Kappa Kappa Gamma. Three simple letters somehow became the crux of my college experience. 

First, you become a part of it. Then, it becomes a part of you.

As I reach the end of my journey as a collegiate member of Kappa, I want to share with you, my sisters, everything you have given me over the past four years.

You gave me strength. To study for my last final. To go one more circuit at the gym. To put myself back together after a broken heart. At every moment I felt that I would break, you were there to hold me up. Because of you, I did not fall. Many of you do not know when exactly your kind words and smiles may have been part of a healing process, but they were. Each of you has given me something that I will never forget. Because of you, I am standing tall, proud of the woman I have become with your help.

You have taught me the meaning of loyalty. It is having a room full of sisters show up to my undergraduate research presentation after I casually mentioned it while hanging out one night. It is loving each other through the good, the bad, and the really, really ugly, because we all know we share something deeper than friendship. Whenever I needed to be rescued, you were there. When I needed to be encouraged, you were there. When I needed a congratulations, you were there in full force. Every step of the way, you have given me exactly what I needed, even if I didn’t know it at the time. 

You have given me a home. And this has been the most important thing of all. A place to run to after a horrible day of classes. A place that erupted in screams and shouts when I found out I was accepted into Teach For America. A group of women who accepted me when I was not quite sure how to accept myself. You accepted me right where I was, asking nothing in return; however, you each contributed something special that helped me grow into the woman I wanted to be.

There really are no words to capture my experience as a member of our wonderful organization. The only words that do it justice are the words only you know, the words and ceremonies that mean so much to us all. I cannot express the pride I feel when I wear the golden key. You taught me the meaning of all of these things, and through these things, you taught me about life.  Someone once said that “in the end, Kappa is a better way to stumble through life, and a faster way to figure it all out.” It has been nothing short of that for me, and that is thanks to each of you. 

As I prepare to leave this beautiful campus and all of you, I will not leave you behind. Each of you is my inspiration and my motivation. I aspire to be someone each of you can look up to and someone you can say you are proud to call your sister. Because if I am sure of nothing else, I am proud to call every single one of you mine. Whenever I see an owl, key, fleur-de-lis, or any shade of the color blue, know that though I will be hours away, a piece of my heart will always be with you.