APO National Convention in Boston

Every two years, Alpha Phi Omega holds its national convention. Brothers from all over the country (and even from some other countries) come for four days of leadership, friendship, service and brotherhood.

This year the convention was in Boston, Massachusetts - home of the Green Monster, Cheers, Paul Revere, some killer seafood (so I'm told), Hahvahd, and a harbor full of tea. I was excited that it was in Boston because I had never been there before and it was bound to be cool because, well, it's Boston.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to see a whole lot of the city. I did get to Fenway Park (boo on the Red Sox) and Chinatown (which was more scary than cool) but most of my time was spent in the hotel convention-ing.

And that was AWESOME.

It was so incredible (I wish I could come up with a better word to express the amazingness) to see APO on such a large scale. Before I just thought about my little chapter on my little campus doing little service projects and things like that - but it's HUGE. There are chapters EVERYWHERE and it was a really powerful reminder that I am (and my chapter is), in fact, part of a VERY large whole. It was a wonderful feeling.

And it was interesting, too. One APO chapter isn't like another APO chapter and they're not like the next APO chapter. Every single chapter does SOMETHING differently. And from time to time I didn't really like or agree with their policies or the way they do things, but it was still interesting to hear about.

On the other hand, I spoke to lots of brothers from other chapters who gave me great ideas I want to take back to my own chapter and I in turn gave other brothers ideas to take back to THEIR chapters. It was really, really interesting just to talk to other people.

At the convention I was my chapter's voting delegate. Each chapter gets two voting delegates (my chaper only had one) to participate in legislation. Legislation is where various committees bring forth various proposals and resolutions to be voted on by the legislative body as a whole. There are long hours and you don't have time to run around and explore the city or go to other workshops that are being offered, but to me it was a sacrifice I was willing to make. Being part of legislation was awesome, and I was overwhelmingly proud to represent my chapter on the legislative floor. I was only one person with one vote, obviously, but I was helping change national APO policy. It was extremely rewarding.

The convention was a blur of excitement, deliriousness (little sleep was had) and enthusiasm and I loved every minute of it. It was an awesome feeling to be surrounded by 2,000 people who love APO and what it represents just as much as I do.

At the end of the convention there was an awards banquet. The convention committee took turns speaking and crying and hugging and thanking each other, various awesome chapters were recognized, and everybody was able to reflect on their time in Boston and with each other. We all tied our napkins together to represent being connected as loyal brothers in leadership, friendship and service.

Then, all 2,000 of us got up out of our seats and formed a circle around the massive ballroom that had to be the size of a football field (we had to actually make a two-layered circle), and sang the APO toast song. Yes, we have a song. That was hands down one of the coolest parts of the convention. It was like in that movie Drumline - one band, one sound. We were one massive group celebrating APO together as one.

It was great meeting people and learning new things about other chapters, but I think it was the contagious enthusiasm and love and passion for APO that I loved the most. Lately there have been some changes in my chapter and I know it's not everything it can be and, particularly last semester, I became frustrated and discouraged. But the convention put the APO twinkle back in my eye and I'm ready to take my APO high back home to my chapter and share with them everything I gained this week.