As Greek Week approaches, members of the Greek community are putting the finishing touches on months of hard work and preparation while juggling the pressures of school and their personal lives.

Delta Cruising

Sydney Wooten, a sophomore special education major and music chair for Delta Delta Delta sorority, spent many months and hours planning and preparing for Greek Sing, an event in which sororities and fraternities sing a selection of songs.

“I got this position in November of last year,” Wooten said. “I’ve had this certain theme planned out since June of last year.”

Delta Delta Delta’s theme is “Delta Cruising” and Wooten picked songs that have something to do with sailing.

While managing Greek Sing, Wooten said she learned how to deal with the demands of her classes and a leadership position.

“Sleep has helped me with the stress,” Wooten said. “I’ve (also) got my schedule down. I am done with class at five, work on school work, rehearse with the girls and devote the remainder of my time to school.”

Every moment of Wooten’s free time has been spent preparing for Greek Sing.

“Most of my winter break and spring break were consumed with Greek Sing, especially because we’ve won the competition three years in a row,” Wooten said.

Preparing for Greek Sing is like putting any actual choir together, she said.

With the help of the house’s pianist, Caleb McGregor, Wooten found music that “tailored” to the Tri-Deltas and looked for uniforms all the girls could wear.

Wooten said her position in the sorority has made her realize just how much she loves her house.

“I have no idea what I would do if didn’t have this house,” Wooten said. “It is my everything.”

Her sorority has held her together during her time at Eastern, she said. It helped her maintain her grades. The girls are “their own support system,” Wooten said.

“We all have that core value that we’re always going to help each other no matter what,” Wooten said.

On top of school and Greek Week, the Greeks give back to several charitable organizations.

“We care about school and helping everybody out,” Wooten said.

In July 2010, Tri-Delta announced it would raise $15 million in five years, according to tridelta.org.

The sorority, spread out across the nation, raised more than $5.7 million this year.

Air Band is for everyone

Like Sydney Wooten, Shawn Clary, a senior family and consumer sciences major and captain of Airband for Tri- Delta, devoted many hours of planning for the sorority’s performance during Greek Week.

“Over the course of three months, I put in at least four hours a day to prepare for the event,” Clary said.

Balancing so many extracurricular activites has left Clary with little or no free time, she said.

“The last three weeks I’ve gone to class and then worked on preparations,” Clary said.

Clary said “sometimes it seems impossible” to handle the pressures of school and Greek life, but with organization she has managed to stay on top of everything.

“I have a color-coded planner and a schedule on my phone to remind me where I’m supposed to be and what I’m doing,” Clary said.

Since its first participation in air band,Tri-Delta has never won or placed in the competition.

Every year the winners fluctuate, but this year the Tri-Deltas want to change that and place in the competition, Clary said.

“Every fraternity and sorority has its own strengths,” Clary said. “Greek Sing has been one of our strong suits.”

Clary is going through her senior year, and like many seniors she is trying her best to find a job.

“I have not even begun to apply for jobs right now because of Greek Week and school,” Clary said. “It seems like I’m living in some parallel universe.”

When she first took up the position, Clary tried to take care of the preparations for Airband by herself.

“You can’t do it alone,” Clary said. “If you try to do it alone, you will fail. It’s not about you; it’s about the sorority. I just represent my chapter.”

Clary said she took up the leadership position to represent her sorority, not to be referred to as a captain.

“Some of the younger girls may find it difficult to understand where I’m coming from, but when they get older they will understand why this is so important to me,” Clary said.

Greek Week celebrates the Greek community and everyone is welcome to come and watch the competitions.

“I understand why some students might think the sororities and fraternities are inclusive,” Clary said. “They see us with our letters and it looks like we’re a part of some club.”

Regarding misperceptions, Clary said when someone joins a fraternity and sorority, they too look for friends.

“I struggled to make friends my freshman year,” Clary said. “I wanted to find people who were similar, and I found that in Tri-Delta.”

Her sorority is filled with a diverse group of girls, but she connected with everyone on some level, Clary said.

“I encourage everybody to try out. If it’s not for you, it’s not for everybody,” Clary said. “We try to push unity on campus, but there are problems involving inclusion within the Greek community,” Clary said.

Clary said she hopes students outside of the Greek community come watch the Greek Week events and join in the celebration.

Tugs—bigger than one

Chris Sudhoff, a junior communication studies major and member of Sigma Nu, said he changed his diet and went through rigorous workouts to prepare himself for Tugs, a tug-of-war competition at Campus Pond.

Sudhoff worked out Monday through Thursday and Sunday for at least on hour and shed 15 pounds for Tugs.

“It’s a very tight commitment; you have to get things done,” Sudhoff said.

In order to finish his homework, Sudhoff said he stays up until morning.

“I had to stay up and do homework. A professor won’t take any excuses,” Sudhoff said.

Sudhoff said he “jump-started” his training and the process can be “draining,” but his fraternity has pushed him to keep moving forward.

“This competition—Tugs—is much bigger than one person,” Sudhoff said.

To relieve himself of the stress, Sudhoff said he vents with his brothers.

Last year, Sigma Nu took second place in the Tugs competition.

“This year we are hoping to take the win,” Sudhoff said.

Jaime Lopez can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].