Beta Nu (Houston) Fall 2013

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Fall Beta News

THE ALUMNI NEWSLETTER OF THE BETA NU CHAPTER OF PI KAPPA PHI

INSIDE THIS

Volume 19, Issue 10

The Beta News V O L U M E

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I S S U E

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F A L L

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ISSUE: Journey of Hope

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Two More Beta Nu Brother’s Complete the Journey of Hope

Scoring Your First Job

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Letter from the

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This past summer, Beta Nu brothers Michael Brooks and Matthew Docimo embarked on the 4,000-mile Journey of Hope bike ride from San Francisco, Calif. on June 9.Their goal: cycle all the way to Washington, D.C.

by Saturday, August 10, in support of PUSH America.

Archon Journey of Hope

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(cont.)

A Pi Kapp College

3

Experience

Letter from the

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Archon (cont.)

Scoring Your First Job

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(cont.)

A New Home for Beta

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Nu

From the Historian

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UPCOMING EVENTS;



Sat. Oct 19,

“People with disabilities face many challenges every day that you and I cannot imagine. But one of the most tragic barriers is a lack of understanding by our society,” said Docimo. “A simple message of empathy and acceptance is all it takes to break (Michael Brooks & Matthew Docimo) down this barrier, and I have committed myself to spreading than $650,000 for PUSH’s efforts to this message this summer.” help support people living with disaDocimo and Brooks were part bilities. Prior to JOH, Docimo and of a 26-member team cyclists Brooks combined to raise $15,000 for being supported a 10-mermber PUSH. crew, with a goal of raising more As a member of Pi Kappa Phi, Doci-

mo said the Journey of Hope ride is

not the first time he has raised funds on behalf of people with disabilities.

“I was able to participate in Give a PUSH weekend (GAP) in Tulsa, Okla. In the fall of 2011. Building a jungle gym for the children (cont. P. 2)

Homecoming Game BYU AT UH

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Scoring Your First Job After College

Sun. Nov 10, Active/Alumni Event Texans/Cowboys Watch Party at Local Pour from 2:00 p.m—on.

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Travis White, BN #185, UH Class of 2013, BP Lease & Title Analyst

I’m sure most of you reading this are thinking about the next big throw down on Thursday, the football game tailgate that is happening at the next home game, or the hot chick you met at the last theme party. Some of you might have just received a bid, and are starting your pledge process. (Congratulations by the way!

You made an excellent choice). While there is nothing wrong with that, I just wanted to chime in a little bit and be a reminder that you are in college to get an education and then begin your career. Some of you are graduating soon. Finding that job may or may not be starting to weigh down on you like a burden. (cont. p. 4)

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Fall Beta News

Volume 19, Issue 10

Letter From the Archon ter. My name is Arnoldo Lozano and I am the current Archon. I was initiated fall 2009 (Pi Class, 197).

Previously, I served as Brotherhood Chair, Chaplain and Warden.

Alumni of Beta Nu, Thank you for taking the time to read this and for your continued support in the success of our chapJOH (continued) Of a local church and seeing them play on it was one thing, seeing the families approach the team of us with tears in their eyes will never leave my memory,” said Docimo.

“Since that day I have been motivated to continue to make a difference in the lives of people with disabilities. Working with the Smarty Pants Academy, a day care center for children with disabilities in Houston, has also had a huge impact.”

Each day during the summer trek, after a full 30 to 100 mile bike ride, the JOH cyclists took part in a friendship visit where they interact with people with disabilities.

“The feeling we all get with words would do the experience an injustice. This has been the most humbling trip of my life,” said Brooks. “We went into JOH with the idea that we would change the lives of those we

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all should come check it out sometime!

The semester got off to a really great start as we started fundraising for PUSH America with a The Beta Nu Chapter is currently dodge ball tournament win receiving $250 for our philanthroat 61 members and 32 associate members. The chapter is officially py. We are preparing for a record breaking year in fundraising the largest fraternity on campus. with Push America. We will be This has been the biggest chapter that I have been part of and I have hosting our Push party again this semester to raise funds and no doubt that it will continue to awareness for our philanthropy. grow.

The date that this will occur is This semester we moved into our Nov 14th 2013. We hope you all new house in bayou oaks. Our new make an appearance to support house, Towhnouse 14 is the biggest us in these efforts. holding 21 members. The house As you all know the fall offers an has been a great recruitment tool, extensive amount of events that as it is a whole lot better than our we participate in. One of them, old house. The renovations and the homecoming will be Oct 19th, 4th floor were very appealing to all 2013.

This year our chapter the guys we recruited. The house is joined forces with the ladies of still not furnished like we would like Chi Omega.

We hope to see but we are working on it through many of you at that tailgate and donations and a couple fundraising game. (cont. p.

3) events that we have in mind. You

meet, but, in turn, they change ours.” thousands of people with disabiliDuring one particularly challenging day ties,,” said Brooks. “We worked in the early stages of JOH, Brooks, Docihard to spread a message of acmo, and their team rode 92 miles over ceptance and understanding.” three California mountain passes, climbing a total of 12,000 feet.

“After 13 hours on the bike and upon completion, I couldn’t help but let tears roll down knowing what our journey represents,” said Docimo. “The trip is one big metaphor. Those with disabilities cannot choose to just give up when faced with hardships. They can’t opt out of their disability. They can only do one thing, and that is to push on and endure.

We did just that by gaining empathy and understanding the whole way.”

Brooks pointed out that there are more than 54 million Americans are currently living with a disability.

“In addition to cycling all the way to Washington D.C., we reached out to

(Matthew Docimo & Michael Brooks arriving in Washington D.C.)

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Fall Beta News

Volume 19, Issue 10

CONTACT INFO: 

Archon - Arnoldo Lozano 832-633-5406 arnoldolozano197@gmail.com



A Pi Kapp College Experience life-changing experiences I have ever encountered. The only negative thought I had in regards to Pi Kapp College was that it did not last long enough. The lessons I learned, the places I visited, and the people I met in those short five days will forever hold a special place in my heart as they all contributed to the process of me unlocking my potential as a leader.

Vice Archon - Matt Docimo 281-728-8845 millnew18@yahoo.com

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Treasurer - Alex Touk 832-277-8200 alextouk@yahoo.com

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Secretary– Alex Govea 956-358-8877 alex3govea@gmail.com

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Warden - Chance Redd 713-775-1065 huntindude84@yahoo.com

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Historian - Craig Keizl 508-982-2320 craigkeizl@aol.com



Chaplain - Zach Irons

(Peter Crews BN #238, on the left)

254-493-1257 zirons214@gmail.com 

Push Chair - Ben Baek 832-640-0060 bbaek@yahoo.com

This past summer, I was fortunate enough to travel to the east coast to be part of the Epsilon class of Pi Kapp College. It is difficult to express the complete experience in words, but it was, to say the least, one of the single most

Letter from Archon (cont.)

Lastly, gentlemen I am pleased and honored to extend an invitation to you all to our celebration of our 12th year anniversary on November 10th. It will be held at Local Pour in river oaks which is ran by a Beta Nu Alumni, Tim Allen. They have a big projector in which we will be watching football and have an amazing happy hour for you all to enjoy. Our historian will be more in contact with you all to make sure you guys have all the details.

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Thank you for your continued support and we hope to see you all soon!

In Pi Kappa Phi, Arnoldo Lozano Pi 197

What I learned about the most at Pi Kapp College surprisingly was not about Pi Kappa Phi, but about myself. Going into the summer I knew I could be one to make a difference in the Beta Nu chapter of Pi Kappa Phi, but I was unsure of how I could utilize my abilities to contribute to what we do internally within the chapter and externally with other Greek organizations, the university, and our community as a whole. The facilitators at Pi Kapp College helped me determine what my strengths were and how I could use them to assist our chapter in striving to become the ideal chapter. Additionally, I learned about the national fraternity and how brothers that have completed their continued education continue to contribute to the betterment of Pi Kappa Phi. Seeing alumni dedicate their time and efforts to ensuring success for the fraternity has motivated me to pursue opportunities to work for the national fraternity once I graduate.

Seeing Charleston, where our fraternity was founded, was another great experience I had this summer. It was so intriguing to see where we began in 1904 and how things have changed since that time. I had the privilege of walking to 90 Broad Street and seeing where our Founding Fathers held the first meeting and established this fraternity out of the ashes of an antifraternal movement. One thing that stood out to me particularly in Charleston was the centennial gift to Charleston, the Bell Tower. Seeing the gift presented at the century mark of this fraternity reminded me that this fraternity has remained strong for over a hundred years and it can continue to thrive so long as we perpetually work to uphold the values and traditions of Pi Kappa Phi.

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Fall Beta News

Volume 19, Issue 10

Scoring Your First Job (cont.) ’m going to provide my two cents, and you can take it or leave it.

As I’m sure this has been said many times in the Fraternity and in other organizations you have joined throughout campus, you get out of it what you put into it. This translates to every aspect of life, including finding a job. Here are a couple of things you can do to prepare that will hopefully get you an interview or potential job offer:

First: NETWORKING IS KEY. I am sure this is no surprise. I can’t tell guys how many opportunities you could gain by taking the time to meet new people who have the same interests and career desires as you. Join professional organizations within your major, go see your TA’s after taking exams, attend your professor’s office hours and build a relationship with him/her.

They are great references for letters of recommendation, but only if they know you. Sit in the front row of your classes so professors recognize your face from the beginning. More importantly, pick up a leadership role in these professional organizations because you will be the ones that professional recruiters will contact to organize meet and greets. Or one step further you will be the ones contacting them on the front line. When they come for the meet and greet you will already know them. Get their contact info, follow up with them, and thank them for attending.

The biggest key to establishing a networking relationship with someone is to not ask for anything immediately. Build the relationship and if you do that well, you won’t have to ask because you will be the first person they think of when an opening pops up.

Second: GET AN INTERNSHIP. If you are a senior and you haven’t had an internship yet, you are behind. This one is for the sophomores and juniors that are still in “party mode”. The internship is what will set you apart from your classmates. If you are going into your senior year with one or two internships under your belt, your chances of scoring a full time offer by graduation is increased by 90%. If you don’t get an offer from the company that you interned with (which you probably will), you have that professional experience on your resume where other students who procrastinated have “Waiter” or “Retail associate”.

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so it seems like you are simply having a conversation, not regurgitating answers Third: SCORING THE INTERfrom memory. In addition to having anVIEW. You need to take the shotgun swers ready, also have questions prepared shell approach with this one. For eve- to ask them. Examples of some good questions to ask an employer could be “What is ry 20 places you apply you may hear the development path for someone coming back from 5, and from those 5 you may in as a new hire?” or “What are examples of score 2 interviews depending on how some types of projects that a person in this well you networked with them. You position would be doing?” They are not only will have to go through tons of no’s to interviewing you, but you are interviewing get that yes (Kind of like with women). them as well. It has to be a good fit for both Research all the companies that you parties. A job is a symbiotic relationship. have interests in, and go to the career Fifth: RESUME STRENGTH. When fairs and personally meet with them. building your resume, it is important to Ask meaningful questions, since you have a uniformed format. Don’t be all over came prepared. Being a recruiter for the place with fonts, bolds, italics, and color my company, I can tell you there is scheme. Some is fine but don’t go overnothing more frustrating than meeting board. I’m not a big advocate of the someone who has nothing to ask and “Objective” line. I think it is pointless, but just hands you a resume. Take adyou can be the judge of that. Make sure to vantage of the recruitment meetings put your GPA on there if it is strong. If it is from your professional organizations. weak find out what your major GPA is and hopefully that one is strong enough to put Constantly check back on your coldown. I would classify a strong GPA as 3.0 lege’s career gateway. I practically lived on that website when I was look- or higher. If you don’t fall into that category it is better to put nothing down than ing for a job. The most satisfying feelsomething bad. When describing your exing is getting that call or email inviting perience use specifics. A hypothetical exyou to come in for an interview. ample could be something like “Responsible

Fourth: INTERVIEW PREP. There’s nothing more disappointing than scoring that interview and losing the offer because your interviewing skills lacked preparation. Here are some ways to prep for interviews. At your age most of the internships will mainly be behavioural since they are entry level or lower positions. Google the top 100 behavioural interview questions and be able to answer all of them (Yes all of them) with a strong explanation of an experience, problem, and result. Give specifics and facts, don’t answer questions in generalities.

Practice in front of a mirror as if you are actually in the interview. By the time you get to the interview your answers should come second nature to

for training 6 employees, who all graduated training within 3 months of starting”. That sounds better than “Helped trained incoming employees”, or “Closed 8 deals in 4 weeks” sounds better than “Closed sales deals”. Companies like to see results, and specific numbers show results. If you need help with your resume feel free to email it to me and I can help you build it.

Hopefully you guys find this article useful, and can use some of these tips to score your first job after college. As always if you need any help, or want to talk to me personally about more ideas, feel free to contact me. I can’t wait for Fiesta next spring, and I am looking forward to seeing the show.

In Pi Kappa Phi, Travis White Travis.white@bp.com 713-715-8168 BN #185

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Fall Beta News

Volume 19, Issue 10

A New Home for Beta Nu

By Peter Crews This semester, Beta Nu experienced change in the form of a new house.

Recently, we relocated from Townhouse 10 to Townhouse 14 of Bayou Oaks. The new house has four stories with common areas on the first floor and the fourth floor and houses 21 brothers. 20 brothers reside on the second and third floor with the archon living in the sole room on the first floor.

We are currently in the process of getting settled in, but the house has the potential to be even better than the old one! We are looking forward to making the house our own as the semester progresses by hanging more photographs, bringing in a ping pong table to accompany our air hockey table, and making memories. It is a new beginning in the new house for the Beta Nu chapter of Pi Kappa Phi.

From the Historian: To the reader, (Living Room)

(Kitchen)

I hope you enjoyed reading this edition of the Beta News. If any of you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

In Pi Kappa Phi, Craig Keizl - Historian BN #224

(Fourth Floor Study Lounge)

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(Game Room)