As an associate member, the fraternity can be difficult to understand beyond the local chapter. Seeing brothers day by day and enjoying time spent with them is a wonderful thing, but one does not truly have an idea of what Phi Kappa Tau really is until they decide to attend an outside event. In this case, I was lucky enough to attend the capital conference at the University of Maryland. Once there, I really began to understand just what it meant to be a member of Phi Kappa Tau and, also, how to become a better man to those in my pledge class and in the fraternity.

At the Capital conference, I was able to experience an interaction with the fraternity that I could have never had otherwise. I learned about different positions in the house and what each of those positions is supposed to do, but each lesson felt more geared towards larger chapters moreso than the smaller chapters of the fraternity. I also learned the best ways to maximize risk management and even ways that the fraternity can just look better on campus.

More than anything, I learned what it really meant to be a brother of Phi Kappa Tau. Being around other brothers and seeing them interact with one another, but also interacting with them as friends despite never having met them before the conference felt as though there was already a bond there that had no need of being stated. The final result was a great time that more associates should have the chance to experience to learn about the fraternity but, more importantly, understand how it feels to actually be accepted as a brother.