One Moment Can Change Everything

Have you ever thought back on your life and discovered one single moment, whether it be a minute or an hour, that completely changed the course of your life? A moment that at that particular time you had no clue how much it would affect your future? Last night I was reminded of the one single moment that began my journey of being here in Indianapolis, Indiana at TLC training...and that moment started with the flipping of a coin!

Flashback to a Saturday night in September 2009. I had just come out of my last, of two, preference ceremonies to decide which sorority I wanted to join. All week long my heart had been set on Zeta Tau Alpha. There was something about that group of women that gave me goosebumps and butterflies every time I walked into their room. But something on preference night got into my head and was trying to make me not follow my heart. Words spoken that made me question if I should go with the other sorority I had attended that night and risk not being as happy. When I came out of my two parties, I immediately found my recruitment counselor, Caitlin, and began crying. I was confused because my heart said to go ZTA but my brain was trying to say other wise. Caitlin preceded to talk to me and encourage to go with my heart but I was being stubborn and kept letting outside words get into my head. She told me she was going to flip a coin for me. If it landed on heads I was going to walk into the computer room and put ZTA as my first choice, but if it landed on tails I would select the other sorority. Well...the coin landed on heads and Caitlin asked me how did the outcome make me feel?" I started smiling and told her really good. Her response was "you know what you need to do then." So I walked into the computer lab, placed ZTA number 1 and I have never looked back. 

Saturday morning I headed to the airport for my first of many flights as an TLC. Saying goodbye to my family and Josh was strange because I won't really see them all together again till October. I made it through TSA with no problems and then conquered all the weather and delays till I finally landed in Indianapolis around 6:00pm. Another TLC and I caught a taxi together and rode to Carmel, Indiana to meet all the other TLC's and our supervisor for dinner. We ate at the cutest pizza place in Carmel and then got to tour around the town. Fun fact: Carmel, Indiana was just voted the #1 city to live in in America! Here are a few pictures from our walk:

Yesterday (Sunday) was our first day of training. It's a weird feeling to think I have 3 weeks ahead of me till I go to my first chapter but the first day of training was not bad at all. I love getting to know my fellow TLC sisters and enjoyed learning about our job for the next year. It's amazing to learn about everything I never knew about ZTA and to build on the knowledge I already had. Many of you have asked if I know where I will be going first. To answer that question, no and we may not know for another week. However, be on the lookout for me to start dropping hints on what college I'll be visiting first once I do know! Till then, I'll keep on learning what there is to learn :-)

So fast forward from that night in September 2009 and it would be hard to imagine my life now without ZTA. After all, this organization has been one of the biggest influences on my life and it's now provided me with my first job out of college. Last night Caitlin, my recruitment counselor, texted me with the above quote picture asking me if I remembered that night of flipping a coin. Little did I know at that time of flipping a coin, but Caitlin was a ZTA and we became sisters. She got to watch me grow up in the chapter as a leader, and I got to watch her advance on to higher positions on Panhellenic Council. Without the flip of that special quarter on that September night, I might not be sitting here fixing to travel the country. 

So to Caitlin and her coin...thank you for making me follow my heart!