Phi Mu Beta Tau is more than just a social organization. It is about creating life-long friendships, growing as an individual, and experiencing new things. Nicole Baldassarre, a sophomore majoring in marketing and business analytics, feels like she is living her interpretation of Phi Mu’s purpose.
Nicole became a Phi Mu sister in the fall 2013. She was interested in Greek life, but since she is an only child, she felt confused about gaining 130+ sisters in just one day. Nicole was skeptical about joining a sorority, but her freshman roommates convinced her to participate in fall rush. “I am so thankful that they gave me that extra push because becoming a member of Phi Mu is one of the best decisions I have made.”
She feels like joining this sorority impacted her in a positive way. Her older sisters give her valuable advice regarding which classes to take and which one to skip, co-op tips, and more. It also taught her about time management, something essential for our quarter system here at Drexel.
Nicole became involved in the sorority early on, becoming the social chair for her pledge class last year then becoming membership director this year. Being membership director involves organizing everything that is recruitment related. She is in charge of brainstorming their theme for recruitment, designing the T-shirts, and everything in between. For this position, Nicole has to be organized, know about event planning, and believe in her chapter’s values and goals.
She decided to apply for this position after experiencing Phi Mu’s recruitment as a sister. A year before she was a new member rushing, and the next year she was looking for new members to recruit. It helped her see things from another point of view and made her realize that she has the leadership skills and creativity to be successful in it. “I love the fact that I get to select our chapter’s recruitment theme and make it come to life via decorations, activities, pictures, etc,” she said. Nicole also loves the creative freedom she has when it comes to recruitment and being in charge of the recruitment video is another awesome part of her position.
Being the membership director of a sorority is not all sugar and spice and everything nice. It is hard to manage over 130 girls. Nicole has been responsible for leading a group before, but they were rather small. This position takes leadership to a new level. It was also hard for her to eliminate the stereotypes that surrounds sorority members.
Besides being the membership director, Nicole enjoys being a Phi Mu sister. One of her favorite moments was actually this year during the Talent Show for Greek Week. Their theme was Dr. Seuss, and Nicole was chosen to be the Grinch. She said she felt confortable playing one of our favorite villains since she has a limited rhythmic ability. After a lot of practicing with her fellow sisters, she was confident in her dancing abilities. Being on stage after a lot of hard work and winning the show was one of the best feelings ever.
When it comes to her career, Nicole said her sisters give her advice and feedback about the field she is interested in. When she finished her first co-op, she realized she wants her future career to be on the sales side of the business industry. Her sisters helped her know how to go after what she wants and to never give up. She has an amazing support from her sisters and that brings her closer to her career path. Nicole hopes to land a position on the software portion of corporate sales.
Besides being so involved in Phi Mu, Nicole is a foodie. She loves to cook for herself, her roommates and her friends whenever she has the chance. She also enjoys trying new restaurants in Philly. Nicole is also interested in music (you will find her listening to New Music Tuesday on Spotify), animals, and traveling. If everything goes well, Nicole will find a job that will allow her to travel outside the U.S. a lot.