Everyone tells us that the person we become in college sets the tone for the person we are truly going to be. I’m here to tell you that if that’s true, Greek life has helped me to set out on the right path.

These organizations were founded by women who wanted to help women- to help them become the best scholars, friends, and members of society they could be. In the short time alone I’ve been a part of my sisterhood, I’ve been a part of incredible service opportunities, I’ve met some of the most inspirational people, and I have truly begun the process of becoming one of those well rounded women our various founders hoped for. I know every sorority wants its women to be able to truthfully say the same. Of all the memories I’ve made, positive impact I’ve had, and lessons I’ve learned, the greatest for me has been coming to see sisterhood as not just a group of women, but a knowledge of the value inherent in each individual and in the bonds they form alike.

This is the part where I share a little bit of my story. In high school, I was a social butterfly with a broken wing. I was never alone, never, but I was chronically lonely. In my friends- no, in my ability to be what my friends needed- I found my self-worth. I confused emotional intensity with depth, and erroneously believed I could never recreate the bonds I had back home. Especially not with people who didn’t know my history.

In my sorority, for the first time, I finally understood that I don’t have to earn love. Here, I don’t have to prove myself. My sisters have made me better, not to impress them, but because they’ve made me see that I owe it to myself. Being my best is the greatest testament I can give to these incredible women surrounding me. My sisters taught me not only how to love, but to be loved.

Philanthropy, chapter, tears, smiles, rules, yes, it’s all a part of it. But it’s not just a tradition, it’s a foundation- a foundation upon which women from nation- and worldwide become family, not in the cliché Pinterest quote way, but in a way that can only be experienced, not described. Love is not a feeling, it’s a verb, to be spelled W-O-R-K. And whichever sorority a woman joins, there should be no role she takes greater pleasure in than loving her sisters and being loved in return.