We got up bright and early, 6:45 -- 5:45 Illinois time -- to go to the Expo booth and spread the Phi Sig love to all of the athletes! Our main job included handing out pins and informing the masses about the important work the Phi Sig Foundation does with the National Kidney Foundation. A few people were confused why a sorority was involved with the Transplant Games, but soon understood and were very impressed. We got to meet many amazing people who had unforgettable stories about their experiences with transplants. One little girl received a transplant when she was 10 months old. Today, she is about 3 years old, participating in the swimming and bowling events. Just seeing her, and knowing what she has gone through, made many of us cry. Also, we met some donor families who made the decision to give the gift of life to others.

One of the goals of every athlete/visitor is to collect a pin from every state in attendance. Somehow, with a little stalking and persuasion, we managed to get Florida, Southern Cali (Hollywood), Northern Cali/Nevada, Alabama, and most importantly, ILLINOIS! However we found out that we hadn't completely accomplished our goal because there was another piece to the Illini pin :( We will see what we can do to remedy that! Veronica also got a bandana of the Arizona state flag! (I think the guy was tired of holding it!)

Next, we volunteered at the the swim meet, which was located at the University of Louisville. We were the timers. Most of us were a little nervous. We had to push the timers and extra buttons at the same exact time. It sounds so ridiculous, but we were afraid we might hit the buttons too slow or would forget to push one of the buttons all together. The guy explaining the directions to us, a swimmer at the University of Louisville, thought we were crazy and laughed at us. Clearly, we were putting too much pressure on ourselves. :)

Although we were a little worried, the athletes impressed us. We had one lady from Illinois, aged 70+, who placed first. Veronica and I were so proud, being from Illinois and all. :) Also, we had another woman who beat 'all the 40 year olds!' (She was 58.) However, the fact that everyone finished their races impressed us most. There is no way most of us could finish a 100-meter race, let alone a 400-meter race! In addition, we got to hand out awards. Of course, we handed out the awards to the men aged 17-35. ;) All in all, we had an amazing time. We're definitely looking forward to tonight's Opening Ceremonies.

Hopefully we will talk to you later tonight.

Love,
Veronica and Dory
Theta Chapter

P.S. Shout out to Pam Downey, one of our Theta sisters who's here at the Games with us!