As 2017 comes to a close, it calls to mind all of the memories that we made this year. From Dance Marathon in February to Semi Formal in December, Chi Omega truly has done it all! Here is a look back at our incredible year together and all of the accomplishments and memories we have made along the way.

FEBRUARY:
DANCE MARATHON 23

Chi Omega raised over $85,000 For The Kids for DM23 and it all culminated at the Big Event in the beginning of February. Our sisters danced for 24 straight hours with no sitting or caffeine all to benefit the children and families at the Stead Family Children’s Hospital. Other sisters even ran the Chicago Marathon to support Dance Marathon, and THEN participated in the Big Event later in the year! Dance Marathon truly shows how far our passion and commitment can take us. We love not only supporting our national philanthropy, Make-A-Wish, but our on campus philanthropy, Dance Marathon! (click HERE to read more about it!)

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MARCH:
SPRING BREAK

Several of our sisters traveled to amazing places over Spring Break in March, including Cabo, Florida, Arizona, London, Ireland, Spain, Austria, the list goes on. Other sisters went on service trips to give back to different communities and those in need over break and we are so proud of them and their philanthropic efforts! (click here to read more!)

Our sister, Karly, was one of our sisters who was chosen to attend an alternative spring break through the University of Iowa. "For my spring break, I went to Atlanta, Georgia. Atlanta isn't the first thing that pops into most people's minds when they think of a spring break location, but that's where I ended up! I went there with 16 other students from The University of Iowa for an alternative spring break trip. Instead of going on vacation with friends, it is a chance to give back to the community. It was a life changing experience that I'll look back on for the rest of my time here at Iowa as well as the rest of my life!"

APRIL:
GREEK WEEK & MOm's Day

This year for Greek Week, we were partnered with the men of Delta Tau Delta and Delta Upsilon, and were thrilled to take first place overall with our theme of Candy Land! From earning the most donations through the Chipotle Community Day, donating blood, attending educationals, participating in penny wars, to getting crowned the CHAMPIONS at the Follies dance competition, this week was nothing short of fantastic. (click here to read more!)

We also welcomed our mothers to Iowa City as we had our annual Mom's Day at the Sheraton Hotel. We all loved getting together for a brunch commemorating on another great year in Iowa City, all while supporting our philanthropy with our Make-A-Wish Silent Auction. (click here to read more!)

MAY:
GRADUATION

Our amazing senior class graduated last May. These women left behind strong legacies in Chi Omega and we cannot wait to see what they accomplish in their future pursuits. Though we will miss seeing them at the University of Iowa, we are excited to see where their journey takes them next! (click here to read more!)

SUMMER:
TRAVELS ABROAD

Many of our sisters studied abroad this past summer to places like South Africa, Spain, Italy, South America, and all over Europe! They advanced their college careers through rigorous coursework overseas and expanded their horizons with new cultures around each corner. Many of our sisters also participated in a volunteer program, Vida Volunteer, where they dedicated two weeks of their summer in Guatemala helping provide free medical services to those in need! (click here to read more!)

Our sister, Madeline, was the campus coordinator for Iowa for the trip. "Vida provides so much for its volunteers. This is a very unique volunteer opportunity that not only allows students to learn from doctors and serve communities, but also to experience another culture. Vida brings volunteers out of their comfort zone and encourages adventure. It creates lifelong friendships and memories. Both of the Vida trips I have been on left my heart so full and for that I am forever grateful. I also owe a huge thank you to Chi Omega for introducing me to Vida Volunteer. Through other sisters, I was encouraged to be apart of this incredible program. Being able to experience all of this alongside some of my Chi O sisters made it even so much more special. It was so rewarding to be able to watch my sisters grow through service and share their passion for healthcare with others!"

AUGUST:
SPIRIT WEEK & RECRUITMENT

Spirit week started right when Chi Omegas returned to Iowa City during August and spent a week getting ready for recruitment throughout spirit week, with each day representing a new way to dress up! From Make-A-Wish day to PJ Day, we had a blast reconnecting with sisters and getting ready to welcome the new class of women who would join our sisterhood. During the last weekend before recruitment, we welcomed our moms into the 804 to spend some quality time with them before we started recruitment! We then spent two weekends sharing what we love most about our sisterhood and philanthropy with over 1,000 women here at The University of Iowa.

SEPTEMBER:
BID DAY & Dad's Day

This brings us to September, where we welcomed home and amazing new member class of 59 incredible women! These women have already had a huge, positive impact on our chapter and we could not be happier that Chi Omega is their new home away from home. Bid Day was themed Enchanted Forest, and the decorations in the front yard were beautiful. We could not have been more thrilled to welcome our new members as they ran off the bus into our forever sisterhood. (read about our new members here!)

The end of September also brought our fathers to Iowa City for our annual Dad's Day and our First Annual Make-A-Wish Philanthropy Week, Wish Week, which ended on Sunday at our 13th annual Chi Omega Golf Classic! Our Wish Week was a huge success! We held various events on campus: Adam's Wish Story, donuts and coffee at Hubbard Park, CHIpOtle Community Day, 24 hour Wish Rally and finally our Golf Classic! We are so proud to be able to have raise a grand total of $8,670.08 all for Make-A-Wish and are able to grant a child's wish! Our Dads Day was so much fun as we cheered on the Hawkeyes against Michigan State! Our day was complete with a bags tournament at the Chi Omega house followed by a tailgate at Quinton's in Coralville. Read about Dad's Day by clicking HERE, and all about Wish Week HERE!

OCTOBER:
CHICAGO MARATHON

17 of our Chi Omega sisters who ran 26.2 miles in October For The Kids! All 26.2 miles ran were in honor of the children and families who are undergoing cancer treatment at The University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital. Many sisters also traveled to Chicago to support the runners, making it one of the best days of the year. Our sisters trained for months to accomplish this task and it is a shining accomplishment of theirs! We are so proud of our sisters for running all FTK! (read more about the Chicago Marathon HERE)

HOMECOMING

October was also Homecoming week! Chi Omegas participated in many events throughout the week, from relay races, canned food drives, donated blood, and took home FIRST PLACE in Iowa SHOUT - a dance competition with our pairings of Delta Upsilon and Delta Tau Delta. All of our hard work earned us second place overall in Homecoming! We are also so proud of our sister, Kimmi Chexnayder, for being awarded Homecoming Queen for the University of Iowa this year! (read more about Homecoming week HERE)

DECEMBER:
HOLIDAY COZY & SEMI FORMAL

December may bring finals with it, but it also brought us our annual Holiday Cozy, complete with cookies and our favorite, our personal Intersection Concert! Sisters wore their ugliest holiday sweaters and brought the cheer to the Chi Omega basement as we celebrated the holidays before we all parted ways for Winter Break!

We also had our Semi Formal, where Chi Os spent the night hitting the dance floor at Rapid Creek Cidery at Wilson’s Apple Orchard. Everyone had a blast dancing the night away with our sisters and we are already looking forward to our Formal in the spring!

Finally, right before Finals Week, we had our last sisterhood event of 2017, where we went ice skating at the Coral Ridge Skating Rink! We had so much fun taking a break from studying for finals to skate the afternoon away with our sisters!