Finding Hope in a Hopeless Situation

by Porscha McClanahan, Elise Parker, and Caroline McReynolds

Zeta Nu - TBΣ University of Northern Iowa

Spring of 2020 was a difficult time for everybody, however, coming back in the fall seemed like an impossible challenge. People all over the world struggled finding their place in this new norm of the pandemic - especially college students. The traditional college life of majors, experiences, and organizations -especially our fraternities and sororities - has changed dramatically.

TBS During the Pandemic

When the pandemic hit, we were instructed to not meet in person for the time being. Our chapter decided to do meetings and rituals over zoom. At the beginning this was hard to adapt to, but we slowly figured out how to use zoom to our advantage. Toward the end of the pandemic, we used zoom and all its functions available to us. During elections, we used the polls; during meetings, we shared screens to play kahoots and do educational lessons; during rituals, we still dressed up and went all out to make them as similar to in person as possible. We even started every meeting with a song played by the president to get us all in the TBS spirit. It’s really hard to bond over zoom, but we did our best. We did a lot of zoom events like speed dating with our sisters to get to know each other. We got split up into breakout rooms with one other person and got to chat with them. We also did game nights and crafts via zoom. While this wasn't the best case scenario for us, we got to know our sisters more than we would’ve without these events.

In terms of service, we did projects outside and followed all the CDC guidelines. For our fundraisers, we continued with those that we used to do, but were forced to change the way we did them. For example, we do a lot of restaurant fundraisers which allow us to take friends and family to the chosen place and eat, and a portion of the profits will be donated to us. During the pandemic, restaurants wouldn’t let us sit in the entryway and advertise our fundraiser. In order to combat this, we made posters and hung them on the doors and posted them all over social media to spread the word of our fundraisers. A couple of our fundraisers done this way, ended up being some of the most profitable in our chapter. While we saw each other in person very rarely, we used the resources we had to do as much for the bands as we could.

How the Pandemic Changed Us

The normality of life changed drastically for all of us as what we used to call “normal” was no longer that. For starters, we were able to go back to in person meetings and events. Our meetings are held in a large room in our campus music building giving everyone the opportunity to distance themselves and wear masks. During our meetings, we brought back our educational aspect by giving the lesson and then completing a fun game, such as chalkboard races and Kahoots, to test our knowledge of the information. The service projects we’ve participated in have been mostly outside or in larger rooms. For example, we participated in the Walk For Alzheimers and rang bells in small groups outside of grocery stores for the Salvation Army. With football being back in season this year, our marching band was able to perform at games. We, as a sorority partnered up with our fraternity, Kappa Kappa Psi, and served the band by helping serve lunch before the games, refill water containers between the quarters, provide and pass out fruit, and clean up after the band was done for the day. Our bonding and recruitment events were also able to be in person. We’ve had

PMB Band Banquet - Back left: Logan Green, Elise Parker, Trishyan Anthony, Zoe Meyer, Marissa Bys, Kelsi DeBrower. Middle Left: Autumn Sharp, Katie Larson, Lizzy Richardson, Miranda Michelle. Bottom Left: Porscha McClanahan, Alaina Stoltenberg, Brianna Berthiaume.

Last Game Day - Back Left: Logan Green, Lizzy Richardson, Kelsi DeBrower, Trishyan Anthony, June Forcier, Michala Miller, Brianna Berthiaume, Katie Larson, Kiersten Benson. Bottom Left: Zoe Meyer, Porscha McClanahan, Lindsay Davison, Alaina Stoltenberg, Miranda Michelle, Autumn Sharp, Elise Parker. Bottom: Marrissa Bys Membership candidates are now members Back Left: June Forcier, Logan Green, Kiersten Benson, Michala Miller. Bottom Left: Katie Larson, Autumn Sharp, Lindsay Davison

movie nights and Friendsgiving and we look forward to our chapter Christmas coming up in December. These, of course, are also held in large rooms where distancing is provided.

Lastly, our rituals were also able to be in person this year. This was a new challenge for most of our members as most of us have only experienced virtual meetings and rituals in the past. We all got a chance to see how the rituals are set up and were able to dress up and see each other. It provided us with a new learning experience and we worked through it together. The sisters within our chapter have had a chance to really get to know each other as well as introducing all of the new challenges and aspects of our chapter to our new members. Being together makes meetings and events run smoothly and gives us all the chance to support each other outside of our computer screens.

What’s Next?

After a recent visit from life member, Abby Rogish-Bodin, the active members of our chapter realized just how much the pandemic and coming back from that has truly affected our mental health in many different aspects. We all came to the conclusion that school and TBS would sometimes become too much or feel like obligations rather than something we all want to do and accomplish. With this in mind, we have made mental health a priority within our chapter. To keep this a priority, we have plans put in place to start this next semester.

Mental Health Check

Every week a form will be sent out to our members. This form will include a scale of how each member is feeling that day, whether they want to talk about anything (good and bad), and which members, if any, that they would be comfortable talking to! Every week, our minutes are sent out to our members so that we are caught up before each meeting and starting next semester, so will this form.

TBS Chill Time

During every meeting, at the beginning or end of the meeting, we will have some down time to just hang out and talk. During our chapter visit with Abby, we found that we often get “distracted” during our meetings because we just want to talk and not worry about life for a while. With this in mind, we decided it would be beneficial for our members and our mental health to take some time to just be instead of worrying about everything else in life.

TBStudy Dates

Sometimes finding the motivation and attention span to get things done is impossible - especially when you’re a college student. Next semester, we are going to incorporate study dates! Members who are able to, will set time aside every week to just study. This time will be open to all of our members to just come and study and get some work done. The perfect amount of accountability and our assignments and studies will be done in no time.

Excused Mental Health Days

The members of our chapter have realized that sometimes you just can’t. Can’t do life, can’t do school, can’t do TBS. These are very normal feelings to have. We decided to discuss the idea of excused mental health days. 1-2 excused absences will be allowed during the semester reserved for days when your mental health just isn’t up for a meeting.

Highs and Lows

To end each meeting, we are going to incorporate a common strategy of discussing highs and lows. A high, something good that has happened to you this week. A low, something you struggled with. Each member will go around while the rest of us listen and offer support!

The last two years have been a huge adjustment for everyone in this world but our sorority, especially, took a huge hit. Our Tau Beta Sigma Zeta Nu chapter took the bad and managed to make it decent; took the decent and grew so much to make it great. We don’t plan on stopping there. All of our members are excited to take what we’ve learned from the pandemic and our chapter vist with Abby and turn it into a better environment for everybody. We are sisters in the bond and we plan to strengthen that bond with love and support for many years to come.