I was in awe meeting some of the founding
fathers and trailblazers of LSU. Man, do they really define smooth. Not in their moves (although
they had them when salsa was playing) or their clothing, but in their minds,
demeanor, and education. See, my grandparents, on my fathers’ side, as typical
Puerto Rican as they come, raised me. So, with no offense to the comparison of
age, these men reminded me of my grandfather. They reminded me of my dad, my
tios- every man that had a part in raising me. They really made me feel proud
of my heritage and culture all over again.
It was great bonding with them, listening to
their stories and hearing the pride in their voice. I loved seeing the
excitement in founding fathers eyes, for the future, watching them bare witness
to the fruits of their labor still expanding and observing the younger
generation of LSU staying true to brotherhood and betterment. Such gentlemen
and revolutionaries indeed.
The brother’s ambitions and character could
only be over shadowed by 1 thing: the sisters. If we all thought the brothers
embodied smooth, effortlessly- these mujieres were the epitome of sophistication,
with 2 prime examples that stood out against the rest.
The poise from our national president, Josie
and founding mommy in attendance, Sylvia, was unparalleled. Josie’s
representation of the organization could only be categorized as 1 thing:
sincere. With her knowledge of the business but more importantly to what degree
she held the sisterhood and our interactions as sisters to aid in our org’s development and not hindrance. NGC
board as a whole really delivered with leading by example, especially our chair
and co-chair for convention, Ashley and Caro.
Clearly, all their hard work- along with LSU NP’s and NVP, Joe and Lem
and the 2016 convention committee, paid off.
I was
lucky enough to room with a founding mother and NGC members from both spectrums
of the early and more recent pledge eras and there were no borders, just
sisterhood. We bonded, we laughed, we shared experiences and ideas for our
sorority.
I saw a founding mother arrive straight from
the airport, with no rest from traveling, Thursday night and greet members from
both organizations with the same enthusiasm as she greeted everyone who
approached her throughout the weekend. I saw founding mother be ‘nervous’ about
public speaking yet still managed to have upsilons mesmerized with every bit of
advice that she shared on our Upsilon History panel. I saw a founding father arrive
with a pen and paper to our keynote speaker’s presentation, eager to take notes
on how to improve our organizations.
We had 294 upsilons registered for the
entire weekend; with well over 330 upsilons there by the time Sunday came to
say, “See you later.” What a time to be present, with perspective, drive and
fire, to take advantage of this platform, to engage in conversations with
members from all years, to better both organizations on our journey of growth.
There’s beauty in everything and it’s our
duty to cherish that beauty and allow that to be the driving force of our
relations with our orgs and each other. Because the politics and what we don’t
understand can get really ugly and it’s our responsibility to ensure it doesn’t
tarnish our bonds or fire.
Seasons come and go and I’m hopeful that our
season to work together under this capacity comes again, soon. So we could
continue to be great in presence, in action, and in character, together…
Siempre Unidos and Pa lante, siempre palante.
Published in MSU's Amazonian
