Interview with
2006-2007 Regional Consultant
Natalie Swierzbin
The following email
interview was conducted with Region Consultant Natalie Swierzbin.
Brother Swierzbin as an alumna of the Gamma Epsilon Chapter at the
University of Florida. As a consultant, she is charged with
counseling chapters via phone contact and visitations. Work
with chapter development includes recruitment, risk management,
image enhancement, and parliamentary procedure.
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When did you join Phi Sigma Pi and why?
I
joined Phi Sigma Pi in Fall 2002. A good friend of mine had been
a Brother for two years, and I’d always heard such positive and
wonderful things about it, so I decided to check it out. The
rest, as they say, is history!
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How has the fraternity
influenced you as a person?
Phi
Sigma Pi has taught me so much about leadership, time
management, and teamwork. It’s also taught me to be more
selfless, and to think of the greater good of the Brotherhood.
It makes those early morning stadium cleanups (Gamma Epsilon
knows what I’m talking about!) all worthwhile, because it may
not necessarily be the ideal situation for me, but it benefits
the future Brotherhood, and that’s what’s important.
- Why did
you join Phi Sigma Pi?
Coming
from a small high school, where I had my own niche on campus, to
a huge University like UF, it was a bit of a culture shock.
There were SO many people, and so much to do. I wanted to find
my place on campus, and Phi Sigma Pi gave me just that. It also
made a campus of 45,000+ students seem much smaller.
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How would you describe your
experiences at the college?
I
absolutely loved college. I did so many new things (going
backpacking in the woods for three days with six other Brothers,
standing for 32 hours in Dance Marathon all four years, taking
countless road trips), and I have Phi Sigma Pi to thank for
that.
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What positions did you hold as a collegiate brother of Phi
Sigma Pi?
I was
Brother Bonding Chair for two semesters (it’s a position that
works with social to plan smaller scale events, and icebreakers
at meetings), then I was Public Relations Chair for a semester,
and most recently I was Historian for three semesters.
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How would you describe your
experiences as a brother in the fraternity?
I’ve
met so many incredible people, and I really believe that I’ve
learned something from every Brother of this fraternity. I say
this all the time, but I’m constantly amazed that a group of
college students can accomplish such amazing things. Being a
part of that is one of the best experiences of my life.
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What is your favorite memory as a brother in Phi Sigma Pi?
There
are so many! There are the obvious ones, like continually
excelling at Dance Marathon and raising so much money for
Children’s Miracle Network, or traveling to many National
Conventions, cheering on the Florida Gators in the Swamp with 50
of my closest friends, and being awarded the Chapter Service Key
by Gamma Epsilon. But I think the memories that mean the most to
me are those times when I’m out with my friends, my Brothers,
and I look around and realize how lucky and blessed I am to have
such an amazing extended family in my life.
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Why did you want to become a
Region Consultant?
I’m
sure this is the standard answer, but I promise it’s true! I
really didn’t feel like I was giving enough back to an
organization that’s given me so much. I knew Region Consultant
would be a way to do that on a national level and reach out to
an even greater number of Brothers.
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What do you like most about
being a Region Consultant?
There
are so many things to love about this job. I absolutely love
traveling, and seeing so many areas of the country that I
probably wouldn’t have gone to had it not been for this job. I
think the best part of the job is meeting all of the amazing
Brothers of this organization, and also learning about what
makes each chapter unique, and helping them to be the best
chapter they can be. That’s really what it’s all about for me.