To Lead and Leave with the Legacy of a Panhellenic Woman

Writers: Caroline B. and Emma M. / Editor: Savannah T. / Photo editor: Brooke F. / Photos submitted by chapter

The women who enter the Panhellenic Community at FSU and leave it with grace, go into the real world and do big and great things. They are a testament to the ideals and inspiration this organization is meant to instill into the next generation of working women, and the generation after that, and the generation after that. Here are 15 beautiful women from 15 of our beautiful chapters who have gone above and beyond, made our community proud of who we are, and who have gone on to pursue impressive and powerful careers.

Monica M. describes herself as  “a passionate Pisces,” an avid baker, lover of dogs, business-casual attire Instagram guru, and most importantly an alumni of the Delta Zeta chapter here at Florida State University. The highlight of her college experience was being able to serve as a Panhellenic Delegate for DZ. When asked how her sisters have supported her in her career post-grad she replied “besides being my hype squad?” Her best advice for current seniors is not stress about that first job after college because “it is all going to be okay” in the end! She is currently working as an account coordinator at PRESS + PR and Marketing. Her main responsibilities are doing public relations work for real estate developers, entertainment destinations, and food and beverage companies. Monica describes public relations, her major during her time at FSU, as “professional storytelling” and shares her love for the spontaneity within her career saying, “Some days I work the traditional desk job and others I am on site until midnight” she explained. 

Emily H., an alumni of Phi Mu, graduated from FSU in 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She now lives in Gainesville and enjoys caring for her cats and spending as much time outside as possible when she’s not working night shifts. Emily decided on nursing due to her love for being able to advocate for her patients and “make what they are experiencing less scary.” The memories she cherishes the most during her time at Florida State were those made while living in-house her sophomore through senior year. Transitioning to the working world after college was met with a lot of mixed emotions, as she went from living with 26 women to living alone. Emily is currently working as a RN in the Pediatric ICU. She is currently working at Children’s Miracle Network hospital, which also happens to be Phi Mu’s philanthropy. “It’s amazing to be able to see and use the equipment and services that are made possible through donations” she shared. 

Maria B., an alumni of Alpha Gamma Delta, is currently living in New York City and spends her time walking in Central Park, going to the Met, seeing Broadway shows, and trying new food around the city. As a Senior Account Coordinator for Rubenstein, a public relations firm in NYC, her client list includes organizations such as the Metropolitan Opera, the MoMA, and the Yankees and Rockefeller Center. She graduated from Florida State with a dual degree in Media/Communication Studies and Political Science. Big Little reveal was among some of her favorite memories in Alpha Gamma Delta. “My big and little are two of my best friends and favorite people in the world” she explained. While leaving FSU was difficult for her, she was glad to have the support of her entire sorority family in celebrating her graduation.

Jordan A., an alumni of Delta Gamma, enjoys yoga, hiking, going to the beach, and spending time outdoors in her free time. She recently launched an activewear brand called Kosha Fit. Jordan had limited knowledge on entrepreneurship so the start-up process was challenging. Seeing women engage with her brand and “see women feel confident and empowered” made it worth it in the end. Jordan’s time at FSU was cut short as a result of the COVID-19. Jordan’s sisters at DG showed her an immense amount of support in helping her pack up her apartment, supporting her through her interviews, and visiting her post graduation. She credits her sisters for keeping her motivated throughout the intimidating process of starting a business. “They did more than I could have ever asked for and have been so supportive through it all” she explained.

Cathryn K., an alumni of Kappa Alpha Theta, was a fall graduate of the class of 2018 and she moved to Washington, D.C. shortly after. She is still living there and spends her time exploring the city’s rich history, visiting nearby national parks, and trying the wide variety of cuisine available. Working on her first Florida Senate campaign in 2016 led her to changing her major to Political Science immediately so she could fully immerse herself in everything related to government and politics.” Cathryn is currently working as a Political Media Associate for a firm called MHW. When applying for this job she shared that she felt immensely underqualified and was apprehensive. However, her sisters in Kappa Alpha Theta believed in her throughout the process. “Thetas (new and old) were editing my resumes and writing samples, helping me prepare for my interviews” she shared. Under this job title, she was given the opportunity to work her national election cycle, travelling to different states and producing a number of political campaigns.

Katelyn C., an alumni of Delta Delta Delta, currently lives in Tampa, FL and spends her free time running, going to the beach, and spending quality time with her dogs. “I have always had a passion for helping people and my goal is to impact as many lives as I can” she shared, which attracted her to double majoring in Nursing and Family & Child Sciences. Katelyn spoke fondly of senior year recruitment week with her sisters in Delta Delta Delta. The sisterhood that she found within her chapter made leaving FSU that much harder. Katelyn expressed the challenges she faced in completing nursing school and the ways in which her sisters pushed her to keep going, she recounts receiving texts of support before every exam and at the end of every semester. She is currently employed at Tampa General hospital and hopes to become a nurse practitioner in the future.

Sarah M., a proud alumna of 2019, from Pensacola, Florida, is a tradition starter for Noles girls in the Manning family. With 2 of her 3 younger sisters, Sarah attended FSU. During her time, Sarah was a member of Kappa Delta, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Communication Science and Disorders. Initially, Sarah was headed towards the medical field, when, following her co-founding of ASL workshops for FSU’s college of medicine, she had a mid-college-crisis that made her realize her passion was for advocacy. Following a “bittersweet” graduation, leaving the familiarity of the community that made much of the woman she is today, she still managed to keep her bright eyes for the future. Currently, Sarah has been actively pursuing her J.D, alongside an internship with the KIPP DC’s legal team, she has been carrying a role as Vice President for Student Affairs, acting as a Lead Articles Editor for Catholic University Law Review, and all the while composing her own legal article. In doing all of the amazing and difficult work described above, she hopes to better understand how the legal system works, so she can better help communities like the ones she has worked with in years prior. Once her alarm goes off, she hits the ground running, with either a “class day” or a “workday”, but after the long workdays and even longer study nights, the biggest reward is the fact that she is almost 2/3 a lawyer. She plans to establish her own large non-profit to address the needs of groups that are underrepresented. And if that wasn’t enough, as a weekend gig, she wants to be a skydiving instructor and she’s only 22 jumps away for that becoming a reality.

Ally I. was born and raised a Noles fan. She is a recent graduate of FSU, saying her farewells in May of 2020. During her undergrad, she studied Family and Child Sciences with a Minor in Education and Minor in Public Administration, as “[she] has always known that the career path [she would] pursue would be centered around education, helping people, and forming interpersonal relationships.” Post graduating, Ally has been serving as a National Leadership Consultant for Chi Omega, which allows her to continue and combine her love for Chi Omega, education, and leadership development into one. Before all of this started however, last summer Ally hopped in her car and started driving West from Florida to California and back. She spent six weeks exploring 16 different states. In four days, she had a plan made. She feels we forget to take care of ourselves and to take time to cherish life and the small and large adventures in front of us. She had the time to hop in her car and go, so she did. This road trip allowed her to take time to reprioritize the important things in life, while also seeing the most breathtaking sites along the way. Her typical workday is working from home, interacting with Chi Omega collegians, Advisors, Alumnae and Headquarters Staff on a day-to-day basis via Zoom, where she has supported over 21 universities in 12 different states across the country. The most rewarding part? “Watching her chapter leaders build confidence in their abilities and make tangible progress within their roles”.

Christina P. graduated FSU in May of 2019 with a degree in Meteorology and now is commissioned by the air force as a weather officer. While at FSU, she had the opportunity to work part time as a meteorological analyst for Risk Management Solutions (RMS), which truly gave her insight into what her career field would look like and solidified her desire to pursue the major. When she graduated, she was super excited to be done with school and get a start on her career but was sad to leave college and not live five minutes from her best friends anymore. “Some of my best friends I met in AOII, so when we graduated, we made sure to keep in touch as much as possible,” she said. She’s currently working as a weather officer at NORAD & USNORTHCOM, with their primary mission being homeland defense, where she will be working through the end of March, then going on to prepare for her deployment to Al Udeid Air Base in July. Once she returns from her deployment, she’ll get to start her training for the Hurricane Hunters. She has always wanted to join the military to be a part of something bigger than herself, and “the Hurricane Hunters have such a unique mission that combines her love of weather and eagerness to serve”. What she loves about the mission at the Hurricane Hunters as well as her current job at NORAD, is that she is there to protect people.

Julia B. is a graduate of FSU’s Finance Major, as well as a graduate from the Sigma Delta Tau sisterhood. Post a graduation she was ready, but not ready for, Julia is currently a second-year law student at Stetson University, as well as an intern for a family court judge in the 6th Judicial Circuit. To explain graduation feels, she put it, “I don’t think anyone is truly ready because of how good we have it in Tallahassee. My sorority sisters and I were there for one another by just enjoying each other’s company and presence, and not stressing too much about the future.” But she has proven there is good to be found outside of Tally. For one, Julia has been able to connect to SDT’s philanthropy in more ways than she could have ever expected. Their philanthropy is Prevent Child Abuse America (PCAA) and it deals with child abuse and neglect awareness. They teach people how to be good competent parents and to not unintentionally neglect their children. Being exposed to the Family Court system through her internship and work experience has given her a greater appreciation for this amazing philanthropy. After she passes the bar to become a licensed attorney, she sees herself practicing in family law and other complex family matters. A long-term goal of hers is to open up her own practice and manage her own law firm. Julia aspires to become a family court judge.

Haley B. is an MBA candidate at FSU studying Human resources, with an undergraduate degree in marketing. Going into the full-time MBA program at FSU, she decided to switch gears into human resources. HR encompasses her passion for inclusion in the company’s practices. In the HR field she hopes to encourage and advocate for more inclusive hiring practices and overall work towards her passion of demonstrating the benefits of hiring individuals with IDD in the workplace. Haley is a planner. She had a secure job lined up by March 2020 and was excited to embark on her adventures as an LC. She had practically bought her new luggage set when her rho gam instincts had to kick in as all of her plans suddenly changed. After a call with Kappa HR all seven of the newly hired consultants had job offers rescinded due to COVID. Kappa Kappa Gamma was there for her when she shared her excitement after being hired and was just as much there for her when she lost her job. Graduating into a continually disintegrating job market, made graduation that much scarier, but with her sisters by her side she overcame these challenges. Grad school was something she always dreamed to do later in life. Her best friend, sister, rho gam double, and former Philia editor, Katie K., was her rock during this time and they decided to embark on applying to the MBA program together. Come June, they received news that they both would be full-time MBA candidates at FSU. Upon starting the program, she was even able to become close with sisters that she never had a chance to hang out with in undergrad (she has made a sweet sister shout out to Maddie Pilch!)

Sarah B., a graduate of the College of Communication and Information, as well as a graduate of Pi Beta Phi at FSU, took her collegiate experience and skill set with her into the real world immediately following graduation. She hit the ground running with a full-time job at L3Harris Technologies, a global aerospace and defense technology innovator. She joined an IT Leadership Program where she rotated to a different department in IT every year for three years. She has worked as Financial Applications Analyst and is currently working as Web Application Developer and Certified Scrum Master. In these roles she works with providing critical information to the customers of L3Harris Tech., makes applications, as well as provides tools and solutions for tasks that would otherwise be very time consuming. If that sounds like a lot, that is because it is! Her future and final role will be working as a Security Engineer in Cybersecurity where she will mitigate cyber threats and risks to the company. During her senior year, she had six rounds of interviews for the position. She had multiple sorority sisters that helped her prepare for her interviews and even mock interviewed her to help her become more confident. Before all of this realness, Sarah was graduating with sisters supporting her at every step. They ate at all of their favorite restaurants and went to pick up their cap and gowns together, in their final days in Tally together. Her sorority sisters and the role she had as chapter president was her highlight of college. Being appointed Chapter President was rewarding to her in many ways, but her favorite highlight is “seeing the new traditions and decisions that the 2018 executive board put into place, still be in effect today, and see the new executive boards build upon those each year.” Her legacy was left with love.

Alexandra D., alumna of Alpha Chi Omega, graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Management and Management Information Systems with a Minor in Analytics. The relationships are easily the highlight of Alexandra’s experience in Alpha Chi Omega. As cheesy as it may sound, she* has truly made some life-long friends through AXO. “During college they were my family away from home, the women who picked me up when I was down and the ones who cheered for my successes along the way– today they still are.” Her sisters meant the world, but it was her Global Exchange Program within the College of Business that was the brightest light of her collegiate experience. For Alexandra, this took place at Fudan University in Shanghai, China. She* had a rather unconventional graduation given her last semester was spent in Shanghai, China. Due to the timing differences for semesters in China and the US, while she would graduate in the spring, she would not make the Spring Graduation Ceremony. Gratefully, FSU allowed her to walk in the Summer Graduation Ceremony when she returned to the United States. Following summer graduation, she was hired as an IT Ford College Graduate, soon to become a part of the IT organization. Alexandra has to say about her profession, that “while I am aware I work in a male dominated industry, I don’t let it affect my thoughts or presentation. I am not one to back down to a challenge and being an all or nothing kind of gal has served me well in this environment. I continue to be me, I bring my whole self to work, put everything I have on the table and I push myself to be vulnerable and take (calculated) risks. It’s not always easy, there have been times I’ve had to stand up for myself and I’ve learned some difficult lessons (making mistakes along the way), but I’ve grown more than I ever imagined and found some wonderful mentors to lean into. I believe the most important thing someone can do for their career is to continuously seek skills to develop and opportunities to grow.” She is a living example of what a panhellenic woman is- strong. We can do anything we put our minds to.

Sarah M. had a quote that seems beyond fitting to put a wrap on highlighting all of the beautiful women that have come and gone through the Panhellenic Community at FSU and the legacy we all aspire to one day leave. To all that are here now and the women to join and carry this organization in the future, Sarah says: “If there’s any advice that I can offer to a fellow Panhellenic woman, it would be to choose courage and kindness every day. It’s never easy to step outside of your comfort zone, to speak up for someone who can’t, to be kind and calm in adverse situations. College is challenging for a whole host of reasons, but these years are a crucial time for increased self-awareness and growth. This is the time to go for that position you keep wondering if you’re good enough for, the time to go the extra mile in community outreach, and the time to finally say hello to that person you’ve always wanted to know more about. Step forward with confidence, maintain humility, because you still have a lot to learn—as we all do—and above all, go forth to share kindness. I promise you will never regret doing these things. What a gift it is to have such an empowering, loving support system that is your chapter and greater Panhellenic community.”