Tag: APO

Brothers Unite!

Brothers Unite!

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This was one of the most sleep deprived, jam packed, exciting weekends of my entire life. After working an all night shift (11:00 PM – 7:30 AM) at the hospital, I headed straight to Loyola’s Water Tower Campus in order to attend Alpha Phi Omega Sections 47-50-51 Conference 2012.

And what is that, you ask?

Well, I’ll tell you. But first, some explanation…

I’m lucky enough to be a member of Alpha Phi Omega (APO), a national, co-ed service fraternity. This weekend, Loyola’s chapter of the fraternity, Pi Eta, along with Northwestern’s chapter, Sigma, was lucky enough to host our annual Trisectional Conference.

Just showing off my APO cardi with my bro, Allie

Trisectionals is an annual conference in which the three APO sections of Illinois (Sections 47, 50 and 51) come together to discuss legislation and participate in workshops to enhance our leadership skills.

Yesterday was filled with meetings, work shops, scavenger hunts, LEADS courses and even a visit from our national president.

I’ve been so caught up in nursing school. So, even though I was a zombie from lack of sleep, it was awesome to get to see all my amazing brothers again before finals week turns me into a hermit!

Play Ball!!!

Play Ball!!!

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While I would love to talk about how Jered Weaver is going to win the Cy Young this year, I did my own ball playing this past weekend. I participated in a charity style wiffle ball tournament. There was a two dollar buy in per player and the winning team donated the proceeds to a charity of their choice.

I would have never in a million years guessed how intense wiffle ball could be. Our team made it past the first two rounds without much difficulty, but when reaching the finals we were playing a team with matching shirts who practiced every day.

Our team was assembled earlier that day, but we were still all very serious. At the top of the seventh inning (five inning game), the play of the game was made. A sacrifice bunt was hit down the third base line. Our pitcher proceeded to chase the ball down, slide into the catch and roll to a throw, which did beat the man to first to get the out. Unfortunately that roll lead to him breaking his patella and dislocating his knee.

We did eventually loose in the eighth inning by one run and now only have a story and a hospital bill to show for our efforts. But $150 was raised and hopefully the Loyola Phoneathon has done something great with the money.

Scavenger Hunt

Scavenger Hunt

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I’m the Co-Chair of Fellowship for Alpha Phi Omega. I felt that it was time the pledges paired up with the activities in a scavenger hunt  to build Brotherhood and show the rest of the fraternity how much they know about Loyola.

Here was the list of objectives:

All of the questions could be answered on the campus without the use of electronic devices. My favorite being that in 1963 Loyola men’s basketball beat Tennessee Tech. 111 – 42, for the national basketball championship. This score still holds a record for the largest margin of victory in an NCAA tournament game.

Here are some of the pictures that were sent in for the competition.

Norville: the newest building on campus!

Random Stranger in the CFSU

Finally I Have Brothers!

Finally I Have Brothers!

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Growing up I always wanted a brother.  When I came to Loyola I simply wanted to avoid Greek life. There was something about that just didn’t seem right for me  me.

Now, I realize that joining Alpha Phi Omega (APO) is quickly becoming one of the best decisions of my life.

Let me start by saying that APO is not the normal fraternity, not only do we not associate ourselves with any type of party scene but we are based around the idea of service. It is this idea that bonds the brothers and makes being part of APO so amazing. It was a fraternity based on Boy Scouts.

Last night I was finally initiated into this fraternity after a semester of pledging; never in my life have I felt so comfortable in a room of so many different people. I knew that every person in the room was there for me as I was there for them. From the wiffle ball tournament last weekend to volunteering at Snoozeum, the experience has been nothing less than amazing. I mean, seriously, what is cooler than playing in the Museum of Science and Industry after hours with all of your closest friends?

Also I should mention that APO is co-ed. Yes, I know, its not a real fraternity than right? Well this fraternity is based around the idea of brotherhood, regardless of the make-up it’s members. Personally, I would consider my new brothers closer to me than most of my family. After pledging for the last three months I have nothing but amazing memories, great stories and unbelievable friends to talk about.

So yes, I may have come to Loyola thinking that fraternities are horrible but the fact is that Loyola is so diverse that you never really know what you are going to find. And if you don’t find anything,  you are clearly not looking.