The Alpha Beta Chapter Lends a Hand at the Comfort House Walk-A-Thon 2010

McAllen, TX (February 27, 2010) – On an chilly Saturday morning, the sisters of the Alpha Beta Chapter gathered at the Doc Neuhaus Park across the street from the McAllen Comfort House to set up and prepare for the 9th Annual Walk-A-Thon. Even before the sun came out at 6 in the morning, the sisters helped out with setting up tents, bringing out food and supplies, and decorating the park with balloons and posters to prepare for the day.

The Comfort house is a non-profit ten-bed residence for people in their final phase of terminal illness. The Annual Walk-A-Thon is the largest fundraiser that the Comfort House hosts where people of all ages join together for an inspirational 3-mile walk to honor the life, courage, and memories of loved ones. Those who participate in the Walk-A-Thon help raise money to support the Comfort House to provide care to terminally ill patients and their families throughout the lower Rio Grande Valley. As soon as the sun came out and the park was finally set up for the event, fellow runners, their friends, and families gathered at the registration booths and participated in pre-event activities. The sisters of the Alpha Beta Chapter were in charge of running two booths, one for face painting and the other for the cakewalk. Some sisters helped out with other booths as well such as the photo booth, where participants took pictures in front of the Comfort House Walk-A-Thon banner as a remembrance for the event.

A few of the sisters showcased their creative side and their talents by face painting for children, teens, and adults at the Walk-A-Thon. Many of the participants asked to have the logos of their school mascot painted on their faces to show their school spirit while others had symbols like hearts and stars to represent their loved ones or those whom they are walking for. While a number of the Alpha Beta Chapters were face painting, the other sisters ran the cakewalk, which of course had a very good turnout. Many participants were eager to play this game to win the many cakes and pastries that were donated by the sisters of the Alpha Beta Chapter and other donors. When 9:30 a.m. rolled around, the participants gathered around the stage for a group stretch to warm up their cold muscles and get ready for the 3-mile walk. As soon as the Walk-A-Thon started, other booths were also preparing for the return of the runners. There were booths with free massages, booths with fruits and refreshments, and even a booth where they had sausages-on-a-stick. The Comfort House Walk-A-Thon band also started playing tunes to entertain those who were at the event. Some sisters even participated in line dancing and enjoyed the bright day.

The event ended when the last runners were back where they started. After finishing up the 3-mile walk, they received ribbons for participating. These ribbons served as tokens of appreciation for supporting this fundraising event. The sisters of the Alpha Beta Chapter closed up their booths and helped with taking tents down after the event. Overall, the Comfort House Walk-A-Thon was a great success where Kappa Delta Chi will always serve with a smile. For more information please contact Irish Bautista or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

KDChi, Sigma Alumnae This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ' art work will be featured at the Main St., Fort Worth Arts Festival, April 8-11th 2010. We wish her the best on her showing.

Category: Emerging Artist Booth: 356

When I started learning about photography in high school, I took photographs on a whim. I only used automatic settings and photographed anything and everything around campus for the yearbook staff. I fell in love with the darkroom but struggled with muddy prints from underexposed negatives. I finally understood camera settings and proper exposure when I started taking photography classes in college. I slowly became more confident shooting on manual settings and focusing more on composition and concepts in my work. Most of my black-and-white images are class assignments printed on Ilford fiber-based paper that I developed and printed in the art school darkroom. My color images were taken with the small Nikon P5000 or Canon Rebel XSi. I have been fortunate to travel throughout the U.S., Mexico, and around Western Europe. My best work has come from spontaneous shooting with the least amount of preparation. The blue bottles in Santa Fe, or the reflecting bridge in Dublin took little effort as opposed to the premeditated decisions made for work with film. I learned it best from two of my favorite photographers that we do not need to take multiple shots of one thing. Especially with film, if I do not have it the first time, then I was probably not meant to have it.

KDChi, Beta Chapter Senior meets opportunities through choice not circumstance

Enriqueta “Katie” Perez doesn’t let anything stand in her way. Whether it’s selling tacos at school to pay for a class trip to Europe or teaching English to children in China to fund study abroad, she’s tackled every obstacle that attempted to slow her down.

Growing up in a low-income household and attending a school with a high-dropout rate, the senior political science and English double major admits that the road to Texas A&M University hasn’t been easy. And despite being a first-generation college student, Perez hasn’t let her past dictate her future.

“For me, college was like a walk in the dark because I didn’t know which direction to take,” says Perez. “I’m just making my own path and taking advantage of the opportunities that I’ve had.”

Scholarship program guides first-generation students

For Perez, coming from an inner-city high school in San Antonio, the main question she faced upon going to college was how to survive college when no one in her family has gone before her. It was hard coming to college and looking for support from my family because they’ve never been in my shoes, so they couldn’t understand the emotions that I going through at the time,” said Perez. fter being accepted into the Regent’s Scholarship Program, which assists first-generation students in their academic goals, Perez soon realized that she was not alone. As a Regent’s Scholar, not only has the scholarship helped tremendously, but the mentoring and support network they provided helped me realize that most of us come from the same backgrounds,” said Perez.
Perez on a study abroad trip to China.

Looking towards a future combating global issues

Perez’s disposition towards advocacy reflects her future career aspirations. Inspired by a graduation trip to Europe, Perez found that she could combine her life-long dream of becoming an attorney with her interest in global issues. What excites her most about law is reading about court cases and the many different ways to interpret court documents. With her recent induction into the 2010 class of the Academy for Future International Leaders, Perez has the chance to further learn about international relations from the program’s mentors and guest speakers. hen it came to choosing a language to satisfy a degree requirement, Perez chose Mandarin Chinese because of her love of Chinese culture. She admits that what attracted her to the culture was the ideal of genuine relationships that the Chinese form between each other and that they extend towards foreigners.

She’s only been learning the language for the past two years, but during her study abroad trip to China last year she discovered that she didn’t need to be fluent to earn an internship at the Qingdao Museum. As part of the Chinese Language Immersion Program at the museum, she taught Chinese children and their parents English and a few American customs, such as holidays. I was really nervous at first because with Chinese, if I get the tone wrong, I could be saying something completely different,” said Perez. Through teaching, Perez says that she gained a greater appreciation for the language and an awareness of global culture and communication. (In the photo to the right, Perez sitting on the Great Wall of China.)

Appreciating the past while focusing on what’s ahead

With plans to attend law school in the near-future, and graduation just around the corner, Perez has taken the time to reflect on her college experience. One of her favorite classes has given her the chance to do just that.
“Creative writing has helped me put my life into perspective,” said Perez. “My experiences have given me great material to write about because no one else has lived them.” Perez hopes to use these experiences to show others that nothing is impossible.

Katie is a sister of Kappa Delta Chi's, Beta Chapter at Texas A&M University. She's set to graduate in May 2010.

Article posted as courtesy of Texas A&M, College of Liberal Arts.

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