The craziest week of any fraternity or sorority member’s life has finally come to a close!
For those of you have no idea what I’m talking about – I’m talking about Greek Week! This week takes place every spring semester and consists of different events that each fraternity and sorority can participate in to show pride for their organization. Think of it like a mini version of the Olympics! So all of the sororities go against each other in the events, and the winners of each event get points so they can become Greek Week Champions. This was a crazy year for my sorority, Sigma Sigma Sigma, because we were defending our title.
Day #1: Tug-of-War
The first event of Greek Week was the classic game of Tug-of-War. Each fraternity and sorority created a team of five of their strongest members to go against other teams. Each team stands on opposite sides of the same rope, and as you would expect, they pull until the loser’s flag passes the pole. Tri Sigma’s team lost the first round to Theta Phi Alpha, but won the second round against Alpha Xi Delta, so we ended up placing second in Tug-of-War!
Day #2: Bubble Soccer
Bubble Soccer was the one event I was supposed to participate in! Bubble Soccer is just like regular soccer, except each person has to wear a giant bubble suit. This is entertaining because if people get too close, they start bouncing off one another! Unfortunately for us, the weather on this day wasn’t very permitting, so Bubble Soccer ended up being canceled.
Day #3: Boat Race
My favorite event in Greek Week has to be the Boat Race because it requires athletic skill and creativity. Each team has to construct a boat that they will be able to paddle across the pool without it falling apart. The team with the fastest time out of two attempts wins first place! My roommate Sierra was the one who made our boat, and she was also one of people to ride in it, along with Clare, one of our new members. During their first attempt, the boat capsized. Luckily, we had the chance at a second attempt! Sierra decided to go in the boat alone this time, which was good because it meant less weight, but it also meant less power. Somehow she was able to use both of her arms to paddle and she KILLED it! Because of Sierra’s smarts, we won first place in the Boat Race!
Day #4: Chariot Race
The Chariot Race – when the engineers at Embry-Riddle are truly put to the test. This race is very similar to the Boat Race, but instead of a boat, each team has to make a “chariot”. Not only do they have to make a chariot, but they must also have someone ride in it. This was our weakest event by far. Our team’s chariot broke on our first attempt, so we ended up placing in third.
Day #5: Softball Game, Dime & Rice Wars
The last day of Greek Week consisted of the Women’s Softball Game, which also celebrated Alpha Xi Delta’s Light It Up Blue week! In order for each organization to get points for their team, they need a certain percentage of their members to attend the game. Although we had a great turn out from our sorority, it wasn’t enough to make us the Greek Week champions and we ended up placing in second. But although we weren’t the overall winners for Greek Week this year, we did win in other aspects, which brings me to the Dime and Rice Wars…
Rice Wars was put on by one of the fraternities, Lambda Chi Alpha. Because their philanthropy is Feeding America, they decided to award points to the fraternity and sorority that brought in the most pounds of rice, so that it could be donated to a local food bank. Tri Sigma went rice crazy and we donated over 800 pounds of rice! It felt great knowing that our contributions would be feeding hungry families.
Dime Wars is when each organization has a bucket and earns points for every dime that is put in. The catch is that anything that isn’t a dime subtracts points. This was the craziest part of the week, because people were bringing in hundreds of dollars in dimes. The best thing about Dime Wars was that the money in each bucket went to that organizations philanthropy. At the end of the week, Sigma Sigma Sigma raised $680 for our philanthropy, the Robbie Page Memorial Fund, which supports play therapy for children in hospitals.
So although Sigma Sigma Sigma got second place in Greek Week overall, we definitely killed it when it came to supporting not only our own philanthropy, but others as well! Can’t wait for next year!
It’s great to be a Tri Sigma!
