International Honors Institute - Day Five

The second to last day of the Honors Institute was R&R day and, like many Phi Theta Kappans, the International Officer team took this opportunity to sleep in way too late. I wish that I had more pictures of the day, and I will shortly, but most of the pictures taken today were taken with other people's cameras.

After sleeping in until just shy of 11:30, we spent sometime as a team looking for a good place for lunch. We ended up at Fire and Ice and stayed there for a couple of hours just relaxing and having a good time before separating to do our own things. I actually ended up back at the dorms for the next couple of hours to get some work done but also spent some time organizing a dinner for my seminar group.

We ended up heading to The Cheesecake Factory - about half of the seminar group and a couple of guests - and having a wonderful time. I thank
everyone who was able to make it out tonight and the kind Phi Theta Kappans that treated us - completely unexpected but very much appreciated.

Only one more day of the 2011 International Honors Institute - sad how quickly this past week has gone...

Love,
Danielle

International Honors Institute - Day Four

Today was a unique day that began with a tour of the Freedom Trail. My seminar group divided up the tour and we each had to research a spot and talk about. I think that it was great practice and it made the event that much more fun. It was not followed by a seminar meeting, as typically the Seminars are, simply because of time constraints. We had plenty of time to talk on the tour, though. It was a great experience.

After the tour, the IO's had a luncheon with the Regional Coordinators. It was fun to meet other coordinators within my division and it was great to run into my own regional coordinator, whom I have really not seen much of during the trip. Basically it was basically a meet and greet - more for networking than anything else. The event was pretty short and was followed by a small amount of down time that was much needed.

At around 3:30, we had our first Reader's Theater rehearsal (which I will post pictures up as soon as I get them). The IO's have a hilarious play that opens the evening and I have no idea how many groups there are going to be but I can say that last year's was great and I am certain that this year is likely to be better.






That night's session was with Fred Haise from Apollo 13. He was the first presenter that utilized a visual aid which was very unique. It was a great presentation, definitely among my favorites. Afterward, each seminar group got there picture taken with Mr. Haise. The following seminar group meeting, a lot of interesting questions came up. The facilitators of the meeting had a different way of running things that, probably wasn't very popular, but worked great.



The IO's then hosted a game night at the dorms. This was something that we began talking about only late yesterday so there were definitely so bumps in planning and beginning it, but it was incredibly successful. There were a lot of people there and everybody seemed to have a great time. My favorite part was that we were able to just relax and have fun with everyone there. For those who attended, you'll have to give us some feedback! :-)

Love,
Danielle

International Honors Institute - Day Three

Today was especially exciting for me because it was my day to preside over the general sessions. Obviously, I woke up nervous, got ready a little bit quicker to get to where I needed to be a little bit earlier. As a group, the International Officers arrived at the Tsai Performance Center about an hour before the second general session. We got to meet our presenter, Sara Paretsky, and received a sign copy of her book as a gift. For those who attended, I'm sure you could tell that she was great through her presentation but, for those who were unable to attend, I just have to say that she was an incredibly intelligent woman and it was great being able to meet with her and talk with her for a brief period.



Anyway, I got to introduce this woman and she spoke on the topic of "writing in an age of silence." One of my favorite things that she said was that "everybody was writing but nobody was reading" - it was a powerful statement, to me, because her saying that certainly demonstrates the need for us to be better informed regardless of what it is we decide to do. This led to a great discussion within my seminar group (seminar 11) a fantastic group with such incredible Phi Theta Kappans as Scintillating Steve, Tenacious Tim, Magnificent Mike, Jumpy Jenny, Jealous Jerry, Amazing Aminata, Just Jeremy, Humerous Harmony, Tantalizing Tobi, Fantastical Falon, Awesome Amanda, Marvelous Mike, Rebellious Roberta, Lovely Leslie, Exuberant Ezra, Magnetic Mike, Loveable Linsey, and Audable April. We started with our introductions and the creation of our rules. We spent a lot of time talking about the news and whether it is possible to have a non-arbitrary news source - or even if we should. We also discussed how fiction helps us to discover the truth.

When I attempted to go to lunch, I realized that I had lost my keys (actually I ended up locking them in my room but I thought they were lost!) so I had to run to the dorms first and talk to security about getting into my room. It was definitely stressful, but it all worked out. I hope that nobody else has experienced this because it is not fun.



After lunch, the IO's had to deliver their speeches to the Honors Program Committee who gave us feedback on everything regarding the speech - content, delivery, other suggestions, really anything. This went right up until 5:30 so we were late getting to dinner but it was a a good experience - although it is not fun to sit in a chair in front of a room of people critiquing you, even though they were very nice and only there to help us out.



I got to introduce the third general session as well - Thomas Perls who was there to talk about Living to 100. He was a good speaker, very entertaining. There seminar meeting afterwards was another very informative. Something that Steve Shroeder does that I think is fantastic is that he assigns people to lead the discussion (people who want to anyway) and they facilitate the discussion that night. Somebody brought up something in the discussion that I definitely want to talk in a later blog entry. I fear that some people are confused about designing an Honors in Action project so I am going to address that a lot at a later date.

For now, however, I am going to go ahead and sign off.

Love,
Danielle

International Honors Institute - Day Two

Today was the official first day of the 2011 International Honor Institute! It was an exciting and busy day for all, regardless of arrival time. The International Officers were up early for breakfast so that we had plenty of time to practice our Honors Study Topic speeches. Each year, the International Officers are required to have a semi-final draft of a ten minute speech that are given to faculty scholars who then critique so that a final draft can be written. It is typical for these speeches to be done prior to the May orientation but things were done slightly differently this year. It was intended for us to have the speeches nearly complete prior to the first official day of the institute. Therefore, this morning was intended to be a time for peer reviews and we worked on our speeches between 9am and 12pm this morning.



We then got our first taste of Boston University's cafeteria food before heading over to the Tsai Performance Center for a brief overview of what to expect during the first general session. We got to meet Clawd for the first time, take a look at the stage, and do a quick run-through of tonight's seminar as well as the seminars over the coming week. The meeting was brief but crucial and we left feeling much more comfortable, and incredibly excited, about our opening session.







Following our run-through, we went back to 33 Harry Agganis Way to meet with the incoming Honors Institute attendees. This was something that slot of us were looking forward to - for those of you who came and visited us, thank you. For those who didn't, there's still time :-) I was especially excited to visit with the New England Regional Alumni Association who were helping out during registration. As many of you know, I am from the New England Region so these were the people who supported me during my campaign for International Office but few of them were actually able to come over to Seattle so I was really thankful to be able to meet with them for the short time that they were able to stay here.



Because the first general session was at 6:30, and Headquarters expects the IOs to be there an hour early, we opted to skip dinner so that we could freshen up before heading back over to the Tsai Performance Center. The first general session was exciting because we were introduced, faculty scholars were introduced, and the seminar leaders were introduced prior to our International President, Tameka Wilson, introducing our first exciting presenter, Ethan Uslan. The presentation was a silent movie accompanied by Mr. Uslan with a live piano score. The presentation was followed by a question and answer question for audience members and three seminar groups - my own being one of them - got to continue that question and answer question after Tameka adjourned the first general session. Therefore, I really haven't gotten to properly meet my seminar group but am looking forward to tomorrow to do so.




As exciting as our first day was, the best part was the Welcome Social that followed the first seminar meeting. It was great to relax with our Phi Theta Kappa families while snacking on free pizza and cookies. I, personally, meet many HI attendees over the course of the day but didn't really have the opportunity to just hang out with anybody until this social. It was a much needed break accompanied by one of our favorite things - no, not the free food - meeting with our fellow Phi Theta Kappans.



I hope you all had as much fun as I did on the first day of what I expect to be a very exciting week!

Love,
Danielle

International Honors Institute - Day One

Tomorrow is the first day of the 2011 Honors Institute in Boston and I am so excited to meet everyone and welcome them to my home region :-)

The International Officers arrived today to get settled and prepare for an exciting first day. The majority of us arrived around one this afternoon and took some time getting something to eat and unpacking in our dorm rooms - which, by the way, are amazing for those who haven't arrived yet. We meet with Phi Theta Kappa alumni for appetizers - which was a lot of fun due to the number of New England Regional Alumns that came to greet us. It's wonderful getting to see so many people from home.

After the appetizers, we went to a restaurant called Legal Seafood for our meals with headquarters staff and a past Division I International Vice President - Ari. We are now back in the dorms and, against our better judgement, wide awake for games. Can't wait to see you all tomorrow!

Love,
Danielle

Campaigning for International Office

It's a big decision, deciding to run for International Office. If elected, there are a lot of responsibilities, a lot of traveling, it could put you behind in school or, at the very least, add stress. Before even the primary election results are publicized, before even you arrive at the International Convention, preparing for your campaign is no small task. The purpose of this entry is to let everyone follow in my process, but for those thinking of running, I think you'll find quite a few tips scattered throughout.

I downloaded my application packet sometime around early January and got it in only a few days early. It takes time. To write the essay, to throughly respond to the questions. I think, looking back, that I grossly underestimated the time required to complete this step in the process. It's easy to be too excited for International Convention to really focus, something that you need to fight through. I attended the chat that the 2010-2011 International Offices hosted for those thinking of running and remember somebody asking what we should be doing now - this was sometime around late January by the way - and Jessi astutely responding with "the application." I know that whoever asked was thinking more along the lines of "what next?" but really, this early on there are two things that you should be focused on - networking and completing that application - finish that application as early as possible, as best as you can, and before you even think about doing anything else.




As I said, I completed my application close to the due date. After I received word that my application had been accepted, I started worrying about everything else. Now I don't think that I am unique in this but I do feel that, before I continue, I make it clear that I absolutely cannot accomplish things well unless I feel pressured. I'm working on it, but still do my best work when somebody says, "I need this done by tomorrow!" I also spend a lot of time contemplating before any concrete results are put forth. With that being said, most of time was spent thinking about what I wanted to do. The reason that I even state this at all is because many of you may get the things done much more quickly than I did. Many of you may already be considering your campaign platform, securing funds, etc. and that's great. I just want to share what worked for me.

One thing that I will say about the application is that, even if you're like me in your work ethics, there are some things that you should be careful of. First, your essay. This seems obvious but it should really be one of the very first things that you do. You want to have time to get it reviewed by a couple of people that you trust and, if you're a perfectionist, to rewrite it at least half a dozen times until you're comfortable with it :-) Something that is probably more likely to get overlooked is your picture. You don't have to get it done professionally, but I would. I did semi-professionally, I went to Sear's, bought the copyright, and I think the total came to less than $50. Definitely worth it. You want this picture to come out well, it gets plastered everywhere! Finally, your information piece. I, personally, had my school's marketing director put it together for me and she did an amazing job - much better than I could have. However, I created the original draft that was sent in with my application and would recommend you do the same if you are having somebody else actually create it. The act of putting it together myself helped me to solidify what it was that I wanted. This makes designing your booth a lot easier as well as giving you time to make sure your comfortable with it.

From my end, I didn't have my "gimmick" until Regional Convention where we were happy to host Jessi Nisbett and had an opportunity to ask every question I could think of. That was at the beginning of March, after which I determined my gimmick, supervised the completion of my distributable information piece, created my booth display, and wrote my speech - all over the next couple of weeks. For me, it worked, though I'm not certain I would recommend it.

One thing that candidates are required to do is their live interview with Rod Risley. This was, by far, the most nerve wracking part of the entire campaign process for me. As luck would have it, I was sick in the days leading up to it and didn't even go to school the day of - except for my interview with Dr. Risley. Now, looking back, I am probably the only one who could tell, and I certainly wasn't the only one sick for their interview. But it made things that much more stressful. Not to mention, nothing that it was recommended we learn for the interview was actually asked. I found use for it all later though, so I'm glad I did it.

After the interview, there was really nothing left to do but wait. Finally it was time to travel to Convention and I got my first look at how busy being an International Officer can be. My chapter had to leave for Seattle an entire day early because of my campaign for office -- and we had to meet at the airport at 5am to do so. It was great getting there as early as we did, though. Our chapter President and I walked up the street to an art supply store so that I could purchase my display board. Yes, I put my booth together the night before campaigning. However, don't read that to say it wasn't done until the last minute. What I did was get everything together, and cut out, and glued, everything that I needed to do before I could put the pieces together. I did this simply because I couldn't afford to ship a giant display from Maine to Washington. Upon getting to Seattle, it took me about an hour to piece the booth together.




At 6:00pm, there was an orientation for International Officer candidates. It was great, past IO's answered our questions, we had a chance to get to know each other, and we were given tips that, at least for me, really helped with the campaigning process. The orientation was followed by a reception for the International Officer candidates with Rod Risley. It was the first of our late nights.

Thursday was a day for campaigning. There were varying degrees of devotion throughout this process. We were allowed to set up the booth as early as 8am and were allowed to remain in the marketplace until 6pm, when they kicked us out until 8pm for the political rally. What I did, and what I recommend, was to stay in the marketplace straight through from 8-6. I left once to grab a small snack and bring it back and took short breaks to walk around, but stayed at my booth for the majority of the day. I, obviously, can't tell you for sure what made a difference, but I can tell you that the people who did well stayed in the marketplace. It's tiring, but it's fun, and it's worth it. We then came back from 8pm-10pm for the Political Rally, the must adrenaline increasing chaos that I have ever been apart of. For those of you thinking of running, a couple of things bear mentioning here. Your campaign team is crucial for this phrase, you need to tell them what to expect, what the rules are, and how they can help you ahead of time. My team helped me talk to members, kept me hydrated, and stood with me the entire time. I could feel the difference that they made and you will too.


Friday was fairly laid back in terms of what was expected of us but Saturday was our big day. The Candidate Finalists had been announced and, first thing Saturday morning was when we delivered our speeches. I probably practiced twenty or so times throughout the day on Friday and was helped Saturday morning prior to the actual delivery by a member of the New England Regional Alumni Association (though for privacy reasons, I won't give any further details) who was amazing in helping me polish my speech. It was the day that we all hoped we'd see but had also provided the most stress. Shortly after the speech, we had a short rehearsal, something to give us an idea of what to expect at the final general session, should we be elected. On your application, it says that wearing your formal attire to this is allowed but not required, I would say that I would HIGHLY recommended. I almost want to tell you that it's required, I really feel that strongly about it. After the rehearsal, they had a nice last reception for the International Officers, where we got to get our pictures taken as a group and with Dr. Risley. It was great to be all together again and feel like a star getting all those professional photos done :-)

Finally, the last general session began. By this point, I was could feel the butterflies in my stomach. I took a bathroom break every twenty minutes, just for an excuse to get up and walk around, not that it helped the jitters. I would almost recommend this, though, because, if elected, you'll be glad that you took the breaks -- just ask Jeremy. When the voting music came on, I was holding hands with our chapter President, and an officer from my region who - up until this point - I didn't know very well. It was a very emotional time and I really emphasize with those who were not elected. When my name was finally called as the new Division I International Vice President, I literally bawled - and hugged everyone sitting near me. In fact, I think my advisor knocked a couple of people down hugging me. I have all this on video and will add them as I get more comfortable with this blogging thing.




After our first stage appearance, we were paraded off stage to a "secret room" where we got our pictures taken and met one on one with the past IOs, Monika, and Dr. Risley. The rest of the night was a chance to have fun and get to know each other more - and take a lot of pictures!

Our first semi-official act as new officers was the mini pre-orientation the next morning with the outgoing IOs, Monika, and our advisors. We were given advice, some tools for office, and a laundry list of first assignments. Overall, the week is already a blur. I had an amazing time and am looking forward to my year as the 2011-2012 Division I International Vice President! If you have any questions, or stories to share, or just want to connect, feel free to e-mail me any time at Danielle.Swartz@ptk.org.

Love you guys,
Danielle Swartz