Background Information:
Leslie is a 38-year-old woman. She was very active in Delta Gamma when she was a collegian, but has since drifted away. She is not very active in her local alumnae group, though she does pay her dues and is thus on the alumnae mailing list. She knows what alumnae events take place in her area, but she just does not seem to find time to attend them. She keeps very busy with her husband and two school-aged children, a son who is 11 and a daughter who is 8. She does not work outside of the home, but prior to having children she was a nurse. She hopes to return to nursing in the next couple of years. Leslie also loves to scrapbook, read, make crafts and learn new things that enhance her life.

This is an example of Leslie's Individual Pursuit.

Vision Statement:
I would like to be the best mother and wife that I can be, and I understand that to do that I need to remain a whole person within myself. I want to keep up my nursing skills, return to beingcome active with my Delta Gamma alumnae group, and return to other activities that have been important to me in the past. I would also like to discover new things about myself and I would also like to explore new ways that I can grow as a person.

Stage 1 — Character
Occupation: I will volunteer offer my time and nursing skills one afternoon a week to the local Hospice.
Community: I will, with my children, participate in our community Civic Pride Day.
Spirituality: I will meditate for 10 minutes a day, four days a week.
Family: I will e-mail my family members that I do not see very often, to help re-establish some relationships that have grown distant over the past few years.
Delta Gamma: I will complete the Individual Pursuit in three years.

Stage 2 - Education and Scholarship
Occupation: I will take a morning class that will refresh my nursing skills.
Community: I will visit the Monet special exhibit at the local museum to learn more about the artist and to support the events in my community.
Spirituality: I will read 'The Road Less Traveled' by Scott Peck.
Family: I will take my children to the library once a week.
Delta Gamma: I will volunteer for my alumnae group's Service for Sight project, making "touch and feel" books for children who are visually impaired. I will visit the Delta Gamma Web site to educate myself on new Fraternity programs, terminology, etc.

Stage 3 - Interests and Talents
Occupation: I will subscribe to the nursing magazine so that I can stay on top of events that are happening in my field.
Community: I will organize a CPR training session for stay-at-home mothers in the community.
Spirituality: I will write in my journal three times a week for one month.
Family: My family and I will spend every Saturday together for one month; the first Saturday my son can pick what we do, the second Saturday my husband will choose, the third Saturday we will go somewhere my daughter will enjoy, and the final Saturday I will choose the activity.
Delta Gamma: I will help to organize a Delta Gamma alumnae event around scrap booking (a particular interest of mine).

Stage 4 - Activities and Honors
Occupation: I will search the Iinternet for workshops or continuing education courses that will be beneficial to me when I return to nursing.
Community: I will volunteer at my children's elementary school.
Spirituality: I will volunteer at my church to help with the nursery once a month.
Family: I will do craft projects with my children.
Delta Gamma: I will help the local collegiate chapter with formal recruitment.

Stage 5 - Personal Development
Occupation: I will develop my parenting skills (since parenting is my current career) by attending monthly parenting meetings that are offered at the hospital.
Community: I will clean out my closet and donate my clothes to the woman's shelter.
Spirituality: I will learn yoga.
Family: I will walk in the evenings, a few times a week with my husband and children; we will get our much-needed exercise and will also enjoy the extra time together in the evenings.
Delta Gamma: I will volunteer for my alumnae group's Service for Sight project, making "touch and feel" books for children who are visually impaired.

Example of one journal entry:
(This journal entry follows the format of the Individual Pursuit Report Form, but each woman is free to tailor her journal entry to make it more personal, more unique, and more creative, etc.)

Name: Leslie
Chapter of Initiation: Phi Alpha
Individual Pursuit Stage: 3 - Interests and Talents
Goal: I will journal three times a week.
Start date: February 1, 2001 Completion date: March 1, 2001

Preparation
Why am I choosing this goal? What do I hope to gain from this challenge?
I am choosing this goal because I read an article in the Oprah magazine that journaling is a way to get to know yourself better, to get more in touch with your feelings, and to release a lot of negative energy as well asand embrace positive things that happen in your life. This sounded interesting, and I wanted to try it. I hope to gain the ability to better identify my feelings, and I also hope that by journaling, I will be able to release some of my frustrations in a healthy way.

How will I accomplish this goal? What is my action plan?
I will accomplish this by buying a journal and putting it with a pen by my bedside. I will journal at least three nights each week, right before I go to bed.

Completion
What did I accomplish? Are the results different than my initial expectation?
I did it! I wrote in my journal at least three times each week (and sometimes more) for a month. And I got out of it exactly was I hoping for, plus more! By journaling about some of my frustrations I was able to release them, and doing that right before bed helped me to sleep deeper and better. And by journalingBy writing about the many positive things in my life (things my children did, moments with my husband, etc.), I was better able to hold on to and recognize those moments. Journaling has helped to make me more aware of my life.

What did I learn on my journey?
How will I apply this knowledge to other areas of my life?
I learned a lot about myself — how I react to certain situations, why I get frustrated at certain things, why I love certain things about my life, etc. By journaling I also learned that taking the time (15 minutes three times a week) is definitely worth the results that it produced. I hope that I will continue this new habit for a long time to come, and I anticipate that it will continue to help me more and more. It is also something that I can teach my children and invite my husband to do, too.

Example of Personal Artifact Report:
(This example follows the format of the Personal Artifact Report Form)

Name: Leslie
Chapter of Initiation: Phi Alpha
Start Date: May 1, 2001 Completion Date: June 1, 2001

Please describe your personal artifact, which represents your experience in the Individual Pursuit. If you presented your personal artifact to an individual or group, describe your presentation.

For my personal artifact I chose to take a photograph of something representative of each stage that I completed. For Stage One - Character - I took a picture of me with the family that I worked with through the Hospice program. For Stage Two - Education and Scholarship - I bought a picture postcard of my favorite Monet painting from the museum exhibit. For Stage Three - Interests and Talents - I took a picture of my journal and pen, lying next to my bed. For Stage Four - Activities and Honors - I took a picture of the Delta Gamma collegiate chapter during recruitment. For Stage Five - Personal Development - I took a picture of my husband and me getting ready to go on our morning run.

I made a scrapbook out of these pictures and wrote a poem to go along with each picture that represented what the picture and the goal had meant to me. I shared this scrapbook with my husband and children so that they could share in this accomplishment and understand what it meant to me.