Alpha Theta Phi Chapter - Phi Theta Kappa - LaGuardia Community College

by Heebeom Yang Talking with alumni, Yoseph Lee and Seungh wan Oh, definitely helped guide me through the process of running for a NY Regional Officer position. I took a look and see what kind of work I would have to do as the Alumni Representative regional officer and what the eligibility requirements were for the position. Before I decided to run for the position, I contacted the current Alumni Representative, Carlos to get some tips for the elections.                 He told me that the position really depends on my talent and how I deliver my speech within two minutes.  Having gone through for the election and given a speech, I would suggest to prospective active members that to run for an officer will definitely challenge you. The election required me to have good communication skills to deliver my message to the audience. Also, I needed creative ideas on how I could make contributions to the New...

by Heebeom Yang This blog posting explains the Phi Theta Kappa nomination and election process and what it means to be the Executive Secretary. First, you must attend at least one general meeting prior to the election, speak with the current officer in the position you want, read the Alpha Theta Phi chapter bylaws, and speak with an advisor about your intention to run for an officer position. Second, a candidate can be nominated in several ways: at the Election meeting, you can nominate yourself or nominate someone else to run for an officer position.             What are the Executive Secretary’s roles responsibilities and how do you get them done? If someone asked me what the Executive Secretary does, I would answer that the person takes minutes at all meetings and is responsible for communication with prospective and current chapter members. The minutes maintain an accurate record of all general and officers meetings. Seco...

“One of the qualifications for being a five star chapter.” By Heebeom Yang Phi Theta Kappa International Honors Society (PTK) is an organization which promotes higher academic achievement. PTK implements five star membership for chapters which depends on members’ achievements in terms of scholarship, fellowship, and leadership. Our responsibilities and duties as active chapter members is to maintain our chapter’s 5-star rating.                 Our chapter implements a College Project and Honors in Action (HIA) event in order to qualify as a 5-star chapter. Our Alpha Phi Theta chapter has been working on the Honors in Action, a research project, since last June. The purpose of the HIA project is to define a problem and find an answer to it. In order to conduct research we used the Honors Study Topic booklet to choose a main topic. Throughout the summer we did research on the chosen topic and organized a...

Dear Phi Theta Kappans, The new member orientation powerpoint is now viewable online! Click and learn more about PTK. http://goo.gl/z0dfqs

by Tishara Reid       I was thrilled to be among those that attended Phi Theta Kappa’s annual regional conference. This year, the conference was held in Corning , New York. It was truly an awesome experience! At the conference I got a chance to take part in fellowship with students from other chapters, and hear from a host of different admissions officers from institutions such as New York University and Long Island University. Additionally, the conference also had dynamic speakers that opened my eyes to so many new ideas.     On Saturday morning we had breakout sessions where we were able to go to different workshops that were covering different topics. The workshop I attended was focused on chapter recruitment. The presenters for this workshop were actually chapter officers from Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC). They did a really phenomenal job and, at first, I was shocked that they were actually students! They spoke so eloquentl...

by Peter Kim Last week’s Phi Theta Kappa NY regional conference held in Corning, NY was quite an exceptional experience. Our chapter was recognized regionally for our work such as the HIA project, College Project, and other Hallmarks. I personally liked the workshop session which discussed leadership and Competitive Edge. What is Competitive Edge? It’s one of the PTK resources that help members engage in PTK activities even if they are not active within the chapter. The online programs develops members' leadership skills by having them complete various activities and online course work. For all PTK members, Competitive Edge recognizes one’s engagement in extracurricular activities, and how one learns and grows because of it. For example, it helps you to learn more about yourself, to strengthen leadership and professional skills, and to create an online portfolio (Mahara) to recognize members’ accomplishments to gain a competitive advantage. Mahara is an ePortfolio system which...

by Esmeralda Vargas I recently attended a Phi Theta Kappa Regional conference in Corning, New York. At this event there were multiple guest speakers, one of them was named Steve Gibbs. The presentation was a discussion about glass and elaborated on the usage, history and preparation of the material. Mr. Gibbs made the audience aware of the value of glass, and how this substance has lead to the success of the Corning Museum of Glass.  The city of Corning is known for its famous Museum of Glass. This museum shows its visitors the significance of glass throughout history by showcasing numerous glass sculptures that were created by former generations of glassmakers. The Glass museum also informs the public about the impact and development glass has had on society through an “Innovation center” exhibit. There, the role of glass in major discoveries and creations, such as eye glasses, is explained. Mr. Gibbs spoke about how his passion for glass has allowed him to travel around ...

by Ross Adler During the PTK 28th Annual New York Regional Conference, we listened to a host of great motivational speakers. One of the speakers during the conference was Jon Vroman. He discussed, in a very captivating way, how to live college life in the front row. Living college life in the front row means that we’re not just spectators sitting at the back but instead we’re going to be participants fully engaged and making the most of what our college life can offer.                 According to Vroman, living college life in the front row involves several different steps. The first step is connecting. By connecting with advisors, peers, and professors, you create a network of people who can help you advance your professional life. The second step is creating. Whatever your major is or whatever you do on campus, it is important for you to create. Creating can come in the form of research, innovation, an...

by Esmeralda Vargas Phi Theta Kappa Hallmark Awards represent the four values that the honor society holds, which are hallmarks of scholarship, leadership, service and fellowship. The Hallmark awards are a series of essay questions that each chapter answers in order to be recognized for the excellence that their officers and or advisors have demonstrated individually, as well as the excellence the chapter itself has demonstrated as a team. The Hallmark awards, question the chapters about events, research, community service etc. they have conducted and how these contributions have positively effected their members and/or community. Chapters from 2-year colleges compete with one another to win the awards given from participating in this venture. In addition, participating in the Hallmark Awards encourages officers, members, and advisors to continue their ambition to further the academic environment in their colleges. Composing Hallmark essays is very lengthy journey that can be ...

by Christian Glatz In continuing with the traditions of Phi Theta Kappa (PTK), the chapter participated in a regional conference held in Corning, N.Y. The theme of the conference was Frontiers and the Spirit of Exploration , which was very fitting since scientist in Corning are the leading experts in the development of the purest form of glass which is then used in fiber optic communications.                                            Whether it is discovering new civilizations, planets, medicine or ways to construct the tallest building, all has been accomplished by brave men and women with strong spirits of exploration willing to embark on a journey to those frontiers. With this idea in mind, PTK’s executive committee set the Honors Study Topic for the Honors in Action (HIA) project.              ...

by Christian Glatz Being an honor student is not enough to prepare you for a successful career. Academic preparation and being an active member of a community will give you a strong foundation for a lifetime of achievements. One of these communities dedicated to develop leadership, fellowship, scholarship and service is Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society. Being a member of Phi Theta Kappa has benefited me in more ways than I can explain. Some of these major benefits are: CollegeFish.org, five star competitive edge and scholarships. With CollegeFish.org, you are able to search for colleges and scholarships which are matched to your specific interests. Competitive edge is a bundle of online courses which help you develop a higher understanding of project managing, clear communication, time management, scholarly research skills, and so much more. Also, through a system called the "common application", members are able to submit one application for multiple scho...

by Christian Glatz Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society is a community dedicated to help those students whom stride for higher academic achievement. PTK recognizes those students by inviting them to join and take advantage of all its benefits. One of the ways PTK contributes to the student’s personal growth is by instilling in them leadership, scholarship, fellowship and service.                                                                                                     ...

by Esmeralda Vargas Being the VP of Programming and Events for the Alpha Theta Phi chapter has been a wonderful journey. The position requires loads of responsibility and dedication, but the experience is truly rewarding.  It is a great feeling to know that, as an officer, you play meaningful role in the college community, aside from just being a student in your college. I find it rewarding to know that outside of a classroom I am able to connect with my college by being an officer. In addition, not only do I play an active part in my college, but also in my community.             By organizing volunteer events such as book drives and toy drive for those less fortunate I can give back to my commu nity.  I find it gratifying to be able to help other students succeed; creating these volunteer events enables students to take an active role in their community and college.        ...

by Tishara Reid Holding any officer position in Phi Theta Kappa comes with many advantages, and with those advantages come responsibilities.  Before committing to serve as an officer ensure that you are well informed about what is expected by speaking with a current officer and an advisor.         I have been serving as the Vice President of Membership Recruitment and Retention since May 2013.  It has been a rewarding, time consuming, challenging, yet exciting experience. My position is one that involves constant communication, and collaboration with others. To students that are unfamiliar with our organization, it has been my job to inform them about what we are all about, and hopefully get them interested in joining. I have conducted many different tabling events in order to reach out to a larger volume of students and encourage them to join our auspicious organization. A big part of this position is ensuring that all the events such...

by Tishara Reid During the summer of 2013 our chapter did extensive research for the Honors in Action Project (HIA). The Honors study topic was “The Culture of Competition”. Throughout the research we narrowed our search and extensively investigated how ranking systems affect students’ choice of higher-level institution. To document all our work we had to do hallmark reports and submit them to the Phi Theta Kappa website where they are read and evaluated for a Hallmark award.      The hallmark essays that we submitted were prepared for the HIA project, College Project and distinguished chapter officer. As a team, we were all responsible for ensuring that the hallmarks were completed by the January 29th deadline. The writing of the hallmarks was extensive and tedious because we had multiple questions but the hard part was trying to put in all the information while adhering to the given word limit. Writing the hallmarks taught me how to make my writing concise a...

by Ross Adler As officers for PTK, we are allowed to take vacations during the summer and winter breaks. For those who have the opportunity to travel, I definitely recommend doing so because traveling makes you learn about the world around you and it also makes you learn a lot about yourself. That being said, there are a few things that you should remember when taking a vacation.             The first thing to remember is that you can try to do some of the work beforehand. If you are taking an extended vacation, try to make sure that you do as many of your responsibilities as possible before you leave. This ensures that you’ll be able to enjoy your vacation better without having the need to worry about deadlines.             The second thing to remember is that you can read the “minutes” of an official meeting in order to understand what happened and be contin...

by Ross Adler Writing the PTK Hallmark Essays was a long and laborious process. It involved a lot of effort from all of the officers and it required enough time and dedication in order for it to be accomplished. The Hallmark Essays were a culmination of all the work that we’ve done since the beginning of the semester. One of the essays that we wrote was about the process of organizing the Honors in Action project, its outcome, and the data that we were able to crunch and make sense of.             Starting the essay was no easy task. First , we had officers and members answer each question and then we had to narrow the answers down to a certain amount of words. After that, we had to make sure that the essay flows and is free from errors. By the time we were done with the essay, we had gone through it countless times to make sure that we were submitting the absolute best that we could.       ...