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By Greg Hook

Starting something new is always exciting €¦and challenging. When I came back to campus for my final year this past September, it €™s always helpful to go to our club fair we hold and find out what €™s happening around campus. It €™s always helpful to go to the club fair because you can see what is important to you, others, and the college. Being my last year, I have attended, participated in, or been a part of many clubs on campus and it was nice to see the familiar faces of Hospitality club, cocktail club, and wine club. However, there was a new booth this year though and that was represented by the Honor Society. Eta Sigma Delta, a student organization through the Council on Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education (CHRIE), was once a part of the Walnut Hill College community and a member of our faculty wanted to restart our chapter.

Understanding this was the first club our advisor was heading as well as never starting a club myself, I immediately took on the new challenge. Over the course of the past term and the start of this one, the Honor Society has met multiple times, creating a small group of members that come every week. Once we had a small group, we nominated some club officers, president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer. I was very happy when I won the nomination for president, even if it was uncontested, but even happier for the others who could become a part of something and felt the need to take ownership of it.

Our first goal was to get involved on campus and so I reached out to other Student Leaders and what they were up to. Our first response was from Dan Singer and how he wanted to help feed people in need for Thanksgiving. While he had a vision, he needed some help and newer Honor Society members stepped right up. With his organization, our help, and the donations and kindness of many people within the Walnut Hill College community, we could donate an entire van €™s load of food to the church for Thanksgiving.
Through this process, I realize we are only as strong as those behind us and starting the Honor Society has been a new experience. We have members in place for the club and people willing to support each other €™s goals. Now we look to the future to apply and become members of Eta Sigma Delta as a renewed Chapter here at Walnut Hill College.

For more information about the Honor Society at Walnut Hill College, you can contact me at ghook72@mail.walnuthillcollege.edu or contact Ms. Bloome our Director of Student & Community Engagement  at mbloome@walnuthillcollege.edu. The Eta Sigma Delta International Hospitality Management Society is a student organization for CHRIE, the Council on Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education, and their website may be found at chrie.org.

-Greg Hook, Student LeaderRestaurant Management, Class of July 2017

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