Musings about July 1st.

Do you know the significance of this date? 

No, it isn't my birthday. 

No, it isn't my anyone in my family's birthday.

It is my anniversary.

Twenty, count them, twenty years of having the awesome privilege of working with and impacting the lives of fraternity and sorority students at Washington State University.

What has changed about me in that time?  Oh, just a few small things.

In 1993, I was in my cough cough  - er, I was younger. I was single and dating John long distance when I moved to P-town.  I was thinner and  my hair was curly, longer, lighter (I'm sure just from the sun). I had thousands of freckles and zero wrinkles from the sun.  I had college loans to pay off.  I had a sweet ride. I was actually clueless about the journey I was about to embark upon. I was young, green, and in some ways naive.  I was passionate about my work and persistent in my belief that this thing called fraternity is among the most life changing experiences a college student can encounter.

So what is new or different?  Some things are obvious, right?  I'm cough cough, older, married for 18 years, Mom to three super-duper kids, drive a mini-van, have a cool dog, and a picket fence (not white mind you). I now wish I was thinner, that my freckles wouldn't have blended, my wrinkles were less obvious and that my hair was naturally my original color.  I wish had more money to pay for my kid's college and had only sweet rides (i.e. death to the mini-van).

But thankfully today, the clueness has worn off and been replaced with a realistic perspective about the work I'm doing and how it impacts others.  I am still "young", but I am now a seasoned professional.  One thing hasn't changed, I'm still just as passionate and persistently believe that this thing called fraternity is among the most life changing experiences a college student can encounter.

I've been blessed with opportunities to mentor, educate, chastise, and befriend, twenty years of fraternity and sorority leaders.  I am frequently blessed to hear from these men and women and learn about their lives and be appreciated like this:

"I just wanted to thank all of you for giving me opportunities to succeed and the tools to better myself as a leader, motivator, team-member, and individual. I attribute all my post grad success to the things I learned from the CFSL [my office] and my fellow council members. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t appreciate what you’ve done for me, the sacrifices you’ve made, and the faith you put in my efforts. Thank you for showing me what integrity as a professional woman means, and what a healthy communicative relationship with co-workers truly looks like (you’d be surprised at what a foreign concept that is to many.)"

Thanks to Washington State University and the Fraternity/Sorority Community for a great 20 year run and my life in Pullman, WA!