I was always intended to continue with the family tradition of joining the prestigious National Pan-Hellenic Council, Inc. (NPHC) sorority. I was groomed from birth to join this sorority and to keep the legacy going. I always thought that it would be cool to share the same letters with family members. A lot of pressure was put on me, and I wanted to make my family proud. When I came to college, I planned on joining this sorority and being added as another proud member of the NPHC family tree, but sometimes things do not go according to plan.

When people get to college, they explore ideas and change their views. I was no different. One of the changes was that I decided not to carry on the family tradition. I decided to cut my ties with that idea and go outside of the box. I struggled with the idea of giving this idea up, but essentially, it's what I wanted to do and what would make me happy. I wanted to identify myself for me, not my family.

I had always been secretly fond of National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) sororities and thought that it would be awesome to be part of one, but I had sought out so hard to keep up with family tradition that I had let that idea die. Seeing numerous posts on social media sites of former high school classmates and how happy they were and meeting several individuals once I got to college made me become even more interested in going Greek, so I registered for Panhellenic Fall Recruitment.

Fall 2013, I stepped outside of the box and went through the glorious rush week. At the end of the week, I received a bid from Alpha Gamma Delta. I joined an amazing sisterhood with Alpha Gamma and have never regretted the decision. It has enhanced my college career by allowing me to join a sisterhood as diverse as ours. Since joining Alpha Gam, I have striven to be a better woman, scholar, and leader. My sorority makes me feel happy and blessed to have such great women to surround myself with.

My family was disappointed in the change, but they got over it once they realized how happy I was. What it boils down to is, you must do what makes you happy. If you can't, then you are not living life the way you should.