The following post was written by Peer Advisor Lindsey O’Connell, a CCAS sophomore studying Art History and Spanish. Find out more about Lindsey by visiting her Peer Advisor profile page here.
Hey everyone!
First off, here’s hoping that your mid-terms are going well! And if they aren’t, remember that Spring Break is just days away, and the UHP Townhouse has plenty of coffee and tea to get you through in the meantime 🙂 Woo!
For this week’s “Extra-Curricular,” I want to talk about something near and dear to my heart: Phi Sigma Pi National Honors Fraternity (because apparently, I just can’t get enough of that #HonorsLife).
Phi Sigma Pi, or PSP, was founded in 1916 upon the ideals of Scholarship, Leadership, and Fellowship. This gender-inclusive Fraternity uses this “Tripod” of values as a way to guide brothers through our academic, professional, and social lives.
Now, you’ve probably heard of PSP before, right? That is because all UHP students (excluding students in their first or last semesters) should receive semesterly invitations to participate in our rush process. That is, if you don’t assume the email is spam and throw it in your junk mail (which of course I totally did not do). Students must have earned a 3.0 GPA or higher in order to become a brother of PSP–which means UHPers automatically qualify!
Personally, I never imagined myself as someone who would go Greek, and yet since I became a brother in Fall 2015, Phi Sigma Pi has become a cornerstone in my college experience.
As my health took a downwards turn at the beginning of this year, minimizing my participation in my Honors course first semester and restricting me from taking further courses this semester, I found myself sorely missing the sense of community and camaraderie I experienced when I was able to fully immerse myself in UHP activities. While I could not handle the courseload, I still wanted to be around other academically minded, interesting, and just plain awesome people.
For me, becoming a brother of PSP has allowed me to bring the best parts of the UHP–the sense of community, the shared values, the common understanding–into a fun and flexible extra-curricular. Unlike other extra-curricular activities I have previously participated in, Phi Sigma Pi’s focus on scholarship ensures that my academics are never put on the back burner.
Not forgetting about the other parts to the Tripod, PSP’s wide arrange of events and activities for brothers includes museum outings, workshops, movie nights, and more! I have found so many wonderful people through this organization, and I am glad to have had the opportunity to get to know them in such a meaningful capacity.
If you think that Phi Sigma Pi could be a good fit for you, look out for the Fall Rush invitation! And maybe bookmark this page, because if you’re like me, you’ll totally forget by then 🙂
Have an awesome break!!
