In light of the current situation in the United States our fitrst spotlight sister is
Allison Keveny Kendall
Here is a little bit about Alllison - by Allison!
Hi there,
Ah, my life. It's has been something, I can tell you that!
I remember my start in the sorority. I had met some girls from Nu Sig in my Freshman year, but I really did not think too much of it at the time. My friends were not impressed with Greek life at all, so I did not give it much thought. That summer, before my sophomore year, I met a sister that worked in the Friendly's near my home. I thought that she was pretty, eloquent and smart. That was Debbie Sarfas. My discussion with her intrigued me and lead to my interest in Nu Sig. At first, my interest was a big secret and I didn’t share this with interest with my friends.
Rush started that fall and I met a lot more girls. I was impressed with how nice the girls were. How down to Earth they were and that they were genuine. I felt so lucky that I got a bid!! I was happy and very excited about it. I started pledging and never even told my boyfriend at the time, that I was pledging! I knew that he would be angry and he was angry when I did tell him. He thought "they" were taking me away from him. Well, I pledged for myself not for him. So as you can imagine, I ended that relationship that year!
I found pledging to be a bit difficult at the time. I had some trouble remembering things, thus my pledge name of "Fudd". (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Kadda...yes, Kadda was in my vocabulary!!) The most difficult part of that semester and worst thing ever happened, shortly into pledging. My mother died of ovarian cancer. After spending time at home, I returned to school and returned to pledging. I became a sister with my pledge class on Hell Night, which I must say was not my best night for memory. I was an Oopaloompa, from the Fall of 1994 pledge class.
People had asked me if I was close with my mother. Yes, I was close with my mother, but I also knew that if I didn’t get back to living life, I may never have gone back to the life that I had.
Eighteen months later, I had another tragedy in the family. My father died of Pancreatic Cancer. He had shown symptoms of the disease 6 months before he passed. The doctors did not know what was wrong with him, they thought it may have been Hepatitis. It was not. That spring of '96 I went home for
Spring Break, and found out a week before he passed, that he had cancer. I withdrew from school that semester and stayed home. That summer I went to summer school to help catch up on classes, and I returned to Cortland in the Fall.
I was so happy to come back to school, in the fall of 96, and to see all of my friends and sisters! I started to get back into the swing of Nu Sig Life. I was going to mixers and trying to have some fun. The weekend of the SU/ Army game was so much fun. Some of the girls and some of the guys from West Point were friends. We were able to get tickets for the football game. We had a blast! We had a get together Friday night and Saturday night. There was a mixer Saturday night. We all enjoyed ourselves that night. It did get a little crazy and I took photos of a cadet doing keg stands!! Later in the evening I was introduced to a really sweet guy named John. We exchanged emails and phone numbers. For a while, we kept in touch by way of the computer and telephone. I eventually got the film developed from the mixer and couldn’t believe that it was of him doing the keg stand!
We talked and typed to each other, until the following Easter weekend, when we had our first date. When I graduated, I moved in with him while he was in flight school, in Alabama. We got engaged the Easter of '99 in a log cabin in the middle of the Smokey Mountains. In September of 2000, we were married at the West Point Chapel. For our honeymoon we went to Rome, Vatican City, Sicily, Greece and Turkey.
Because of all the moves we’ve made due to military life, my occupations certainly have varied. I have worked and volunteered in nursing homes for The Activity Dept. The Dept. loves to put me in charge of the Alzheimer's floors.
For two years I was a Case Manager (Social Worker) for the mentally ill in Nashville TN. I had my own office in the projects, which I loved! I have the most interesting stories from that experience. I frequented the alcohol and drug rehabilitation offices, the jails, prisons, and other correctional institutions as a case manager. I have been frisked, and I didn't even get a phone number...! J I have been to the "Mental Health" wings of hospitals, and have gotten stuck in "lock down". I have gone to Criminal Court, Civil Court, Federal Court and Mental Health Court. I have been on television on multiple occasions because one of my cases was a “bad girl.”
Another job that I had was working in a helicopter simulator building. That was a great job. I was able to meet a lot of people. They were great! Especially the pilots, that are most likely in the middle east right now. I have met foreign officers. I have met people from the CIA, as well as Generals of the Army. Military living has its perks!!
Recently, with the new duty station, life has been interesting. We are now Living in Seoul, South Korea. I have had the opportunity to teach English, to young children. I taught from Kindergarten to 7th grade students, whom were all Korean. I realized why I did not major in teaching while at Cortland! Currently I am hoping to find a job on post.
When I look back and I am able to see how one simple decision made a huge difference in my life. I pledged in the Fall of 1994. I stayed in the house for 2 years. I have so many memories of the sorority. Nu Sigma Chi has played a major role in my life. That one simple decision to pledge is a decision that I am forever grateful that I made!
Love in NEX,
Allison Kendall (Keveny)
