I assume that this is a shared experience of most college students, so I don't feel considerably alone in this, but I have changed a lot since my freshman year of college even though it's only been a year. My friendships, my attitude about life, my career goals, and even how I study have all been transformed because of my choices -- the good and the bad included. But I think that the most notable of these changes is my realization of just how precious the group of women that I call sisters is to me.
I went through recruitment on a whim, like so many of us, and I immediately fell in love with the sisters of AST and their commitment to service, their optimism, and their blunt honesty about staying true to themselves. Even within a few weeks, I noticed a change in myself. I was getting involved around campus, socializing and making friends all because my sisters encouraged me. I joined a sorority thinking that it would be an amazing way to get connected on campus and find a group of women who I could count on, and to help me become part of something bigger, but I got much more than that.
I was welcomed into not just a group of women, but a family, one that accepts each other whole-heartedly and is connected on a deeper level because of the values that we all share and hold each other accountable for. I had never had a lot of girlfriends, so as a freshman I was skeptical, because my only perception of sororities was what I had seen in movies, and I knew that I didn’t want any more drama in my life than I already had. A few of my freshman year friends seemed to have this same perception, so when I decided to give sorority life a chance and they didn’t, I forced myself to keep the two parts of my social life separated. I thought that there were two parts of my life; my sisters, who I respected and admired, and then my friends, who I hung out with on the weekends when not in chapter or at sorority social events. During this time, I was in a very dark place. I was paranoid, depressed and self-destructive, and my self-esteem was at an all time low. In fact, I almost withdrew from Belmont, but I’m glad that I didn’t, because it turns out that it was the best thing for me.
I’ve met women through this sisterhood who have gone through the same struggles as myself, and it has kept me grounded. My sisters, both in my good times and my bad times, were always there. I took it for granted for a long time, but after having a summer to reflect and being apart from so many of them, I truly appreciate their willingness to just be present in my crazy life.
This year my sisters are my closest friends, and I can say without a doubt that I’ve found people who I want in my life forever. I have 200 sisters. That sounds insane, I know, but I do. There are 200 women, who, without fail, will always be there to back me up, and I don't think I really understood that bond until it was put to the test. My sisters don’t care about how dramatic or messed up my life gets. They are always there for me, even when its inconvenient, because that’s what sisterhood is about and that’s the gift that I will never be able to repay to the women in my sorority.
To me sisterhood is a lot of things; It’s a smile when you walk by a sister on the way to class, its working together to plan a flash mob proposal to your formal date, it’s not knowing anyone in your business law class and jumping up when a sister walks in the room, and its blood, sweat, and tears-kind of hard work. It’s tragedy, adversity, success and defeat. But it’s never lonely.
Dedicated to the sisters of Alpha Sigma Tau, Delta Eta Chapter
