Getting Involved With Your Sorority Without Being a Leader

Holding a leadership position in a sorority is a great resume booster--but not everyone who is involved in sorority life has a nice title to back it up. Sometimes you are just you and that is okay. You can still be involved in your sorority without being a "leader" holding a chair position or being on exec board is nice, but you can be a leader in many different ways. Here are some ways that you can get involved without holding a leadership position.

1. Participate in a dance

2. Play intramurals

3. Cheer at intramural games

4. Help paint a banner

5. Be a door greeter for alumni at an event

6. Be attentive during chapter meetings

7. Ask questions during chapter meetings to clarify things your sisters are confused or concerned about

8. Get to know a new or old member

9. Help raise money for your sorority by participating in fundraisers and philanthropy events

10. Be a good face for your chapter by going to your classes and being a great person

11. Raise a motion in meeting

12. Comfort a sister in need

Image from Lilly & Letters

13. Get a little sister

14. Hang out with your big/little sister

15. Be an example for younger and older members alike

16. Attend a tailgate

17. Go to events your sisters are a part of

18. Get involved with activities outside of your chapter

19. Show your sorority pride to anyone who will listen

20. Wear your letters with dignity an respect

These may seem an awful lot like being a good member--the important thing to realize is that simple tasks are getting involved. By volunteering to help hold doors or paint that banner you are helping your sorority out in the long run. Attending the events that you can go to and cheering on your sisters along the way is important. If everyone realized that all the small things they do help the chapter out people would get more excited to do the small things.

Next time your chapter needs a volunteer or as a game and you can help or attend--do so. Obviously you have a life, you can't do every single thing--but you can help out to the best of your ability. Start realizing that the small things you do matter as much as the things that people with leadership positions do. What you do matters more than you think.

Apply to be a Little Problems Campus Representative!

Little Problems is seeking new campus representatives at this very moment. If you would like to join the ranks of these sorority women all across the country that are coming together to do amazing things come on and join us.

Campus Representatives come from all of the US. We are at different stages of our sorority careers, and we love Little Problems! Little Problems is a non-profit organization that seeks to spread the word about the bond that bigs/littles have as well as to help our chosen philanthropy the Wounded Warrior Project. WWP holds a special place in our heart.

If you want to join the ranks of this amazing organization check out the application here.

Need a little more convincing? Little Problems Blog has spotlighted many of our amazing campus reps over time, and we have many more spotlights to come. Check out those spotlights here.

We hope that many of you all decide to apply to be a Little Problems Campus Rep! We would love to expand on to your campus!

Fun and Simple Fashion for Meetings

Chapter meetings are super fun to go to, but if you are like me deciding what to wear can be a huge pain! Depending on the day I could go through quite a few possibilities before I decide what I want to wear that night. I decided to curate some simple and cute outfits that you could pull of with clothes you may already have.

1. Wear Your Mascot or Symbol:

Skull-Tastic by amandaadenine 

My sororities mascot is the skull and crossbone and our symbol is the sailboat. Obviously you can interchange this for something that relates to your sorority but it's always awesome to show pride for your sorority by showing off your mascot or symbol in your attire.

2. Wear a cute dress and boots:

Coral Cute by amandaadenine

You can obviously do this in any color combination that you like but I am in love with coral and brown together. I think they work perfectly together and dresses and boots are a match made in heaven. This simple outfit will definitely make meeting comfortable and cute!

3. Show School Pride:

Purple and Grey by amandaadenine 

You may look at this and wonder how it truly differs from my symbols and mascots post and at my school it really doesn't. My sorority colors are purple and white and my school colors are purple and grey so there is a lot of overlap between the two outfits--but hopefully if you wore a similar outfit at your school your sorority colors and school colors may change significantly from one another!

I hope you enjoyed these outfit inspirations for chapter meeting outfits. What is your go-to outfit for dressing up for chapter meeting?

Fright Night - Socials for the Holiday

With recruitment winding down (for most of us anyway), it is time to get our new members introduced to the Greek Community. What better way than through mixers, socials and functions. Every campus does it differently but no one can ever have too many ideas of ways to interact with those fraternity men. I have some Halloween themed ideas that can be transformed for any social, mixer, themed dance you name it.

Fright Night

This is the "cooler" way to name a Halloween themed event, that is simple and everyone can have their own creativity. At a Fright Night event the attendees wear any Halloween costume that they desire, but paired costumes are always preferred. 

Thriller

Everyone knows Michael Jackson's "Thriller". Come to your event dressed like those in the video. Here are some examples: 

Ghouls & Goblins

Take this social back to the day when you were a kid, growing up with Hocus Pocus, Halloween Town, Gremlins, and all the other classics that make you think of Halloween. Dress for this themed social as one of those things that make you scream when you hear something go bump in the night. Or even something simple and classic, like a witch, a ghost made from a sheet, a jack-o-lantern. Use your creativity on this one and bring your DIY skills! 

Other Ideas

We all know that probably our favorite types of socials are our themed dances, but the holidays can go much farther. Do a mixer (what my school calls a social without a third-party vendor for alcohol) where everyone can crave or paint a pumpkin, your chapter supplies the tools and the paint, while everyone is BYOP, bring your own pumpkin! 

Have everyone bob for their own apple then decorate it with carmel, chocolate, crushed candy, sprinkles you name it. It is a blast watching everyone try to grab their apple but then that satisfaction when you get to eat that decadent treat. 

When you are planning a themed social, especially for the holidays make sure to keep it simple and classy. Think about the little things that will make your event a success, turn your punch orange, bring a spooky trail mix, hang cobwebs from the ceiling. You make think that the small touches go unnoticed, but they are what truly makes your event fit for the holidays!

Hope these ideas help you make the most out of your holiday themed socials! 

Switching to Fall Formal Recruitment

This year my school decided to change our recruitment up a little bit. In previous years we had spring formal recruitment or deferred recruitment. This meant that students with less than 12 hours could not go through any form of recruitment formal or informal until their second semester of college. This gave students a chance to get themselves situated on campus for an entire semester and make friends outside and inside of Greek life before they decided to join.

Don't you love fall? Photo found here.

The decision to switch to a different time of recruitment was based on a lot of factors. Numbers played a role because ultimately people were very excited to join in the fall and so it's important to catch those people before they decided not to join. By switching to fall formal recruitment we gained about 100+ potential new members at the start of formal recruitment from the numbers we had the previous spring. This made all the classes of new members much larger than they would have been if we had done spring formal recruitment.

It wasn't an easy switch though. There were many questions that came along with it such as grade point averages, the size of the classes, and the switch in general. It wasn't easy financially because of the fact that we had to prepare for back to back formal recruitments. It wasn't easy mentally because that is a lot to go through for a class that has just been initiated a few months back, or for the classes that had to go through two formal recruitments on the sorority side in a row.

Ultimately it was well worth it in the end. Was it difficult/nerve-wracking/hard to deal with? Yes. Was it amazing/lovely/earth-shakingly great? Yes. As organizations we have to be willing to move and shake with the times. It was definitely a hard thing to deal with, but in the end I wouldn't trade the experience for anything in the world.

Photo credit to my lovely sister, Christina H.

Finally, my advice to you if your school is planning to switch to formal recruitment in the fall: go for it. It can seem daunting or nerve-wracking but it is honestly such a great experience. The transition is going to be an icky time period but the ends will justify the means in this situation!

Sorority Newsletter Ideas

As Correspondence chair of my sorority I am responsible for writing monthly newsletters to the chapter. As I have gone through my time as Correspondence chair I have picked up a number of ideas on newsletter making.

Pick a newsletter development platform:

Two of my favorites are Mailchimp and Microsoft Publisher. Use Mailchimp if you want kind of an e-newsletter format that anyone can subscribe to. It has a pretty simple to learn and use format and up to 2,000 people can join your list which is perfect for any chapter. Use Microsoft Publisher if you are making newsletters with multiple pages of information. I use Microsoft Publisher to make all my newsletters.

What to put in your newsletter:

Newsletters are the perfect way to keep your chapter up to date with what is going on with the chapter. Here are a couple of ideas on what to include in your sorority newsletter:

1. Sister Spotlights: If you have a particularly big sisterhood, or even a smaller one sisterhood spotlights are great! You can just include facts about their hometown, major/minor, why they chose to Go Greek, their favorite memory of Greek life, and an interesting fact about them.

2. Stories about sorority happenings: I got my sisters to write small articles about our sisterhood and submit creative works to the newsletter that they wrote about the sorority.

3. Question of the month: To get more input from sisters I asked a question each month and asked my sisters to send in responses. I tried to make them themed to the month we were in and ended up being a super cool thing.

4. Pictures: I usually make a two page spread with just pictures on it. I use all kinds of pictures from all the months happenings. If their is a sisterhood, a picture is up. Recruitment? Tons of pictures. Just show your sorority doing awesome things.

Distributing the newsletter:

I wanted to make the newsletter viewable to more than just my sisterhood. From alumnae to potential new members--newsletters are the perfect way to show what your sisterhood is made of. I use a site called Scribd to share my newsletters. It allows me to share them publicly to everyone--anyone can download them and print them off if they please, but I don't distribute copies of them in meetings.

If you would like to see some of my newsletters click here, they are all on Scribd and anyone can view them.

Living in a Sorority House

Believe me when I say, the last place I ever wanted to live was in a house with 65 other girls. I never saw myself living in any type of all girls establishment, but after living in one for about a month now, I cannot begin to explain to joy I get from living here.

Unity

Living in the sorority house, has made me realize how many girls I may not have made friendships with if I had chosen to get an apartment. For the most part, we all get along extremely well and enjoy each other's company. There are always girls in the dining room studying, rummaging the kitchen pantry for food before our house mom locks the kitchen for the night, or a group having a Keeping Up With the Kardashians marathon in the TV room. So many of us have become better friends from just being able to walk into another girls room and talk about random things. 

Food 

You know I have to bring this up. THE FOOD IS SO GOOD. It's like having a homemade meal right in front of you without actually having to cook it. What is better than that? Not to mention, everyone in the chapter comes for lunch and dinner. Fried Fridays?? You don't have to tell me twice. 

Convenience 

I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the fact that I have 60 other closets to raid when I need something to wear. What sorority girl do you know that is completely satisfied with her clothes in her closet?? Exactly. 

Another fabulously convenient thing about living in the house is rush workshop. I will admit, I would rather sleep until the very last minute and look not so great. (I mean my sisters have to love me regardless, right?!) Anyways, I loved being able to legitimately roll out of bed, throw some yogas and a T-shirt and go down stares three minutes before roll call. 

Obviously, every school is different. Some don't have sorority houses to live in, but if your school does, make sure and live in the house! 

Perfect Game Day Outfits for Sorority Women

I love everything about fall. The colors, the clothes, the breeze, and football season. I've been listening to Boys of Fall by Kenny Chesney for about a month now just to prepare myself for it.


There is nothing better than a football game on a beautiful fall day.  It's not only a great opportunity to support your school and cheer on your team, but it's also a chance to throw on a cute outfit and represent your school or sorority!  (Luckily, I can do both of these because Kappa Kappa Gamma and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have similar colors.)  There are three looks that I absolutely love for games.

For a super casual look, wear a school t-shirt and some shorts.  Add cute accessories and sandals, and you have a quick and easy look that shows how much you love your school!  If you have a letter shirt in your school colors, this is also a great option!

If you aren't a t-shirt girl but you still don't quite want to wear a dress, I would suggest finding a cute outfit that includes your school's colors.  It's kind of like a stepping stone between t-shirt and sun dress.

One of the more popular outfit choices for sorority women at my school is a dress and cowboy boots.  I love this look, but I usually only wear a dress once or twice during the season.  You could wear a variety of dresses!

There are so many options for game day!  Be sure to wear something that's cute, but also practical and comfortable.  Game days can be pretty warm and you stand for quite some time, so you don't want to wear something that's going to make you miserable.

What are your favorite game day outfits?

Time Management 101: Dealing with Schedule Constraints

Being in a sorority is hard work. Amid sorority meetings, intramurals, socials, and library hours there is a ton of other things. You have the obvious--school, the not so obvious like a job or other extra-curriculars, and you have that pesky thing called sleep that you have to pencil in from time to time. It can be difficult, painstaking, and generally not a lot of fun. You have to learn time-management skills and I am here to give you a crash course in Time Management 101.

1. Use a planner: A sorority girls number one accessory besides her favorite pearl bracelet should be her planner. Planners are absolutely essential in college. Buy a Lilly Pulitzer one, or one out of the dollar bin--it doesn't matter. As long as there is a nice place, with a calendar, that can help you see into the future it's perfect. Once you buy the planner, be sure to use the planner. That may be a dumb thing to emphasize, but planners are nothing if you don't use them.

2. Start the year off organized: One of the biggest things is to start the year off in an organized fashion. Courses are usually back-loaded (meaning most assignments are due at the end), if you are organized from the beginning it becomes a habit and habits help you stay focused throughout the year.

3. Remember to prioritize: Pick a night (usually Sunday night) to sit down and take a serious look at the week ahead. See what's coming up in school, work, and with your student organizations and plan around that. Also take some time to look at the next week and really see what is happening long term as well as short term. That way if you have a test you need to start preparing for now you know this and can start doing what you need to do to get great grades.

4. Remember you are a student first: The scholarships you receive aren't going to evaluate your involvement and dedication to Greek life in order to be renewed. Remember that good grades are important to school life as well as Greek life. You need a certain GPA to stay in school and in your sorority.

5. Exercise your right to say no: Even during the new member process you have a right to say no to things. Taking on responsibilities is wonderful but be aware of how much responsibility you are taking on. Someone may be able to do the job better because they don't have as many responsibilities so make sure you take only what you can handle.

I hope this time management lesson was helpful for all the people who are just joining college and Greek life. For all the older sorority member what is your favorite time management tip?

Quote of the Week: September 5, 2013

"Because class isn't just something we attend"

This weeks quote is something that I feel is important for everyone, Greek, or non Greek alike to remember.  Particularly as ladies in the Greek system we always have to remember we not only represent ourselves but our entire chapter, every single day.  It's important to portray yourself in a positive light and to be the best person you can be.  Believe me, it sounds dumb and I'm sure everyone has heard it a million times, but if you wouldn't want your grandma to read the things you post on social media, don't post it.  When you are looking for a job after college you will be thankful you didn't.  Not only does this apply to pictures you post or things you say it applies to how you live your life. 

So you stay classy ladies! 

XOXO- Taylor S

Quote of the Week: August 29, 2013

"We may not have it all together, but together we have it all."

Going into my senior year and examining my life, I know the beginning of this quote well.  I don't have it all together, I don't know what type of job I will have when I graduate.  I don't know where I will be, what I will be doing, or who I will be with, and right now I am okay with that.  I know that I will get it all together, usually at the last minute. I also know that whatever happens, my sisters will have my back.  They are the connections that can help me get a job, or the friends I will have when my job causes me to move to a new city.  Whether these girls come from my chapter or afar, none of us have it all together, but together we will have it all.

XOXO- Taylor S

Quote of the Week: August 22, 2013

"Sisterhood is not a destination, but a journey." 

This quote is so perfect to describe being in a sorority.  Being in a sorority isn't just about going through recruitment or being initiated, or even getting a big.  Being in a sorority is all four years.  It's the highs and lows, the philanthropy events and Friday nights out.  There isn't one exact time everyone feels they have gone from having friends to having sisters.  But one thing is for sure, after college is over and your 4 years is up, those girls will no longer be your sorority, they will be your family.

XOXO- Taylor S

Welcome to the Little Problems Blog!

We are so excited to introduce the latest endeavor of Little Problems. This blog is dedicated to helping you! We want you to be the best you can be when it comes to big/little, formal recruitment, and everything Greek life. With the help of our amazing team of bloggers we are here to give you all the advice you need to know!

Being Greek is important to the members of Little Problems. We have all been there and done that and we want to offer you the blog we wished we had when we went through recruitment and first joined our sororities. We don't want to be pigeonholed though because we will offer tons of advice for even the most seasoned Sorority pro!

On a consistent Monday/Wednesday/Thursday/Friday timeline you will see posts from our amazing line up of bloggers; Campus Reps Amanda Cross, Amanda Ramirez, Christine Cassimus, Karlee Nuttelman, Morgan Miller, Samantha Bender, and Taylor Stewart will give you ideas on all aspects of Greek Life and give you some insights into the wonderful world of Little Problems!

On Tuesdays we'd love to hear from you! Contact Amanda C. at amandac.litprobs@gmail.com to pitch guest posts! We'd love to feature your work on this blog because it is all about collaboration!

We are so excited to take this journey into blog-land with you!

Love in Little Problems,
The Little Problems Blog Team