Now that the semester is officially over, there are a few things that I can now identity myself as: I am a college senior. I'm more than halfway done with undergrad. And I'm in a sorority. There are two things on that list that I have always hoped and expected to say: That I am a senior and that I'm almost done with undergrad. I had not expected to hear myself saying that I am in a sorority for a while, yet here I am.
See, when I first when to college I briefly was set on joining a particular sorority. But after being mentored by a member of that sorority and seeing first hand how she and most of her other sorority sisters did not live up to their principles or my expectations, I lost interest. I also attended a PWI my freshman year after growing up in a predominately black area and it opened my eyes to many things in the world. The most important thing that I realized was that many PWI's do not care about students of color. They will admit us and let us attend so that they meet their "minority quota" and so that they can get our money, but many administrators do not care if we feel safe, if we feel welcomed, or if we do well in our classes or not. While this was a sad realization to come to, it gave me a new motivation in life: Empowering people of color, especially on a collegiate level.
After my freshman year, I transferred to BGSU, another PWI. With my new motivation in mind, I became involved with the Black Student Union, I became a mentor in a program for first year students of color, and I got a job working as a writing tutor. One of my goals as a writing tutor was to provide representation of people of color in the tutoring center so that other students of color would utilize campus resources. With all of my involvements on top of classes, Greek life was the last thing on my mind until I saw the women of Sigma Lambda Gamma.
These women were everywhere, from community service events to the library. They were very diverse,with representations from several different races. Just observing them from afar, I could tell that their bond and love for one another was genuine. And the thing that I admired the most about them was the way that they treated people. I had brief conversations with several of the women from time to time. They probably don't remember these conversations because they were so brief and they did not know me, but they had an impact. They showed me that these women were kind and caring to everyone, even if they did not know a person and regardless of if a person was Greek or not. After seeing this, I did research on them, observed them from far away for a few semesters, made the decision to join and now here I am, a proud woman of Sigma Lambda Gamma.
Joining Gamma improved me as a person in so many ways. It helped me find my voice and my passion, it gave me a lot confidence, it showed me that I am truly capable of anything, and it taught me the meaning of commitment in an entirely new way. On top of all this, I found myself surrounded by beautiful, strong, supportive sisters who have challenged me every step of the way but have helped me to grow from those challenges.
While reminiscing is always fun, that was not my sole purpose in telling this story. My main purpose is to say this: never limit yourself with your personal expectations. It's great to have expectations, but never be afraid to surprise yourself by going against those expectations and doing something completely different. I could have chosen to stay away from Greek life because I was already super involved on campus, or I could have settled for my initial sorority choice because it was a goal that I set for myself, but I didn't. I challenged myself, went against my expectations and it helped me to make one of the BEST college decisions that I have ever made.
