Our MI Gamma sisters are located all over the world doing wonderful things. Our next Alumna interview comes all the way from Northern Ireland with the recently married Rebecca Shea Irvine!
Initiation Year: 1998
Office(s) Held: Secretary & Historian
Did you live in the
house? How many years? Yes - 1st semester junior
year & 2nd semester senior year
What did you enjoy
about living in? I loved living in. I especially liked getting
to know some of the girls that I hadn’t known very well before living together.
Favorite Pi Phi
memory? I liked my own pledge term, but I think my
favourite was the time between big sis hunt and my little’s initiation. There
are so many wonderful memories that it would be difficult to narrow down beyond
that.
What are you up to
now? I moved to Northern Ireland in 2003 and am currently working on
a PhD at Queen’s University Belfast in Social Policy (the title of my thesis is
The Other Minority: Disability Policy in
the Post-Civil Conflict Environment). I also work as a disability rights
campaigner and will be married on Christmas morning to a wonderful man from
Belfast.
How has Pi Phi
influenced/affected your post-college life? I learned a
lot about managing relationships from my Pi Phi experience. I found the
diversity of the girls to be both challenging and rewarding and often formed
friendships that at first seemed unlikely. Living in the house was particularly
valuable in learning how to deal with different personalities in a shared
environment on a daily basis – not unlike many work environments.
Are you involved officially
as alumnae (Alum Club, AAC, House Corp)? What chapter? I’m not involved but I do miss it.
What are your
thoughts on your involvement as an alumnae in the group you participate in? If I ever move somewhere where there is an alumnae club, I would like to
be involved. I graduate in 2013 so we’ll see where that takes me.
What do you wish you
had known when you were in college? I worried way
too much. I wish I would’ve known how little my academic knowledge would impact
on my life but how important connections can be. I should’ve tried to make more
friends (and stay in touch) with more people in my field.
Giving what you know
now, what advice would you give to your college-age self? Spend more time with people that you find interesting and ask lots of
questions.
Do you have any
resume pointers or interview skills to share? Apart from the obvious homework about the position and company that you
are applying with, make sure that you know why you want the job and what it will
take to be successful at it. Also, don’t send out standard resumes, always
tailor each one to address the criteria that the post requires (don’t lie, just
focus on the most relevant parts and use the same language as the advertisement
if possible to show how you meet what they are looking for). It is time
consuming but will ultimately be a better use of your time than sending out
lots of generic resumes.
What is something you
wish you were better at? Time management. I always
seem to underestimate how long things will actually take and am frequently
burning the midnight oil in order to finish things on time.
Do you have a
personal motto? “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as
if you were to live forever”. - Ghandi
Do you have a
favorite quote? “The great man is he who does not lose his
child’s heart” - Mencius
Favorite TV Show and
or Movie? My favourite movie is Miracle on 34th
Street and TV show is Gilmore Girls.
What is something on
your bucket list? I would like to spend some time living in a
developing country.
Where do you see
yourself in 10 years? I hope to be happily
enjoying whatever life has thrown my way. I don’t have a set plan, but my
soon-to-be husband is very supportive of my work and we’ll have to wait and see
where it takes us.
What is something
people may not know about you? I recently
received British citizenship and am now eligible to vote in both US and UK elections
(something important to any political geek).
Congratulations Rebecca on your recent Christmas morning wedding! Thank you for sharing your Pi Phi memories and advice with us!
