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

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 chapters answer in order to be recognized for the excellence that their officers and/or advisors have demonstrated individually, as well as the excellence their chapter has demonstrated as a team. The Hallmark awards require chapters to explain the events, research, and community service that they have completed in the prior year and demonstrate how these contributions have positively affected their members or community. Chapters compete with one another to win the awards given for each Hallmark entry. Additionally, participating in the Hallmark Awards encourages officers, members, and advisors to continue their ambition to further the academic environment in their schools. Composing the Hallmark essays is very lengthy journey that c...

by Peter Kim My experience throughout the hallmark essay procedure for this year was more challenging than pleasurable. First, let me describe what the Hallmark essay is. Hallmark essays consist of Honors in Action, distinguished chapter member and officer, and distinguished chapter advisor. The purpose of all of these essays is to highlight what our chapter has done and accomplished during the term. Why does our chapter need to submit these hallmark essays? Because this is needed to maintain five star level status and to demonstrate our dedication and achievements to the Phi Theta Kappa society around the world. Is writing a Hallmark essay a lot different than some other essays? I think that the process of writing a Hallmark essay is not much different than any other essay. When we write an essay, we have to do research on our topic, read articles about it, pre-write it, edit it and submit it. However, the Hallmark essays have one more important procedure that needs to be ad...

by Peter Kim Have you ever thought about to becoming a Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society officer? Do you know about what it means to truly take responsibility for your actions? Then, a PTK officer position is the right option for you. Most people think that the President and Vice President are main cast for an organization or committee. However, if there are no supporting officers, like a treasurer, then an organization cannot work effectively. What does the Treasurer do? The Treasurer manages all the financial aspects of an organization. The success of an organization depends on whether or not the organization is able to develop and adhere to a budget. For example, money is involved in most of the organization’s activities and projects. The person who oversees all of these financial activities is the Treasurer. A great reason to be a treasurer is if you're considering going into a career that deals with finance, such as becoming an accountant or investment banker, b...

By Ross Adler The Media Officer position is a very fulfilling job in PTK. It requires diligence, patience, and a lot of attention to detail. You have to make sure that every event is thoroughly publicized and you have to convey just the right amount of information so that members will be convinced to take a more active role in both volunteering and participating. This is accomplished through various mediums. Your primary outlet, flyers and posters, should be completed not less than two weeks prior an event. Generally, a PowerPoint is the easiest way to make a flyer and a poster. You can insert blurbs, insert photos, and insert a background with relative ease as opposed to Adobe Photoshop for example. The goal here is to catch the attention of people who are passing by and to convey as much information in as little time as you can. With Facebook, you have access to over 700 people who have “liked” the Alpha Theta Phi page. Your job is to make sure that this Facebook page stays ...

           My name is Ross Adler. I was born in Washington D.C. and spent most of my childhood and teenage years in the Philippines. Upon coming back to the States (in Texas) after graduating high school, I realized that my passion lies in politics and history so I decided to go to college and hopefully pursue a degree in political science. When I moved to New York City, I decided to enroll in LaGuardia Community College. In 2013 after a few months of being continually active, I was appointed as a media officer for Phi Theta Kappa. I’ve always wanted to have a leadership role since I enrolled in LaGuardia Community College because I know that it’ll open up new opportunities and benefit me in the long run. When I was offered the position, I grabbed it almost immediately.             At first, it was challenging to adjust to the loaded schedule. On top of full time coursework, I had to make sure th...

Dear chapter members, Please see the following note from the Director of the college's Honors Program. We hope that many of you can join your fellow students in supporting this college-wide effort. Dear Students, We at the Honors Program are heartbroken by the incomprehensible suffering that is going on in the Philippines in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda. As a community, we want to demonstrate solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the devastated, vulnerable, and already impoverished communities in the central Philippines. Next week, there will be a coordinated effort at LaGuardia to take a step towards doing just this; 2 days have been set aside to raise funds for those directly affected by Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda. There will be a meeting on Monday (11/18) at 1:00pm in the Student Life office (M-115) of all interested students to discuss the logistics of collecting donations for relief efforts in the Philippines, and to sign up to volunteer for donation collection ...

by Esmeralda Vargas             At the Phi Theta Kappa New York Region's Honors In Action Conference, hosted by Kingborough Community College, Scott Stimfel, the assistant dean of student engagement and innovation at New York University, passed PTK members his words of wisdom. Many believe that having a 4.0 GPA is a golden ticket, that will open numerous opportunities, but although having a strong GPA is important, Mr. Stimfel made us realize that it is not everything. There is another factor that is just as important as a high GPA, and that is networking.               It is no longer what you know, but who you know that counts. Million dollar companies are now using networking as their way to promote products. They are now focusing on letters of recommendations rather then resumes. In his presentation, Mr. Stimfel’s shared with us some ways we can begin to netwo...