Dear President Lin and the Chicago Alumni Association,
May 18, 2009

I am e-mailing you to let you know how this past semester went.  This semester has been by far the most difficult, yet most rewarding semester of college.  I have had many more responsibilities and leadership positions than I have ever had.  I came back from winter break knowing that I was taking on a great deal this semester and that I had to stay focused if I wanted to succeed. After mentally preparing myself for this semester, I began taking 18 hours of Lower Division Nursing School classes.  That on its own is tough enough, but me being the busy body that I am, needed more to do.  I continued as a REACH Ambassador mentoring the freshmen and planning small group events for them, etc.  I was named Mentor of the Year and given the REACH Ambassador Award of Excellence.  I also began my duties as a member of the Student Orientation Staff (SOS).  I have worked very hard preparing skits for the Southern Region Orientation Workshop (SROW) that I attended at University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) back in March.  Since then I have been preparing more skits and gathering more information to present to the freshmen when they come to their Orientation session. While it is an absolute blast working with the staff, there are many hard times and difficult obstacles we must get through.  I am currently going through a rigorous training process. I am learning just about everything there is to know about the university, and preparing to answer any questions that the parents and incoming students may have.  As far as my sorority, Chi Omega, I began my term as Cardinal Cabinet position of Sisterhood Chair.  It was a very fun and exciting position for me because I cherish our sisterhood so much.  I planned my first Sisterhood Retreat and thought it was a huge success.  I also continued to participate in intramurals with Greek Life.  I was extremely proud when Chi Omega won the intramural basketball championship.  At the end of the year I was named Greek Athlete of the Year, which was very exciting for me! I was recently selected to serve on University of Louisville's Dance Marathon Executive Board.  Dance Marathon, if you have never heard of it before, is an 18-hour dance party with fun activities and games that raises money to benefit Kosair Children’s Hospital. Dance Marathon is growing and becoming a huge success.  I am so proud to be on the team of planners to make this event even better! I was also recently nominated for the Student Government Association (SGA) Athletic Board, where I have been asked to serve as the Spirit and Traditions Chair. I have also applied to U of L's Upper Division of Nursing and am currently awaiting their decision.  I am also anxiously awaiting the replies from several scholarship boards to see if I have been awarded their scholarships.  After all of the hard work, tough times, and accomplishments, I finished the semester off with many awards and a 3.783 GPA.  I hope all is well with you and the other members of the Chicago Alumni Association! Please feel free to e-mail me back and ask me any further questions you may be curious about.

 

Take care!

Sincerely,

Chelsea Bell