A Look at a Collegiate Gamma Phi Beta

President Casie recounts her collegiate as an active member

My name is Casie Crement and I am the current President of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Gamma Gamma chapter of Gamma Phi Beta! I am currently a junior in college majoring in nursing with a minor in psychology. My hobbies include... Gamma Phi! I went through Spring 2018 recruitment my first year in college. I'm what we like to call in the Sorority world apart of a 'COB pledge class'. Continuous Open Biding (COB) is an opportunity for certain chapters to take in more members in the Spring!

Although I regret not going through recruitment earlier in the Fall, I met some of my best companions in my Spring pledge class and learned what it meant to become a Gamma Phi Beta. After just one semester in our sorority, I knew I wanted the executive council position as our Panhellenic Affairs Vice President (PAVP). I worked hard in learning what the position entitled and how I could give what's best for our chapter. In my time as PAVP, I was the voice of Gamma Phi Beta in Panhellenic meetings. This experience taught me how to be a responsible and educated member which lead to my interest for another position in the Fall. When I heard some sisters saw potential in me to become the President I was shocked! I felt confident and comfortable in my knowledge but I also knew there were many others who could qualify. After leaving it to the hands of our chapter, I humbly accepted the position and could not imagine doing anything else. I am so honored to be given this opportunity and grow as a mentor to all. 

A lot of people ask me, "how do you balance life, school and a sorority?" My answer to that: Gamma Phi Beta is apart of all 3! In our chapter, sisters receive new opportunities to make friends, advance in leadership, grow in academics, and have fun! Being apart of an organization is a time commitment, however it's something I couldn't imagine my life without. Gamma Phi Beta has helped me to grow out of my shell and develop as a well-rounded leader. There are endless possibilities to volunteer and get involved with any interest you may have throughout your collegiate years and beyond.

How to get an aesthetic Instagram

Taylor (seen above) has been a sister since the Fall of 2019, and now serves as Membership Vice President Assistant.

How to Edit

Ever wondered how Instagram models and bloggers get such an aesthetic feed? Keep reading to find out.

First Steps (PicsArt)

First you import the picture you want to edit in to PicsArt, and once the picture is uploaded, I like to adjust the exposure, depending on how light or dark the picture is. To access this feature, you click on tools, and adjust in there. Today, I want to make my picture lighter, as well as up the saturation. From there, I decided if I want to start with stickers or with brushes, and I look at stickers first to see if that's the vibe I'm feeling today. I check my stickers, and see that there is a rainbow already in the picture, so I want to enhance around that. I like to use the whitening tool on lighter things in the picture, in order to make it more of a stark white contrast.

Second Steps

Today, I want to make my picture lighter, as well as up the saturation.

After editing the picture by adjusting settings, comes the fun part, the sticker edits. I decided I'm going to make my backpack look glittery. By doing this, I click the stickers button, I search glitter background, a bunch pop up, and I scroll until I find one I like. In this case I found a cute blueish silver one. I clicked on it so it adds into the picture, and click the eraser tool at the top, and erase the entire glitter image so it looks like I never added it, then I go to the brush tool, adjust the size of my pen, and draw on the backpack. As I'm drawing, it looks like I'm drawing with glitter, but essentially I'm just re-adding the glitter. This part takes the longest, because the more precise you are, the longer it takes to get it right (that's a little tip from me). For this picture, I'm not being as accurate, as it is just for this blog post. After I add the stickers, I go to Lightroom, upload my photo, and paste my filter. Maybe I'll do a blog post in the future about Lightroom, as that is an entire beast on its own. Below is my finished product.

Before and After

Get Inspired

Overall, editing can be a great way to express yourself, and I think it's a great stress reliever. Whenever I want to take a break from studying or homework, I just like to play around with images, and get inspiration from Pinterest boards, and other Instagrammer's.