What It Means to Be in a Sorority

This blog hit the nail on the head in a way that I never could. If you have never been in a sorority or fraternity, you might never understand. But just know, that its the best decision that we have ever made.

Greek Families

It's the middle of August, so what does that mean for my Alma Mater? School is about to start up again. We have 1 week until the date. This, in turn, means that the sorority women are getting ready to recruit a new class, and the bright-eyed and bushy-tailed freshmen (and a few upperclassmen) are ready to find their homes.

Now, personally, I hate recruitment. I have really never had a good experience attached to it, but that is entirely just me, plenty of people love it. But as my sister went back to shuttle freshmen around, my cousin went to start her freshman year, and the sororities start getting ready to meet over 700 women, I realized that I missed it.

I get this every year because, while I don't like recruitment itself, I love what it stands for. My sorority was one of the the best decisions that I have ever made. I learned a lot, made life-long friends, and found a home-away-from-home for 4 years. Those women that I lived and worked with, turned into my family. I'm lucky enough to have my real family, my pharm phamily, and my Greek family and all I wish is that the over 700 women who will be going through recruitment, find their families.

My sorority sisters have kept me honest, laughed with me at my best, and cried with me at my worst. They've forgiven me when things went badly wrong, and rejoiced in my successes. I am a better person because of these women and they helped me along my path to where I am today. I would have had a very different college experience without the women of Delta Delta Delta, and I am so glad that they wanted me, and I wanted them. I owe them a lot, and will continue to go to them for support, advice, a shoulder to cry on, or plain and honest fun and no words can truly describe how much I love each and every one of them.

Confidence

I was inspired to write this because of this video. This video is the current members of the Theta Nu chapter of TriDelta expressing how TriDelta has made them more confident. I am, and always will be, a proud TriDelta and I can say that what they expressed in this video is just the tip of the iceberg. Sororities teach you so much more than you can capture in a 3 minute video. They teach you confidence, loyalty, friendship, the importance of attitude, the importance of participating and helping out. How to be a leader, a sister, a support group.

I have lots of stories from my undergrad that can express aspects of sorority life. One in particular comes to mind (because one of my sorority sisters is presenting her thesis tomorrow) is when I defended my Honors Thesis. Now, I'm a little weird and actually am more nervous in front of smaller groups of people so would much rather have a lecture hall. As it was, I had been practicing in front of the lab members I worked with and was absolutely terrified. I'd never heard of anyone failing their thesis but technically, this presentation stood in the way of me graduating from the Honors College and having to redo all my general courses. So I stood up at our weekly chapter meeting and asked if people would be able to come to my thesis. The university building was 2 blocks from the house, the presentation would take 20 minutes, and I could really use the bodies to keep me from being nervous.

Now, presenters are always early to make sure nothing goes wrong, so early I was! And I watched not only the people I worked with and my parents file into the room, but also probably 20 of my sorority sisters. As more people came in, smiling at me, even though I was nervous, I knew I would do fine. Then, the lady who was in charge of coordinating these events comes in. She takes one look around, walks over to me, and says, "who are all these people?" Apparently, I had managed to set the record for number of attendees! In that moment I felt incredibly loved. Many of the women in that room had absolutely no idea what on earth I was talking about (many of them not liking science), but they paid attention enough to tell me (and prove it!) that they got the general gist. They spent barely a half an hour supporting me and it was enough to make sure I not only passed, but excelled! Their confidence in me, reminded me to have confidence in myself. When they believed in me and voted me Vice President Administration as a sophomore, I knew that I was going to live up to their expectations.

I'm a confident person, always have been. But having the support of the amazing group of women that TriDelta attracts, made me even more confident. Through them, I can do anything. But they also keep me grounded and set me straight when I need it. They truly are my sisters and their support means everything to me.

I can't make Lindsay's thesis tomorrow (I have a final). But I know that she will do great things. She has no reason to be nervous even though everything says she should. She will excel because she has the support of the same amazing group of women that I did - the group that believes in her and knows that she can do absolutely anything she sets her mind to. Good luck my friend, show 'em what TriDelts are made of.

**Photo courtesy of Jessica Peterson and Instagram**

Sororities

I found this quote a few years ago and was struck by it simply because I've been there. I've tried to explain to people why sorority matters and it was hard! This quote seemed to pinpoint, not really what sorority is, but how hard it is to explain to someone who hasn't experienced it.

Yesterday I went to an event for my Pharmacy Fraternity. And who showed up but my sorority sisters. They came and sat down and made friends without even knowing that I knew everyone there. I was super sentimental about it. One of my pharmacy littles met one of my sorority gbabes. My worlds collided and I was super happy about it.

Sororities give you friends for life - those people who are going to be there for you in the end, no matter if you haven't talked to them in years or not. Those people that, even if you weren't really friends at school, years later you still have things in common with them. Those people that when you see them, you attack them, jump on them, and start crying because you missed them more than you would ever have guessed. 

They also put you in situations and life lessons that teach you how to be a better and stronger person - one who can take on the world. They give you a support group to fall back on, people who understand you, and shared experiences to learn from and remember.

I may be two years graduated and two years out of my sorority, but I can say that I am so proud of where I have come from, and joining my sorority was one of the best decisions that I ever made. So I am going to go eat pancakes, and support my sisters while they raise money for St Jude Research Hospital.