by Benjamin Solak | Dec 16, 2016 | Student Reflection
Every month, the OCF social media platforms will be featuring one of the nine regions of chapters. December is the month for the Great Lakes Region, which includes Michigan, Indiana, western Ohio, and northern Kentucky.
On the blog, I’ll be asking the Regional Student Leader–for Great Lakes, the dashing Spiro Morris–for a few names of people in their region who are absolutely rockin’ it. It’s an opportunity for every region to showcase and share that which makes them unique and awesome, and hopefully all the regions can learn from and grow with each other.
So, without further ado, your Great Lakes All-Stars!
David Schutt, Chapter President, Flint, Michigan
My name is David Schutt. I grew up in Grand Blanc, MI. I attend St. Mary Magdalene Orthodox Church in Fenton. I’m a freshman studying Mechanical Engineering at Kettering University in Flint. I play the piano, I’m an amateur astronomer, I’m an avid reader, and I love the Church.
How did you get involved in OCF?
I’ve always imagined myself being involved in an OCF chapter when I went to college. So when my parish priest suggested that we get one started in Flint, I was more than happy to take the reins. We have four relatively small schools in the Flint area, and there was no OCF chapter. Our chapter is kind of unique, because it isn’t exclusive to only one school. We have members from all the local schools.
What is your greatest memory/experience from OCF?
The Flint chapter is only a few months old, but we’ve already had lots of fun. One of the best experiences I’ve had was our first trip to the soup kitchen. I had been to soup kitchens before, but there was one guy we met who really made our day. When we were finally cleaning up, one of the people we had served went up to us and sincerely thanked us. He said he eats there everyday, but he wants to serve the poor, too! This man was probably homeless and desperate himself, and he wanted nothing more than to serve other people like him.
What’s something you’re doing, right now, in your chapter, that you’d like to share with us?
We’ve got lots of stuff going on in our chapter. My sister is a member of our OCF, and she’s also the FOCUS ambassador for the Flint area. So recently we’ve been working with FOCUS to do charitable things around the community. Just last week we made 100 Christmas cards for less-fortunate kids. Meanwhile, I’m trying to get some students from our chapter to sign up for the
Midwest Conference (which I’m really looking forward to). Also, we finally established a new bank account. And I’m trying to iron out some of the details for our next meeting. Nothing that exciting right now, but we’re doing well!
Any advice you could give to someone else in your position (Chapter Pres., District Leader, etc) across the nation?
At our chapter we rotate between “fun” meetings, educational meetings, and charitable meetings. I think it’s a good strategy because we’re doing something new every time and we can generate interest for OCF with our fun meetings. I don’t think we would be as successful if it wasn’t for that mixed schedule. However, we have been struggling with our attendance. We’ve got about twenty people on our email list, and sometimes we only have two or three at the meetings. I’m trying to think of new ways to motivate people. That’s our biggest problem, and I think it’s the most important thing for a chapter leader to watch out for.
Alexi Kakaris-Porter, Eastern Michigan District Student Leader
Alexi Kakaris-Porter, University of Michigan-Dearborn. Greek Archdiocese. Major in Economics, Minors in Biology
and Spanish. Just accepted into dental school at the University of Detroit Mercy. One hobby includes melting and casting metal in my backyard.
How did you get involved in OCF?
I was born into the church and was involved in almost all of the ministries throughout high school. However, until my freshman year, Orthodoxy was something nice that required you to go to church on Sundays and that was it. As I entered college, I realized my understanding of Orthodoxy was very limited and that I had a choice. I could either learn about and embrace the faith, or I could brush it aside. I chose to follow the faith and study it along with byzantine chant. I did not know that there was a group dedicated to college ministry. My freshman year, I had made some Orthodox friends who told me they had gone to something called
College Conference. This intrigued me and I looked into it further. This is how I discovered OCF. By my sophomore year, I wanted to start a chapter so that I could bring together Orthodox students and to tell other about the faith. By winter of my junior year (January 2015) our chapter was officially recognized by the school and the national board. This year I applied and was given the position of the Eastern MI District leader.
What’s your greatest memory/experience from OCF?
College Conference 2015. I learned so much about the faith and was able to meet many wonderful people from all over the country.
What’s something you’re doing, right now, in your chapter, that you’d like to share with us?
We just had our district retreat two weeks ago. We also just hosted a Day of Light scheduled as a way to get people together right before finals started to pray together for a good end to the semester and the year.
Any advice you could give to someone else in your position (Chapter Pres., District Leader, etc) across the nation?
Don’t get discouraged. It can be very difficult to get people to participate. My school is 90% commuter and the majority of students do not stay on campus after their last class, so finding a good time to meet is difficult. Keep having events, keep encouraging people to come, and results will come. As a district leader, keep reaching out and work on just being friends with the chapter presidents.
by Benjamin Solak | Oct 10, 2016 | Community Post
Every month, the OCF social media platforms will be featuring one of the nine regions of chapters. October is the month for the Southwest Region, which includes California, Nevada, and Arizona.
On the blog, I’ll be asking the Regional Student Leader–for Southwest, the charming Markayla Stroubakis–for a few names of people in their region who are absolutely rockin’ it. It’s an opportunity for every region to showcase and share that which makes them unique and awesome, and hopefully all the regions can learn from and grow with each other.
So, without further ado, your Southwest All-Stars!
Mathew Madain, Vice President, UC Berkeley
Hello! I’m Mathew Madain, a sophomore at UC Berkeley studying international relations. I’m originally from Los Angeles, with family across SoCal and Jordan. I am the vice president of Cal’s OCF chapter and I’m hopeful that our community will continue to grow! I am also very active in UC Berkeley’s Rotaract Club and the Olive Tree Initiative.
So, how did you find out about OCF?
I first discovered OCF as an incoming freshman through a little poster I saw near Sproul Plaza (our main entrance) at my UC Berkeley orientation weekend. A few weeks later, I happened to meet some OCF students tabling on Sproul and learned from them the dates/times of our chapel services and meetings. Ever since then, I’ve attended meetings (almost) every week!
What’s your favorite OCF story?
One Saturday morning, my OCF chapter woke up very early and decided to hike up to Berkeley’s “Big C”. Throughout the hike, we shared jokes and stories and got to know each other very well. On our way back down, we encountered a few coyotes. We managed to stay calm and they walked past the trail within minutes… We all came out safely and enjoyed a nice brunch with ice cream later!
What are a few things unique or special to your chapter?
Our OCF is extremely fortunate to have the support and close collaboration of the Patriarch Athenogaras Orthodox Institute and His Eminence Metropolitan Nikitas (many years!). With this support, we are able to attend Divine Liturgy every Tuesday evening and enjoy dinner and spiritual discussions.
On most weekends, our OCF visits local Bay Area parishes and cultural festivals in an effort to experience the diversity within Orthodoxy. We’ve visited and plan to visit Greek, Antiochian, Russian, and Jerusalem parishes – and hope to include more dioceses in the near future!
What’s some advice you could give to someone else in your position across the nation?
Outreach is key. Try to invite new members – both Orthodox and members of other Christian backgrounds – to your fellowship meetings frequently. Also, look for ways to include charitable service within your chapter’s activities. IOCC is always willing to assist in planning fundraisers!
Sophia Berg, District Student Leader, SoCal (I’ve recently learned this means Southern California. Very catchy)
Hello! My name is Sophia Berg, and I’m a second year Nutrition major at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. I’m member of the OCF Chapter at Cal Poly, as well the District Student Leader for Southern California this year.
Some fun facts about me are – I’ve lived in 7 different states, I play the cello, and I love to go sailing!
And how did you get involved with OCF?
I first got involved in OCF when I came to Cal Poly through a mutual friend who was also involved. I really loved the community and family that OCF provided last year, so I knew I wanted to get more involved this year. Therefore, I applied to be the District Leader of Southern California, and I love it so far!
What’s the coolest thing you’ve done with your OCF?
The coolest thing I’ve ever done with OCF was celebrating Pascha this past Spring. Those of us who were away from our families for Easter decided to get together after the service and celebrate with each other. We made traditional Pascha foods like kulich and Pascha cheese, as well as comfort foods like quiche, bacon, and milkshakes! Even though we missed our families at home and our usual Pascha traditions, we grew close as an OCF family and started our own OCF traditions together!
How about something unique to your chapter?
This past year, our chapter started a Greek Dancing group! It began last year as just a few students who got together to dance for fun. The group grew as more people joined, and even I started dancing though I had never done it before. By the end of the year, we were dancing at our church’s Greek Festival, and this year we hope to perform more and even compete at a competition in San Diego called FDF (Folk Dance Festival). Not only has it been a great way to celebrate our Greek heritage, but we have all grown so much closer because of it!
What’s some advice you could give to someone else in your position across the nation?
Some advice I would give to another person in my position is to not be afraid to ask people for help! More often then not, people are more then willing to give you a hand. In addition, the more people you make connections with, the more people learn about OCF, what we do, and Orthodoxy.
