Between my mother getting sick my senior year, and moving far away from the only place I ever felt safe, I developed horrible stress habits and depression. What started out as a minor issue has led me to be diagnosed with ulcers, psoriasis and seasonal active disorder. During the first few months of living in Indiana, my family and I were not too concerned for my well-being but we knew that when school started it could really affect my overall mental state and my academic life. Within the first day of classes I knew that I needed to join something to help me distract myself from my problems and hopefully make me a better person which is ultimately why I started to look into Greek organizations.
Up until the end of my freshman fall semester, I had always thought Greek life was much like what they portrayed it to be in movies such as House Bunny, Animal House, and Revenge of the Nerds. With these preconceived ideas, I was a little hesitant to join and worried that my self-esteem issues and depression would just become worse.
Thankfully, it was just the opposite. After doing my own research about Greek organizations, I felt that I wasn't quite ready to join an organization and that if I were to join one my freshman year, I at least wanted it to be related in some way to my major. Within the first ten days as a student at Purdue, I met our recruitment chair in my freshman seminar class and agreed to sign up for recruitment at the College of Agriculture Ice Cream Social. I initially signed up with a friend, but toward the end up of the recruitment process she dropped. Much to my surprise, I found myself so in love with my pledge class that her dropping didn't seem to phase me.
Throughout the recruitment process and these past two years I've learned so much about myself and the impact of having others around me that I can't even begin to explain how much these girls have changed my thoughts about life. Not only am I happier than I have been in a very long time, I am able to see the positive in most situations because I know that I always have them to fall back on. During my freshman year, in the midst of dealing with personal issues, I was also struggling with grades. But to have the support of these amazing women is what ultimately got me through the year and the reason why I never dropped out. Though most of my stress came from me fearing I would let them down after all the support and patience they extended to me, I soon realized that their support was what made my grades improve, despite the fear of failure. By the end of my freshman year, I had already seen a major improvement in my life. Not only did my grades improve, but I was no longer crying myself to sleep at night, throwing pity parties for myself, arguing with parents, and even my psoriasis started to clear up.
Don’t get me wrong though, I still have my bad days. I tend to over analyze my life when I am studying or getting ready for a project. I wake up and feel weird during the winter days. That’s just me. But I don’t ever feel alone. I realized that after you become a part of a sisterhood, that there is always someone around to talk to whether you want to talk about the most recent episode of "Pretty Little Liars" or talk about a personal situation going on in your life. Especially when it's 2 a.m. and you need to tell someone something you just experienced, at least one person (if not more) will answer and be there for you.
Now that I have gained a number of sisters, I don’t feel uncomfortable opening up to others about what I am struggling with or something worth laughing at myself for. That moment when you're about to fall asleep, and you know that you're not the only one, your faith in others and yourself gets a little stronger. Though I go through phases where I miss my hometown a lot more than I probably should, I wouldn't ever imagine leaving the girls who go out with me on the weekends and stay at the library with me until our first class the next morning. I know that my time as a student is limited but, this is my home and I am not ready to even begin to think about what I want to do after college. I am beyond grateful for these girls and I hope that other girls (and guys) realize that the Greek system isn't here to tear you down or to make you feel worthless. Being Greek has made me a better version of my old self.
As I enter my junior your, in my third major, and in the best sorority for myself, I am thankful for my struggles because they are what pushed me to become a sister of Sigma Alpha. My sisters are what pushed me to work toward my degree and with my rising self confidence, I am finally in a major that I feel is best for me. I encourage those who are struggling with depression and/or other personal issues to open their minds to Greek life and realize that you are not alone and that someone out there is waiting to call you a sister/brother.
