All throughout my college career I had wanted to be part of something, I had played visions of sorority life in my head, I heard stories that my friends told of their experiences. I wanted that so bad. But for so many years I never took the plunge. I worked hard to get where I thought I needed to be to join a sorority, but I kept telling myself I wasn't quite there. After a few years passed I thought my opportunity to join a sorority did too.

Then one day I was sitting in my room over the summer getting ready to start my fifth year of college; my boyfriend told me that Alpha Omicron Pi was colonizing at Tarleton in the fall and made a joke that I should sign up for recruitment. I laughed and completely blew it off thinking, I was too old to join a sorority. But little did I know that joke planted a seed in my brain that grew and grew over time. Soon I had found myself reading about AOΠ, learning about their symbols and checking their GPA requirements and desperately searching Google to see if it was normal for sororities to extend bids to seniors, fifth-year seniors at that. The Alpha Omicron Pi website was showing up on my "recently visited" every time I logged onto my computer.

Eventually, school came around and I found out that AOΠ was not recruiting during the normal Panhellenic Recruitment, but that they would be doing their own process in September. At that point, I thought, why would anyone accept a girl who is graduating 8 months after bid day?? I almost gave up hope. But something told me not to. I found myself sitting at an info session all by myself, next to girls I did not know eating little teeny tiny mints that AOΠ provided and just feeling so incredibly awkward and old might I add. Then these two beautiful, bubbly, wonderful girls walked up to the front of the room and began telling us all about Alpha Omicron Pi and what it was all about. They made the room feel more comfortable and calm. Their passion for ΑΟΠ showed in everything they said. But aside from all the great things they said in their presentation there was a specific slide for UPPERCLASSMEN AND SENIORS who were considering going through the recruitment process. Was this for real? It was like fate! I knew right then that I would be signing up, and that's exactly what I did the minute I got home.

Soon after the recruitment process began. I was so nervous, I didn't tell hardly anyone because of the awkwardness I would face if things didn't go the way I hoped.

The very first day of recruitment I signed up for my interview. Anyone that knows me knows that I completely bomb all interviews because I get so nervous and my face gets all red and I lose the ability to form complete sentences. However, this time was different. This time, I was talking completely normal and I felt completely comfortable with this ΑΟΠ I had never even met. I felt so comfortable, and I knew at that moment I would be hurt if I didn't get a bid from AOΠ. I knew exactly one person at the first night of recruitment. It was called Picture Yourself in ΑΟΠ. This night was kind of an icebreaker we got to mingle with all the other girls going through recruitment and mixed in with all of us were a few ΑΟΠ's from other collegiate and Alumnae chapters.

Then there was night two. Pref. Night. Which was something I had heard of from my friends in other sororities, but I had never imagined it would be quite like it was. There were these wonderful women standing at the front of the room. The two bubbly girls from the info session and the girl from the interview and some other women that I would come to find out were absolutely incredible people. They each took a moment to tell us stories of their AOΠ experience and let me tell you, I was holding back tears by the end of the night. Thinking oh my goodness I CANNOT cry here, not right now, they will think I am so creepy and weird.

The next day was Bid day. I stayed up all night checking my email and refreshing over and over and over. At 6 a.m. on the dot, I received a bid to the Alpha Omicron Pi Fraternity. Who knew a simple email would change my life forever. I spent the whole morning freaking out and surprising everyone with the news about my new found Sisterhood. Thank You, Alpha Omicron Pi.

ALAM.