First semester of freshman year is undoubtedly stressful. I looked to my friends at southern schools who went through sorority recruitment in the fall and were able to jump right into the social scene, and everything else that came with going Greek. I will admit that I was jealous and felt like I was really missing out. I was dying to rush and meet a gazillion new friends.

Of course, upon actually jumping into the recruitment process, I questioned why I had ever thought that at all. Why is being judged on your appearance all day, every day, for five days fun? Why is this so glorified? Why am I putting myself through this on purpose? Many of my friends decided to drop out of the recruitment process halfway through because they decided that it wasn't for them, and I had to wonder the same thing about myself.

I received a bid from the Villanova Zeta Alpha chapter of Delta Gamma on Bid Day, and I was beyond thrilled, but also beyond scared. I was in, but was I really? I didn’t actually have friends yet. I had “sisters,” most of whom I had never met in my life. What if everyone was fake during recruitment? What if this isn’t what I thought it was going to be? My mind ran a thousand miles a minute, and thank God I slammed on the brakes. Something about this felt very, very right. Stopping my mind from running through the possibilities of how this could turn out horribly forced me to focus on what about this could be amazing.

Over the next few weeks, as a new member, I was thrust into meetings. Business-like and informational meetings, yes, but also meetings such as Meet the Seniors, Meet the Juniors, Meet the Sophomores, Meet Your Pledge Class, and so on! I attended event after event after event and it didn’t feel like a chore- instead I felt energized and excited and happy almost all the time. I thought, I can really do this!

Of course, now the New Member Period is slowing down, but I still feel the same way that I did on Bid Day. Everyone in my pledge class is so incredibly friendly and fun—they’re the type of people who I really want to spend the next three and a half years with at school. I feel so blessed to have a Big whom I LOVE and a huge group of girls as a support system.

So yeah, I joined a sorority, and I guess there’s some preconceived notions about who I am or who I could become. But honestly, if I’m any different, it’s for the better. I’m better, happier, more social, more comfortable, more outgoing, more of everything good in my life.