For this third blog, I want to briefly share my own experiences on joining a greek organization.

          When I first arrived in college, I knew one other person on campus. I seemed lost, and basically alone. I was reading posters and signs for various greek organization that were going to RUSH (RUSH is the term used during the period when a group is planning on having event to recruit new members.) I honestly never had any urge to join a greek organization, but my friend that I met wanted to go to an event, but didn’t want to go alone, so I went along as well. In that first event, I met so many new friends, and talked more than I did in an entire month. I became interested, and pledged in the weeks that followed. It was one of the best decisions I ever made, mainly because it gave me something to strive towards. To do better academically, as well as improve my social skills.

     If there is any advice I can give, it is to find a group that you are interested in and to go check them out. You’ll never know if you will like anything if you don’t give it a tryout. I hope that this information has shined some light on this particular subject, and if you would like to know anything else, or more feel free to email me at: njrp@iup.edu

                  It is my hope that all of you have a fantastic semester with Marlen.

           In this blog post, I plan to discuss the possible pros and cons of being involved in a greek organization. The word “possible” is in here, because the outcome all depends on the specific individual.

         Joining a greek organization can be a fun, rewarding, enriching part of college life. You have the opportunity to meet new people, make new friends, and in the process learn how to be sociable to new people. This was one of the most important lessons I learned when I joined a group my second semester at college. I am the most sociable I have ever been, and that not only helps me to better communicate with friends, but with new acquaintences and professors.

        The other skills you can learn is management. Most organizations have a executive board or a board of directors. My specific fraternity has a executive board that has offices such as President, Vice President, Secretary, etc. Any person who is elected to these positions by the members of the fraternity/sorority have certain tasks they must complete, such as completing paperwork, setting up various programs or events, etc.  So in this respect, this can be a tool to learn how to better manage time, and work.

    As with any pro, there is almost always a con, and the above mentioned is no different. As much as the above mentioned can serve to be a learning tool to better oneself, it can also be quite the opposite.  Just like with anything, if you become too involved you can lose sight of other important aspects of your life at the same time. Specifically, if you spend too much time focused on a greek organization it could serve to lower academic achievement. Most organizations have required academic standards to remain in the group, but a lot seldom keep up with students academic standings.

There are others pros and cons, which you can read about in this article posted at http://www.collegeandfinance.com/going-greek-the-pros-and-cons/

                    My name is Jeff, and I will be discussing how Greek Organizations can not only have the potential to increase academics, but social skills as well. Now in this first blog I plan to give a brief introduction about Greek Organizations, some examples of some, and the various cons and pros of joining a Greek Fraternity or Sorority.

      To start off, please take the time to read this: http://www.topuniversities.com/articles/student-life/fraternities-and-sororities-secret-history-greek-societies

  After reading this, you will learn that their are various types of greek organizations with various goals. The most popular would be the social organizations. These groups can range from just having social gatherings, to having a specific purpose tied into being a social outlet to students. Some groups that are social organizations can be  found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_fraternities_and_sororities 

The other types of organizations also are community service organizations, which plan events to help charities, or the local community. This is one group that is especially directed to improving someones college resume, by showing that the person can take on more than just their required coursework, but not expecting to receive payment for their services. Here are some service fraternities: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_fraternities_and_sororities

Other greek organizations are professional advancement organizations. These are usually related to a specific fielf of study, such as strictly music, psychology, etc.   I belong to a professional fraternity, known as Delta Omicron. Membership into these groups usually requires that you are majoring or minoring in that field, and a specific GPA (Grade Point Average) to join.  A list of Professional Organizations can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_fraternity

I hope that this brief introduction to the various greek organizations will give some light to all of the possibilities and groups of people you can meet.

- I didn’t really have any fears, or anxieties partly because this was the third course I had taken from Marlen, so I had a general idea what I was getting into. I basically just knew I made it through two of his courses, why can’t I make it through the third and most challenging one.  My proudest moment in this course would be finishing my paper. It was such a tough process to incorporate my autoethnography along with research that was even harder to find.  The thing that will most stick with me from this course is how to be a research writer in preparation for Graduate school.

Thanks Marlen!

2.) My second peer review from my classmate. She ripped my paper apart, and that is what is needed to make an ok paper good, and a good paper great.

3.) Trying to find valid research was the hardest. The easiest was actually telling my autoethnography.

4.) The way I can incorporate my story along with valid research.

I learned once again that everyone writes differently. I personally love to peer review someone’s paper, because it lets me have the time to look at someones work, other than my own. While reviewing a paper, I can also learn what I can change within my own work. Peer review is one of the best methods of “proof reading” ones paper. Giving constructive criticism from a peer is a good idea because it lets you know how your work is to a reader’s perspective. I also learned that my research project is tough, because the amount of research is very vague, but I am still pulling it through.

Since there is a separate discussion section. It seems to me that only data should be included in the results section. The writer could also include a brief statement that generalizes the data.

http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/reportform.html

http://custom-writing.org/research-papers#th

http://abacus.bates.edu/~ganderso/biology/resources/writing/HTWsections.html#results

Discussion

This section is for interpreting findings of the research. Talk about what the data collected means in terms of the hypotheses. Mention if the information is or isn’t consistent with previous research on the topic.

http://abacus.bates.edu/~ganderso/biology/resources/writing/HTWsections.html#discussion

http://www.languages.ait.ac.th/EL21DISC.HTM

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/extract/330/7483/145-a

Conclusions

This section should end the paper and explain to the reader what this study means. Summarize the paper and explain what the outcome and its relevance.

http://www.languages.ait.ac.th/EL21CONC.HTM

http://www.essaytown.com/writing/research-paper-conclusion

http://linguistics.byu.edu/faculty/henrichsenl/researchmethods/RM_3_06.html