I spent last weekend at another amazing Chi Omega Leadership event, The Nancy Walton Laurie Leadership Institute Spring Flagship session of the Resilient Leader. I attended with seventy amazing Chi Omegas about half collegians and half alumnae. Don’t worry, I’m not going to wax poetic about my glory days at Michigan or how much the Cardinal and Straw has meant to me, although I reserve the right to do that again in the future.
However, I cannot stop thinking about how incredible these collegians were and are and will be. Forget Baby Boomers, Wedge Generation, Gen X, Millennials and Generation Z, this is Generation WOW and I mean really! Wow. These women are amazing and I am here for them, each and every one of them. I am so grateful for every minute that I got to spend with each of them. And you know what I think? I think that perhaps the Greatest Generation is yet to come!
Wow! They are incredibly smart and focused. So many of my younger Chi O sisters are set to graduate on time or early. I confess that I was on the 4 and a half year plan and would have stayed longer if finances had permitted. Not these wonder women, they are ready to get on to what is next. They started with 10+ AP courses and they are set to conquer something, sooner rather than later. We best get out of their way.
Wow, are they funny! Their senses of humor had me laughing all weekend long. They are witty and wise without being sarcastic or mean spirited, at all. They support each other all day long. It was like walking in to a room of my best friends but 30 or 40 years younger. They are so astute and observant and clever. I just want to listen and laugh and learn from them more and more.
Wow! Are they ever committed to doing what is right! Very, very committed. I am committed to overcoming wrong when it touches my life, but these ladies are stirred by injustice when they see it ANYWHERE in the world. We had talks about a campus that didn’t want to accommodate someone in a chapter during rush who needed to use a wheelchair! We had talks about a campus that was struggling to make their cafeterias welcoming to students who are differently abled who find themselves eating in their rooms rather than being a burden to others. I also had the immense privilege of being in the Owl breakout session with a collegian who has been fully embraced by her collegiate chapter as an active member with Autism. She was so inspiring to us in her group and the session – as is the entire inclusive chapter that welcomed her into our sisterhood. I am blessed to know her. You would be too!
These younger sisters, including a couple that I mentor regularly, and my own soon to be Chi Omega daughter in law, are an amazing source of inspiration and encouragement to me. I thought that I was a high achieving sister, but I am quite certain that they will be lapping all of my accomplishments before they have the chance to say “40 Under 40”. I’m also fairly certain that it is not unique to just the Cardinal and Straw. This generation has figured out that the collection of material goods is not worth trading your finite time. This generation gets the power of relationships and love. This generation has it largely figured out.
Wow. Just Wow.