Sorority Rituals - Reflections On Rites of ... - Mari Ann Callais

for teaching me that a group of people can work together as a team and that we could support one
another in believing that we could accomplish anything.
During the most difficult part of this dissertation process, a new family came into my life
that was understanding and gave me the time I needed to complete this degree. Thank you to Dr.
Tom Hosie, Lori White, and the faculty and students in the Counselor Education/Educational
Psychology Department at Mississippi State University. Thank you to my student affairs students
who were my daily motivators during the final phases of my dissertation. Thank you for
welcoming me into your family.
Besides my family, there have been many people in my life who have been constant
support to me throughout this endeavor. First, thank you to Dr. Dawn Wallace who assisted me at
many different phases of this study. You were such an inspiration to me and I could not have
gotten through this process without you. There were many others who were daily support for me:
Kelly Wells, Shannon Maneri, Jason Oller, Margarita Perez, Jackie Dale Thomas, and the
members of the Beta Epsilon Chapter of Theta Phi Alpha.
There were four people who, at different phases, were the ones who did not give up on
me, who were there to give constant encouragement and unconditional love and support:
Carolyn Fulton – thank you for all the years of continually encouraging to do things in my
life, including getting a Ph.D., that I may never have done with your constant belief in me;
“Decker” – I don’t know what I would have done without you being there everyday,
making me laugh, and keeping me moving forward so that we could play again.
Angela Zabala – thank you for the time that you spent encouraging me and for all the time
that you spent proofing the document and helping me personally.
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