the UAlbany chapter, meet new students, and hang out with my alumni friends, of course (even though most of them live in Albany….but that’s a different story).
When I first pledged APO, I didn’t fully understand how big (physically and metaphorically) of a network I was entering, and how supportive they can be. Even through all the frustration of undergrad, I always had members of my chapter to support me, and now I have an even bigger alumni network. I’m pretty lucky, that’s for sure!
The conference also recharged me as 2016 has kicked off. I had the chance to talk with a ton of experienced alumni who could offer some great advice, considering how little experience I have working with student organizations. I set myself some new goals and came up with new ideas, and I can’t wait to get started on them 🙂