Sigma Phi Epsilon - University of Cincinnati

Theta Data 2 OHIO THETA Defining Moments How SigEp Helped Joe Blizzard '14 Find His Career Path J oe Blizzard '14 began his college experience at UC with a plan get good grades, participate in great co-ops, find a few extracurricular activities to participate in, and graduate debt free. He joined Ohio Theta because he felt the men of SigEp embodied many of those same values. In the end, joining SigEp offered Joe personal development and leadership opportunities he might not have had otherwise. Perhaps more important than the reasons why Joe joined SigEp are the reasons he stayed involved. Specifically, Joe discusses the way chapter leadership brought him into and helped him feel invested in chapter life. "I stayed involved with SigEp because I truly felt engaged in everything that the chapter was doing. From intramurals to retreats to social events, I connected with the brothers and found my place in the chapter. Towards the end of my first year, I began talking with older brothers, and those conversations helped me lay out my future impact on the chapter and how I could best serve my brothers. This opportunity to serve and engage with chapter leadership helped me stay engaged throughout my college career," he said. Joe graduated from UC through the Accelerated Engineering Degree program in the College of Engineering, with a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering and a master's of business administration. Beyond the skills he learned in the classroom, SigEp was the space on campus that helped him define his career path. "Coming into college, I knew that I wanted to study chemical engineering, but SigEp helped me realized that I wanted to be tied into the business side of operations and not the technical, plant-based side of the industry. Through connections that older brothers had, I was able to apply for a co-op job at Procter & Gamble. After passing the interview, I was offered a co-op position. Two years later, that simple connection led to my full-time job offer," he said. Joe now works with Procter & Gamble as an operations delivery leader in the external manufacturing group. Recently, Joe participated in a Greek Speaker Series, which brought together alumni from SigEp, Kappa Alpha Psi, Alpha Kappa Alpha, and Kappa Kappa Gamma to speak to undergraduates from the four groups. Joseph participated in a panel on emotional intelligence in the workplace. "Almost every leadership position that I held required some amount of emotional intelligence; I just didn't realize it at the time. I spoke about the times that I had failed. As I look back on my college career, I learned more from my failures than I did from my successes. I encouraged everyone to reflect on their failures and use that to develop their emotional intelligence quotient," he shared. The Greek Speaker Series event enabled Joseph to reflect on the impact SigEp had in his development, and he hoped he was able to convey the importance of reflecting on past experiences and learning from failure to the current undergraduate brothers. "It's also important to constantly be practicing your emotional intelligence skills and reflecting on your experiences and interactions with others to ensure that you continue to develop and act in a way that will have the greatest positive impact on those around you," he elaborated. Joseph lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, and enjoys Bearcat athletic events, playing and coaching volleyball, cooking, and spending time with his girlfriend. Welcome, NeW members Branton Cummins '21 Columbus, Ohio Chemical Engineering Nic Eversole '21 Columbus, Ohio Business, Undecided Nathan Kaiser '21 Cincinnati, Ohio Computer Science Dakota Lefker '21 Cincinnati, Ohio Sports Administration and Information Systems Braeden Leigh '21 Columbus, Ohio Business, Undecided Jake Linstruth '21 Lexington, Ky. Mechanical Engineering Dillan Powell '21 Cleveland, Ohio Civil Engineering Brendan Prendergast '21 Cleveland, Ohio Exploratory Benjamin Seehousen '21 Cincinnati, Ohio Economics Drew Whitney '20 Columbus, Ohio Mechanical Engineering Nicholas Wuestefeld '21 Cincinnati, Ohio Business, Undecided Zach Yaecker '21 Cleveland, Ohio Marketing 67th Queen of Hearts Recap T he 67th Queen of Hearts formal was held at the Bell Event Centre in downtown Cincinnati. This year there were 18 nominees for the Queen of Hearts. Katie Rigney, a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma, was named the 2017 Queen of Hearts during the festivities. Katie is a third-year marketing major with a minor in sales. She is the recruitment chairman for the UC chapter of Project HEAL, and also serves our country as a combat medic and a member of the Air Defense Artillery unit in the Ohio National Guard. We are all proud to have Katie as our 67th Queen of Hearts, and we are looking forward to the coming year. Additionally, we thank all the alumni who attended this event. Brothers serenade the new Queen of Hearts, Katie Rigney, at the Bell Event Centre. Our new Queen of Hearts, Katie Rigney.

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