Dear Newest Members,

I know you’ve heard this a million times, but I’ll say it again: Welcome Home! By now you’ve settled into the swing of school, gotten acquainted with the girls in your pledge class, and have finally started learning about the sisterhood you’ve just become a part of.

First things first--- Breathe. Learning about an organization you previously had no clue about up until a few weeks ago on top of keeping track of homework and classes can be really overwhelming, especially at the beginning of your new member process. You don’t really know the girls you sit by in your weekly meetings, meeting the sisters scares the heck out of you, and you’re honestly just trying to figure out your place in your newfound sisterhood, but have no idea how to begin to do that.

I understand. We (your future sisters), all do! We’ve been in your shoes; nervous, confused, and a little scared at times, too. Sometimes you’ll question why you have to learn who your founders are, or you’ll complain about how long your meetings last.

But one day, something changes. All of these random names and dates and facts suddenly become so much more than something you’re told to memorize. Those names? They are the names of the smart, amazing women that founded your sorority. Those dates? Those dates signify when your organization finally hit the ground running, and without those significant dates, you wouldn’t have been able to run home to that very same organization on Bid Day.

You may not understand at first why this random group of girls, aka your pledge class, are suppose to mean so much to you like everyone else says they’re suppose to.

But one day, something changes. One day, you forget to eat lunch and have class all afternoon so you’re starving, and to top it off you’re in tears because you just failed you’re first test in college. You go to the dining hall to finally get something to eat, and one of your pledge class sisters sees you eating alone… So she joins you. She listens to you when you tell her all about your horrible day. She makes you laugh. You guys exchange numbers and wonder why it took so long for you to do that in the first place.

You might not understand it when girls say they “wear their letters with pride,” because to you, at first, they’re just Greek letters.

But one day, something changes. One day, you get your Big, and she helps you through the craziness of your new member process, and life in general. And somewhere in all of that, she becomes your best friend. One day, you’re stranded on the side of the road with a flat tire and no way to change it. You ask for help, and a sister you only see at chapter meetings every week drops what she’s doing to come and help. One day, a boy breaks your heart so you cry your eyes out all while eating ice cream that your sister brought over for you. One day, you’re walking down the aisle in the wedding dress of your dreams and you see your bridal party… full of your sisters who got you through those four insane years.

One day, you’ll look back on today. And you will be so grateful that you got the opportunity to become apart of a group of bright, beautiful, confident women, and that you can now and forever call those women, your sisters.