You Are What You Repeatedly Do

I remember studying for a fifth-grade test that covered bones and I distinctly recall my father giving me little tricks to remember certain bones.  I can remember “Pat Ella” (my kneecap). For learning my state capitals, my father helped me remember Austin was the capital of Texas by connecting Austin Crackers.  Little did I know that my father instilled two important things; the first was that my education was valuable enough that it was worth his time to help me study and the second was how word associations helped. This has influenced me greatly as I have become a father, and as a Student Affairs professional. 

As I have grown older, I see how people are products of their environments every day. I see it when parents model for their children to use respectful phrases like “Yes Ma’am” and “Yes Sir.” I see it in a negative fashion when adults display rude behavior in front of children. And as a fraternity professional, I see this in both positive and negative lights when it comes to chapter’s New Member program.   

You are what you repeatedly do, and people are products of their environments. What does your chapter do?  Does your chapter include new members in meetings, committees, and chapter decision-making or does your chapter exclude new members from such things?  What message does each send? Does your chapter require late-night sober drivers that are either done exclusively or overwhelmingly through new members? What message does that send? How do you think late-night driving might affect an individual’s (and a chapter’s) GPA? Does your chapter do stuff worse than this (late-night call downs, forced drinking, etc.)? What message does that send to new members? What do you feel someone gains from such activities? Could new member programs be done another way?   

Remember, you are what you repeatedly do, and people are products of their environments. As I have gained experience in parenthood, it gives me a further perspective on how to do a new member program the right way. I see the benefits of taking a positive and active role with my child, and I see the benefits of chapters that take a positive and active role with new members. The irony is that the same time spent creating negative and potentially dangerous activities can instead be spent creating positive programs that cultivate positive fraternity men and sorority women. It’s not a matter of time, but rather a matter of priorities. I will always remember my father for being a great man who spent his time cultivating me in a positive way. Likewise, I will remember those fraternity men who positively affected me in a positive way. How do you want to be remembered? 

When connecting my fraternity’s values of Love, Honor, and Truth to a new member program, one could easily ask oneself does the new member program reflect Love, Honor, and Truth? Remember, you are what you repeatedly do, and people are products of their environments.  Love.  Honor.  Truth.  NOTHING LESS.