Issue #3, September Announcements In This Issue Study ...

 

Issue #3, September Announcements

 

A  huge  thanks  and   congratulations  to  Cheryl   Wertheim,  Eta’s  new   Advisory  Board   Supervisor!  We  are  so   excited  to  work  with  you   this  year,  Cheryl!   Alumna  Jean  Baird  lead  the   Presidential  search  effort,   and  helped  choose  IWU’s   new  President,  Eric  Jensen!  

In This Issue Study  Abroad  Stories  

Eta Chapter is so excited to have everyone back at Illinois Wesleyan University (IWU), and our members have had some pretty incredible experiences this year, from internships to studying abroad. This quarter’s newsletter highlights some of those stories,

Internship  Stories  

and we have an exclusive interview with an Eta alumna who recently turned 100 years old! Finally, as

Interview  with   Virginia  Shannon  Guy  

recruitment inspiration our Vice President of Membership, Amanda Perlinski, collected some letters about Sigma Kappa from alumnae, and we

Alumnae  Quotes  

have included some of the highlights. Spoiler Alert! Next issue will feature some of our amazing new members from recruitment, we love them!

Tara Isenberg ’17 and Christine Peterson ‘16 Tara  and  Christine  had   internships  with  State  Farm   over  the  summer.  Christine   worked  in  the  P&C  Actuarial   department,  and  completed   rate  revisions  and  line   analyses  in  the  Special  Lines   Unit.  Tara  worked  in  the  State   Farm  bank,  and  was  a  part  of   IWU’s  Community  Partnership   Program  (CPP).  Tara  says,   “During  my  CPP  experience  I   was  giving  the  opportunity  to   present  my  work  for  the   summer  to  leadership  of  State   Farm.  Before  the  presentation,   there  was  information  given      

out  about  what  I  was   involved  in  outside  of  my   internship,  one  of  the   things  listed  being  VPF  of   Sigma  Kappa.  At  the  end  of   the  presentation,  an  Eta   alumni,  Jean  Baird,  just   moved  back  from  Canada   came  up  and  told  me  she   was  SK  at  IWU!  Because  of   this  experience,  I  was  able   to  grow  professionally  and   also  expand  my  network  of   Sigma  Kappa.”  Tara  and   Christine  both  had  the   opportunity  to  have  lunch  and   catch  up  with  two  of  our  Eta    

alumnae,  Cheryl  Wertheim  and  Dawn   Murphy,  who  have  stayed  very   involved  with  the  Eta  chapter.  It  was   so  great  to  have  all  those  Sigma  Kappa   connections.  

Rachel Shaffer ‘17

Rachel  Shaffer's  summer  internship  was  through  the  Illinois  Wesleyan  Action  Research   Center  and  the  IWU  Peace  Garden.    The  goals  of  the  garden  are  to  serve  the  curricular  and   culinary  needs  of  the  University  and  the  Bloomington-­‐Normal  community.    Rachel  and  Kahri   Jung,  a  senior  Alpha  Gamma  Delta,  are  the  Summer  Managers  for  the  Peace  Garden.    Rachel  and   Kahri  have  followed  the  garden's  growth  over  the  course  of  the  summer,  planted  seeds,   harvested  food,  and  sold  the  garden's  produce  to  local  vendors  and  at  their  very  own  produce   stand  on  IWU's  Campus.  The  garden's  latest  endeavors  have  included  work  with  the  Illinois   Prairie  Community  Foundation  and  the  Ecology  Action  Center.  

Alumnae Quotes “Sigma  Kappa  has  had  a  profound  effect  on  my  life.  I  have  discovered  more  about  myself  in  the   past  four  years  than  I  ever  thought  imaginable  and  in  reality  it  is  due  to  this  sisterhood.  SK   pushed  me  out  of  my  comfort  zone  and  aided  me  in  transforming  into  the  woman  I  am  today.”  

  “Sigma  Kappa  was  my  home  away  from   home  and  the  place  I  could  turn  to  for  their   undying  love  and  support,  regardless  of   what  life  threw  at  me.  These  girls  were  with   me  every  step  of  the  way,  from  the  moment   we  ran  home  from  Hansen  our  freshmen   year  to  the  final  steps  we  took  across  State   Farm  plaza  at  Graduation.”     “Sigma  Kappa  lends  itself  to  creating  great  leaders.  It  forces  you  to  get  out  of  your  comfort  zone  and   take  a  stand  on  things  going  on  around  you.  It  teaches  you  how  to  make  friends  and  foster   relationships  that  you  might  not  have  seen  had  you  not  been  in  this  house.  “    

Alyssa Gibson ‘16

Alyssa interned with Country Financial in the Public Relations department. Her favorite part was the case study experience that interns could participate in. “Our team won third place out of eleven teams at the COUNTRY Financial Case Study competition this summer. We researched the best way to attract Gen Y customers and gave a presentation to executives at the end of the competition.” –Alyssa Gibson (second from the right)

Mehgan Keeley ‘16 In the Spring of 2015, I studied abroad in Galway, Ireland. I had never been to Europe before, so it was an exciting and terrifying experience. I have a lot of family members in Ireland I had never met before, so spending time with them in the small, country towns of Ireland and learning about our family's ancestry was definitely the most special part of the experience. I also got to visit a few other countries-and spent time with another Eta, Sky Mihalik, in Barcelona and London! It was fun sharing my stories of what Greek life is like with Irish students because the concept is (literally) foreign to them. The leadership roles I held in Sigma Kappa gave me the confidence to take on this adventure and take the risks to become more independent along the way.

This  summer  I  had   the  awesome   opportunity  to   intern  at  Starcom   Mediavest  Group  in   Chicago.  I  worked   on  the  Kraft  Foods   account,  specifically   on  a  digital   activation  team.  In   other  words,  our  team  buys  the  ad  placements  on  websites  for  the   brands'  best  target  audiences.  I've  had  a  chance  to  complete   associate-­‐level  work  and  participated  in  meetings  with  some  big   brand  names,  like  Facebook,  StumbleUpon,  Twitter,  NBC,  etc.  It's   been  a  really  fun  and  fast-­‐paced  environment,  and  I'm  so  excited  to   (hopefully)  get  started  in  a  media  career  after  finishing  school.  Fun   fact:  a  recent  Eta  alum  just  started  as  a  full-­‐time  employee  on  the   Kraft  team,  and  another  recent  alum  works  at  Spark,  another   Starcom  agency!     -­‐-­‐Mehgan  Keeley  

Rhiannon Damm ‘16 “I spent the semester abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark studying International Business. While I was there I stayed with a host family and their dog (my best friend) Snushka! While with my program I visited several businesses while abroad in Germany and the Czech Republic. I spent my semester researching consumption habits of the European Union and developing marketing ideas for the Scandinavian brand H&M . I managed to travel to 11 different countries while abroad and couldn't be more thankful for my study abroad experience!" –Rhainy Damm

A Chat with Virginia Shannon Guy              Allie  Spontak  and  I  had  a   wonderful  visit  with  Virginia,  an   Eta  alumna  who  turned  100   years  old  this  summer!  Virginia  is   a  Bloomington  native  and  English   major  at  IWU,  and  kept  busy   during  college  with  multiple   sports,  a  job  at  the  library,  and  a   position  in  SK  as  New  Member   Educator.  While  working  at  the   YWCA  in  Chicago,  she  met  her   husband  Tom.  The  two  lived  in   Bloomington  with  their  two   daughters  where  she  worked  for   23  years  at  Oakland  Co-­‐Op.     Today  she  is  just  as  active  as  she   was  in  college.  She  fills  her  days   with  gardening,  raising   butterflies,  and  reading.  During   our  visit  she  was  sweet  enough  to   answer  some  questions  about  her   Sigma  Kappa  experience.       What  was  recruitment  like  when   you  went  through?   They  contacted  me  from  a   sorority  after  I  enrolled  with  a   scholarship.  We’d  go  to  the  house   for  lunch  or  a  tea  party  and  you   wore  a  hat  and  gloves  and  of   course  you  wore  skirts  below   your  knees.   Why  did  you  choose  Sigma  Kappa?   Well,  partly  because  they   recruited  me  and  partly  because   they  had  a  very  good  reputation.    

 

Love for Leah Ann

Pellentesque:

Sigma  Kappa  had  29  members.   Whenever  we’d  be  in  a  sport   they’d  all  come  cheer  us  on  which   was  very  nice.   Do  you  have  a  favorite  Sigma   Kappa  memory?   I  guess  some  of  the  most  fun   things  were  when  we’d  have   costume  parties  and  have  a  date   and  have  a  theme,  old  fashioned   or  sports  or  whatever,  I’ve  got  a   picture  of  me  in  a  costume  with  a   fella  I’d  dated.  We  went  to  the   winter  formal,  I  wore  his  pin  for  a   while.  I  was  wearing  his  pin  when   I  was  pledged  to  SK,      

Be true to yourself and make your family proud. - Virginia S hannon Guy

but  his  pin  had  to  go  below   the  SK  pin.  We  were  just  all   busy,  nobody  had  any   money,  and  I  think  it  was   the  support  of  friends  in   everything  you  did.   What  advice  would  you  give   our  members?   I  think  just  being  true  to   yourself  and  true  to   whatever  your  doing,  and   not  doing  something  just   because  you’re  trying  to   impress  someone.  Just  be   fair,  be  fair  to  people,  and   do  a  little  gossiping  but  not   too  much.  Just  a  little   exchange  of  news  between   friends.  Be  true  to  yourself   and  make  your  family   proud.