Dear ladies going through Sorority Recruitment,

Please make friends with your dear Pi Chi leader (or whatever the leader is called at your campus). She is so excited to assist you through your recruitment process. She won't sugarcoat the trials and joys of being a sorority member. She won't try to get you into her own sorority chapter, because she took a vow of disaffiliating from (not identifying with) her sorority to help you find your best home. Your Pi Chi is excited to give you pep talks and stellar advice.

Your Pi Chi could be the best friend and support during recruitment, so take advantage of that opportunity and trust her throughout the process.

You see, a Pi Chi has been through what you are about to experience - recruitment. She has already gone through her own version of sorority recruitment (because everyone has a different sorority recruitment story). She has also been through the actual sorority experience, too.

She has gone through the many new member class meetings, been initiated into her chapter, helped create parade floats for Homecoming until 5AM in the morning, gone to get slushies at Sonic at midnight with sisters, and even been through the same disappointments that college inevitably brings... a bad relationship, a horrible professor, and hating the dining hall food choices.

This Pi Chi of yours knows certain things you don't. She too was blinded by the glamour and glitter at the sorority houses during recruitment instead of focusing on learning about the sorority's philanthropic mission. She too was tired - so very tired - of fumbling through awkward conversations during her recruitment, or of wearing high heels (I swear, just wear fancy schmancy sandals, you'll thank me later).

Your Pi Chi also knows that it takes time to solidify friendships once you get in a sorority. Your Pi Chi understands how excitement fades with time, and every sorority member usually faces a small moment of sorority mid-life crisis when she thinks (seriously or not) - why am I still in this organization? They stay because they know it's not always easy, but the rewards of being an upstanding sorority member (embracing the values, the ups and downs, and forgiving the sorority when it isn't the best thing ever) is worth it.

I say all of this so you understand who I am as a Pi Chi, and who the other Pi Chis are at Missouri State University.

Trust that we know more than you do about sororities, especially the sororities at our campus that we have been a part of (unlike your mom, sisters, grandmas, or friends from home who have never stepped foot on our campus).

Trust that we have your best interests at heart - like, we aren't going to convince you to join our chapter. That's why we don't tell you our chapter because we just want you to be happy. Seriously, we just want you find the place you can grow the best in.

Trust that even though sorority life isn't always a bed of roses, it has the potential to make you a better leader, a compassionate friend, and a lifelong sister. It's all about what you personally will make of it. Isn't that cool? A sorority is what you can make of it - you have so much power to do good.

And here is the biggest secret of all -

You are a bright, kind, and caring woman and you can find a home in any chapter on this campus. Why? Because someone just like you is in every chapter on this campus. That's right, you can find a home in any chapter on this campus.

So take a deep breath, my dear potential new member of a sorority at Missouri State University. Be your most authentic and positive self and go out there and rock recruitment.

Sincerely,

A Pi Chi named Brooke