DESTINATION SISTERHOOD: SEAWORLD

Zetas from all pledge classes getting to meet the Seaworld Characters. Get crowned Shamu!

Being a part of the Kappa chapter’s Sisterhood Team in Zeta Tau Alpha this past year has been an extremely rewarding experience for me. Working with two of my pledge sisters to ultimately strengthen the bond of our chapter was a blast, but it took a whole lot of planning and hard work behind the scenes. However, the positive feedback received from our sisters at the end of the day made it all worthwhile, and I couldn’t be more satisfied with our overall success as a team.

“What does the Sisterhood Team do?” you may ask. Well, Rachel Robillard, Courtney Norris and I were in charge of managing the relations between members of our chapter and planning fun events for our sisters to enjoy with one another. In other words – no boys allowed.

Perhaps our largest, most detailed and planned out event of the year was one that recently took place a few weeks ago on Saturday, October 27^th. Ladies and gentlemen, the women of the Kappa chapter of Zeta Tau Alpha took SEAWORLD!

As Sisterhood Chairman, Rachel Robillard took it upon herself to plan (in excruciating detail I might add) a trip for 100 girls in our chapter to enjoy a day at SeaWorld at NO additional cost! Sounds too good to be true, right?

Sisterhood Chair Rachel Robillard (PC '11) feeding a dolphin! Thanks
for planning a fantastic sisterhood event, Rachel!

After months of contact with the appropriate event coordinators, follow-ups with bus transportation, meetings with Hope and Amy, our chapter advisors, as well as large amounts of PR to hype everyone up, the 100 spots were quickly filled and the Zetas were more than ready for an aquatic adventure! We all met at the Zeta house that Saturday at 11 AM to check-in and obtain our tickets to the park, as well as our meal vouchers. Once everyone had arrived, we excitedly boarded the buses to begin our hour-and-a-half venture to SeaWorld San Antonio!

The trip took a bit longer than expected, but once we arrived at the park everyone was more than ready to get the day started. Rollercoaster buddy groups were immediately formed, and a large portion of the girls split-off to wait in line for rides such as The Steel Eel, Great White, Journey to Atlantis and more. Those of us (like me) who aren’t big rollercoaster fans consolidated and headed straight to the exhibits.

Perhaps the highlight of the trip for me was the experience my little, Blakeley, and close friend in Zeta, Sarah and I had at the shark exhibit. While watching these terrifying fish swim around in the tank, a SeaWorld employee approached us and asked if we had any questions about anything. After gaining a little basic understanding about the fish, we engaged in some small talk and learned that he was a sophomore in college studying to become a marine biologist. After going into a little more detail about his field of study, he offered to take the three of us on a VIP tour of the upstairs aquarium. We obviously weren’t going to turn that down, so we followed him into the “Employees Only” door, up the stairs, and to the top of the shark tanks.

It was unreal. To be up at the top of a fish tank filled with millions of gallons of water and peering into the aquarium at humongous sharks that we were once looking at along with everyone else was incredible. We even met a few of the trainers as well as the scuba divers who dive into the tanks to clean and feed the sharks. It truly was an awesome experience.

Ashley Allison, Rachel Robillard, and Annick Rivas (all PC '11)
took on the Steel Eel!

The rest of the day at SeaWorld was just as enjoyable for everyone else. We all met up at a pavilion around 2 to enjoy a buffet lunch and our Spirit Chair, Katie Kratkiewicz, presented SeaWorld themed awards for a few of our outstanding ladies. One of the park’s event coordinators even provided door prizes to raffle off to us, too!

After lunch, everyone got back to the fun of riding more rides, watching Shamu’s “One Ocean” performance or even just grabbing some Dippin’ Dots and browsing at the different shops. By the time 6:30 rolled around, though, it was clear by the looks on everyone’s faces that they had had their fair share of fun, and we boarded the buses to head back to Home Sweet Austin, Texas.

All in all, I couldn’t be more satisfied with the turnout of the SeaWorld event. It was so fulfilling to hear all the girls talk about their days back on the bus, and knowing that everyone had a blast was a great feeling. Participating in events like these remind me of how fortunate I am to be surrounded by such an amazing group of women, and to be a part of such an incredible sorority such as Zeta Tau Alpha.

I truly hope that the Destination Sisterhood event becomes an annual occurrence, because I can’t wait to partake in something just as (if not more) fun with all my Zistas next year!

Destination Sisterhood: SeaWorld – SUCCESS.

Sloane Schaumburger

Assistant Sisterhood Chairman

PC ‘11