beta nu (houston) fall 2013
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Page 1 Fall Beta News Volume 19, Issue 10
The Beta News
This past summer, Beta Nu
brothers Michael Brooks and
Matthew Docimo embarked on
the 4,000-mile Journey of Hope
bike ride from San Francisco,
Calif. on June 9.Their goal: cycle
all the way to Washington, D.C.
by Saturday, August 10, in sup-
port of PUSH America.
“People with disabilities face
many challenges every day that
you and I cannot imagine. But
one of the most tragic barriers is
a lack of understanding by our
society,” said Docimo. “A simple
message of empathy and ac-
ceptance is all it takes to break
down this barrier, and I have
committed myself to spreading
this message this summer.”
Docimo and Brooks were part
of a 26-member team cyclists
being supported a 10-mermber
crew, with a goal of raising more
not the first time he has
raised funds on behalf of peo-
ple with disabilities.
“I was able to participate in
Give a PUSH weekend (GAP)
in Tulsa, Okla. In the fall of
2011. Building a jungle gym
for the children (cont. P. 2)
(Michael Brooks & Matthew Docimo)
than $650,000 for PUSH’s efforts to
help support people living with disa-
bilities. Prior to JOH, Docimo and
Brooks combined to raise $15,000 for
PUSH.
As a member of Pi Kappa Phi, Doci-
mo said the Journey of Hope ride is
Travis White, BN #185,
UH Class of 2013,
BP Lease & Title Analyst
I N S I D E T H I S
I S S U E :
Journey of Hope 1
Scoring Your First Job 1
Letter from the
Archon
2
Journey of Hope
(cont.)
2
A Pi Kapp College
Experience
3
Letter from the
Archon (cont.)
3
Scoring Your First Job
(cont.)
4
A New Home for Beta
Nu
5
From the Historian 5
Scoring Your First Job After College
T H E A L U M N I
N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E
B E T A N U C H A P T E R
O F P I K A P P A P H I The Beta News F A L L 2 0 1 3 V O L U M E 1 9 , I S S U E 1 0
Two More Beta Nu Brother’s Complete the Journey of Hope
UPCOMING EVENTS;
Sat. Oct 19,
Homecoming Game
BYU AT UH
Sun. Nov 10,
Active/Alumni Event
Texans/Cowboys Watch
Party at Local Pour
from 2:00 p.m—on.
I’m sure most of you reading this are thinking
about the next big throw down on Thursday,
the football game tailgate that is happening at
the next home game, or the hot chick you met
at the last theme party. Some of you might
have just received a bid, and are starting your
pledge process. (Congratulations by the way!
You made an excellent choice). While there is
nothing wrong with that, I just wanted to chime
in a little bit and be a reminder that you are in
college to get an education and then begin your
career. Some of you are graduating soon. Find-
ing that job may or may not be starting to
weigh down on you like a burden. (cont. p. 4)
Page 2 Fall Beta News Volume 19, Issue 10
The Beta News
thousands of people with disabili-
ties,,” said Brooks. “We worked
hard to spread a message of ac-
ceptance and understanding.”
(Matthew Docimo & Michael Brooks
arriving in Washington D.C.)
Letter From the Archon
Alumni of Beta Nu,
Thank you for taking the time to
read this and for your continued
support in the success of our chap-
ter. My name is Arnoldo Lozano
and I am the current Archon. I was
initiated fall 2009 (Pi Class, 197).
Previously, I served as Brotherhood
Chair, Chaplain and Warden.
The Beta Nu Chapter is currently
at 61 members and 32 associate
members. The chapter is officially
the largest fraternity on campus.
This has been the biggest chapter
that I have been part of and I have
no doubt that it will continue to
grow.
This semester we moved into our
new house in bayou oaks. Our new
house, Towhnouse 14 is the biggest
holding 21 members. The house
has been a great recruitment tool,
as it is a whole lot better than our
old house. The renovations and the
4th floor were very appealing to all
the guys we recruited. The house is
still not furnished like we would like
but we are working on it through
donations and a couple fundraising
events that we have in mind. You
meet, but, in turn, they change ours.”
During one particularly challenging day
in the early stages of JOH, Brooks, Doci-
mo, and their team rode 92 miles over
three California mountain passes, climb-
ing a total of 12,000 feet.
“After 13 hours on the bike and upon
completion, I couldn’t help but let tears
roll down knowing what our journey rep-
resents,” said Docimo. “The trip is one
big metaphor. Those with disabilities
cannot choose to just give up when faced
with hardships. They can’t opt out of
their disability. They can only do one
thing, and that is to push on and endure.
We did just that by gaining empathy and
understanding the whole way.”
Brooks pointed out that there are more
than 54 million Americans are currently
living with a disability.
“In addition to cycling all the way to
Washington D.C., we reached out to
Of a local church and seeing them play on it
was one thing, seeing the families approach
the team of us with tears in their eyes will
never leave my memory,” said Docimo.
“Since that day I have been motivated to
continue to make a difference in the lives of
people with disabilities. Working with the
Smarty Pants Academy, a day care center
for children with disabilities in Houston, has
also had a huge impact.”
Each day during the summer trek, after a
full 30 to 100 mile bike ride, the JOH cy-
clists took part in a friendship visit where
they interact with people with disabilities.
“The feeling we all get with words would do
the experience an injustice. This has been
the most humbling trip of my life,” said
Brooks. “We went into JOH with the idea
that we would change the lives of those we
all should come check it out
sometime!
The semester got off to a really
great start as we started fund-
raising for PUSH America with a
dodge ball tournament win re-
ceiving $250 for our philanthro-
py. We are preparing for a rec-
ord breaking year in fundraising
with Push America. We will be
hosting our Push party again this
semester to raise funds and
awareness for our philanthropy.
The date that this will occur is
Nov 14th 2013. We hope you all
make an appearance to support
us in these efforts.
As you all know the fall offers an
extensive amount of events that
we participate in. One of them,
homecoming will be Oct 19th,
2013. This year our chapter
joined forces with the ladies of
Chi Omega. We hope to see
many of you at that tailgate and
game. (cont. p. 3)
JOH (continued)
Page 3 Fall Beta News Volume 19, Issue 10
The Beta News
Letter from Archon (cont.)
Lastly, gentlemen I am
pleased and honored to ex-
tend an invitation to you all
to our celebration of our 12th
year anniversary on Novem-
ber 10th. It will be held at Lo-
cal Pour in river oaks which is
ran by a Beta Nu Alumni, Tim
Allen. They have a big projec-
tor in which we will be watch-
ing football and have an amaz-
ing happy hour for you all to
enjoy. Our historian will be
more in contact with you all
to make sure you guys have
all the details.
Thank you for your continued
support and we hope to see
you all soon!
In Pi Kappa Phi,
Arnoldo Lozano Pi 197
C O N T A C T I N F O :
Archon - Arnoldo Lozano
832-633-5406
Vice Archon - Matt Docimo
281-728-8845
Treasurer - Alex Touk
832-277-8200
Secretary– Alex Govea
956-358-8877
Warden - Chance Redd
713-775-1065
Historian - Craig Keizl
508-982-2320
Chaplain - Zach Irons
254-493-1257
Push Chair - Ben Baek
832-640-0060
A Pi Kapp College Experience
(Peter Crews BN #238, on the left)
This past summer, I was fortunate enough to travel to the east coast to be part of the Epsi-
lon class of Pi Kapp College. It is difficult to express the complete experience in words, but
it was, to say the least, one of the single most
life-changing experiences I have ever encoun-tered. The only negative thought I had in re-
gards to Pi Kapp College was that it did not last long enough. The lessons I learned, the places I visited, and the people I met in those short five
days will forever hold a special place in my heart as they all contributed to the process of
me unlocking my potential as a leader.
What I learned about the most at Pi Kapp College surprisingly was not about Pi Kappa Phi, but about myself. Going into the summer I
knew I could be one to make a difference in the Beta Nu chapter of Pi Kappa Phi, but I was unsure of how I could utilize my abilities to
contribute to what we do internally within the chapter and externally with other Greek organi-zations, the university, and our community as a
whole. The facilitators at Pi Kapp College helped me determine what my strengths were and how I could use them to assist our chapter
in striving to become the ideal chapter. Addi-tionally, I learned about the national fraternity and how brothers that have completed their continued education continue to contribute to
the betterment of Pi Kappa Phi. Seeing alumni dedicate their time and efforts to ensuring suc-cess for the fraternity has motivated me to
pursue opportunities to work for the national
fraternity once I graduate.
Seeing Charleston, where our fraternity was founded, was another great experience I had
this summer. It was so intriguing to see where
we began in 1904 and how things have changed since that time. I had the privilege of walking to 90 Broad Street and seeing where our Founding
Fathers held the first meeting and established this fraternity out of the ashes of an anti-fraternal movement. One thing that stood out to me particularly in Charleston was the cen-
tennial gift to Charleston, the Bell Tower. See-ing the gift presented at the century mark of this fraternity reminded me that this fraternity
has remained strong for over a hundred years and it can continue to thrive so long as we per-petually work to uphold the values and tradi-
tions of Pi Kappa Phi.
Page 4 Fall Beta News Volume 19, Issue 10
The Beta News
so it seems like you are simply having a
conversation, not regurgitating answers
from memory. In addition to having an-
swers ready, also have questions prepared
to ask them. Examples of some good ques-
tions to ask an employer could be “What is
the development path for someone coming
in as a new hire?” or “What are examples of
some types of projects that a person in this
position would be doing?” They are not only
interviewing you, but you are interviewing
them as well. It has to be a good fit for both
parties. A job is a symbiotic relationship.
Fifth: RESUME STRENGTH. When
building your resume, it is important to
have a uniformed format. Don’t be all over
the place with fonts, bolds, italics, and color
scheme. Some is fine but don’t go over-
board. I’m not a big advocate of the
“Objective” line. I think it is pointless, but
you can be the judge of that. Make sure to
put your GPA on there if it is strong. If it is
weak find out what your major GPA is and
hopefully that one is strong enough to put
down. I would classify a strong GPA as 3.0
or higher. If you don’t fall into that catego-
ry it is better to put nothing down than
something bad. When describing your ex-
perience use specifics. A hypothetical ex-
ample could be something like “Responsible
for training 6 employees, who all graduated
training within 3 months of starting”. That
sounds better than “Helped trained incom-
ing employees”, or “Closed 8 deals in 4
weeks” sounds better than “Closed sales
deals”. Companies like to see results, and
specific numbers show results. If you need
help with your resume feel free to email it
to me and I can help you build it.
Hopefully you guys find this article useful,
and can use some of these tips to score your
first job after college. As always if you need
any help, or want to talk to me personally
about more ideas, feel free to contact me. I
can’t wait for Fiesta next spring, and I am
looking forward to seeing the show.
In Pi Kappa Phi,
Travis White
713-715-8168
BN #185
Scoring Your First Job (cont.)
’m going to provide my two cents, and you
can take it or leave it.
As I’m sure this has been said many times
in the Fraternity and in other organizations you have joined throughout campus, you get out of it what you put into it. This
translates to every aspect of life, including finding a job. Here are a couple of things you can do to prepare that will hopefully
get you an interview or potential job offer:
First: NETWORKING IS KEY. I am
sure this is no surprise. I can’t tell guys how many opportunities you could gain by taking the time to meet new people who
have the same interests and career desires as you. Join professional organizations within your major, go see your TA’s after
taking exams, attend your professor’s office hours and build a relationship with him/her. They are great references for letters of
recommendation, but only if they know you. Sit in the front row of your classes so professors recognize your face from the beginning. More importantly, pick up a
leadership role in these professional organi-zations because you will be the ones that professional recruiters will contact to or-
ganize meet and greets. Or one step fur-ther you will be the ones contacting them on the front line. When they come for the
meet and greet you will already know them. Get their contact info, follow up
with them, and thank them for attending.
The biggest key to establishing a network-ing relationship with someone is to not ask for anything immediately. Build the rela-
tionship and if you do that well, you won’t have to ask because you will be the first person they think of when an opening pops
up.
Second: GET AN INTERNSHIP. If you are a senior and you haven’t had an internship yet, you are behind. This one is for the sophomores and juniors that are
still in “party mode”. The internship is what will set you apart from your class-mates. If you are going into your senior
year with one or two internships under
your belt, your chances of scoring a full time offer by graduation is increased by
90%. If you don’t get an offer from the company that you interned with (which you probably will), you have that professional experience on your resume where other
students who procrastinated have
“Waiter” or “Retail associate”.
Third: SCORING THE INTER-
VIEW. You need to take the shotgun
shell approach with this one. For eve-
ry 20 places you apply you may hear
back from 5, and from those 5 you may
score 2 interviews depending on how
well you networked with them. You
will have to go through tons of no’s to
get that yes (Kind of like with women).
Research all the companies that you
have interests in, and go to the career
fairs and personally meet with them.
Ask meaningful questions, since you
came prepared. Being a recruiter for
my company, I can tell you there is
nothing more frustrating than meeting
someone who has nothing to ask and
just hands you a resume. Take ad-
vantage of the recruitment meetings
from your professional organizations.
Constantly check back on your col-
lege’s career gateway. I practically
lived on that website when I was look-
ing for a job. The most satisfying feel-
ing is getting that call or email inviting
you to come in for an interview.
Fourth: INTERVIEW PREP.
There’s nothing more disappointing
than scoring that interview and losing
the offer because your interviewing
skills lacked preparation. Here are
some ways to prep for interviews. At
your age most of the internships will
mainly be behavioural since they are
entry level or lower positions. Google
the top 100 behavioural interview
questions and be able to answer all of
them (Yes all of them) with a strong
explanation of an experience, problem,
and result. Give specifics and facts,
don’t answer questions in generalities.
Practice in front of a mirror as if you
are actually in the interview. By the
time you get to the interview your
answers should come second nature to
Page 5 Fall Beta News Volume 19, Issue 10
The Beta News
This semester, Beta Nu experienced change in the form of a new house.
Recently, we relocated from Townhouse 10 to Townhouse 14 of Bayou
Oaks. The new house has four stories with common areas on the first floor
and the fourth floor and houses 21 brothers. 20 brothers reside on the sec-
ond and third floor with the archon living in the sole room on the first floor.
We are currently in the process of getting settled in, but the house has the
potential to be even better than the old one! We are looking forward to
making the house our own as the semester progresses by hanging more pho-
tographs, bringing in a ping pong table to accompany our air hockey table,
and making memories. It is a new beginning in the new house for the Beta
Nu chapter of Pi Kappa Phi.
(Living Room) (Kitchen)
(Fourth Floor Study Lounge) (Game Room)
A New Home for Beta Nu
By Peter Crews
To the reader,
I hope you enjoyed reading this edition of the
Beta News. If any of you have any questions, com-
ments, or suggestions, please do not hesitate to con-
tact me.
In Pi Kappa Phi,
Craig Keizl - Historian BN #224
From the Historian: