For anyone who thinks sororities are stupid, cliquish, only for a certain type of girl, paying for friends, or as my mom was worried about, “they party too much.” Well forget all that and keep an open mind. I too was once in that mindset (in fact, it was just a few short weeks ago). Coming into freshman year I was completely, 100 percent against recruitment and the entire concept of sororities. I always thought, “I am not that kind of girl, it just isn’t me” but here I am, a new and very proud member of Gamma Phi Beta.
After a long and exhausting weekend of recruitment, and talking to dozens of people, when they handed me my bid and I held it in my hands, the nerves and anticipation of what was written inside were overtaking me. I never thought I would fall in love with any of the sororities but there I was hoping and praying that card would read Gamma Phi Beta. The 10 seconds that stood between me and being able to open that bid seemed like an eternity. Looking back on it now, it all seems like a blur. We got shirts for our new sorority, went out onto the quad and stood across from all the sororities, and got ready to run to our new home. I remember seeing my friend’s face as I unzipped my sweatshirt revealing my GPhi shirt and ran towards her (followed by her nearly tackling me), and all of the girls were just as excited, if not more excited than us new members, to have us all joining this awesome sisterhood. That night my phone was flooded with dozens upon dozens of Instagram follows, friend requests, and all the girls posting on my Facebook timeline.
It has not even been a week and I don’t think I even know half of the girls’ names yet but it is already my home and I love it and all of the members so much. Every single girl is smart, so kind, outgoing, welcoming, and they’re all-around great people. For anyone who thinks differently, don’t judge until you’ve gone through recruitment and met and made connections with the girls.
Sororities can be for anyone - you just need to find where you belong and where you can see yourself. There really are options for anyone. They all are unique in their own ways while also full of any type of girl. And you need to find the place that you want to call your home, not the sorority that your friend loves because you want to be in the same one as her. My best friend here joined a different sorority along with our other friend but it makes absolutely no difference. And our other friends aren’t in any sorority at all and that’s okay too. Every single sorority is full of unique women who have all had different life experiences, different opinions, different interests, yet are all tied together by this common sisterhood, which makes for some of the best lifelong friendships.
