Think about the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning. Do you jump in the shower first off? Brush your teeth? Hit the snooze button? Or, let’s be honest, check social media? Our routines become our ritual, our bodies turn on autopilot, and we go through our morning routine to get ready for class, work or whatever our day looks like. Living our Kappa Delta values should come as easy as this autopilot morning-mode.

Kappa Delta was founded on strong values. From the very beginning, our four young founders were interested in forming an organization based on friendship that promotes the “principles of truth, of honor, of duty.” Our organization has endured because the strong friendship of our founders is exemplified in each of us.

When I first joined Kappa Delta four years ago, I had no idea I would be representing an organization with over 250,000 members. As a founding member of my chapter, every move I made on campus—whether or not I was wearing my letters—not only shaped the image of Kappa Delta at my school, it also impacted the larger organization.

Living our values each day doesn’t mean we are expected to wake up and read the creed or recite the Live GREAT acronym in the shower. As Kappa Deltas, living our values each day means waking up and being the best version of ourselves, in essence, “striving for that which is honorable, beautiful and highest.”

It’s easy to forget about the bigger picture when we’re having a bad day. Maybe Starbucks got our order wrong, we didn’t do as well on an exam as we had hoped, or our significant other isn’t texting back and we really just don’t feel like attending the recruitment workshop later that day. Instead of feeling annoyed about the workshop, let’s be grateful we have the opportunity to be a part of such an amazing organization. To me, living my values each day means remembering KD’s standards will not be lowered for me; I must rise to meet them.

Cristina Attard
Senior Leadership Development Consultant