california, california, here I come!



Gamma chapter house

Being a Midwest girl, the concept of visiting California naturally seems exciting.  When I found out one of my visits was to the infamous Berkeley campus, I couldn’t wait for Gamma chapter to be my first taste of California culture.  I stepped off the plan to overlook the Bay from the terminal....alas, the state of California!

I was greeted at the airport by the chapter president and vp: Panhellenic, both women were so welcoming and quickly began to explain all the sights along our drive through Oakland to the Berkeley campus.  The main street on campus is an adventurous food scene—basically any ethnicity you can imagine is represented.  The women took me to a quaint little “whole in the wall” French restaurant.  It was delicious!

The first weekend I spent at Gamma was filled with eating at yummy restaurants and getting to know the officers through individual and group meetings.  I was able to attend a new member meeting and it made me smile to see such enthusiastic and already involved new members!  Formal chapter meeting was another highlight, as I was able to present on taking pride in DG membership.  The women were engaged, enthusiastic and proactive!

A table of goodies upon arrival :)

The rest of my stay was filled with more meetings and spending time with the women.  I also had the amazing opportunity to explore San Francisco (pictures in my last post!).  A tour of the infamous campus was beautiful; the history and character of the grounds was so incredible to see.  Definitely a much different student demographic and culture than I have ever seen, but so cool nonetheless!  Big/Little reveal also took place during my stay which was so fun to see their bonds strengthen even more through these pairings! 

The Campanile-a Berkeley campus icon

 To end my visit, the chapter president and vp: programming were determined to take me up to “The Big C”.  The large  letter represents Cal and sits high up on a hill on the edge of campus.  The view overlooks not only all of Berkeley, but the entire Bay area!  The long trek to the top was so incredibly worth the beautiful sun setting behind the Golden Gate Bridge.  Something I will always remember! 

The beautiful view of the bay from "The Big C"