It has come around once again... Universities are back in session and with that comes the onset of articles about why you should rush certain sororities and fraternities. I am not here to tell you to rush my sorority, instead I want to tell you my story.
I transferred to Illinois State University during the second semester of my freshman year. At that time I had no idea what I was going to study or why I had come to ISU, all that I knew was that I needed to figure that out. After a lot of soul-searching, I decided that I would major in Agricultural Education.
When I began my sophomore year of college, I was officially part of the Agriculture Department. I still wasn't sure that this was the major for me, but I could feel myself getting closer. During the first week of school, I attended the annual Ag Department Welcome Back Cookout. I am not a talkative person, but I made myself go because I wanted to feel like I belonged there.
At this cookout, I was approached by a young lady who happened to be from near where I grew up. As the conversation began to draw to a close, she told me that I should think about joining Sigma Alpha. Soon I had a flyer in hand as I was walking back home.
My immediate thought was, "No way, I am not a sorority girl." I had my mind made up that I was not joining, I wasn't even going to go to the informational nights. Over the next few weeks, I watched as the ladies of Sigma Alpha promoted their sorority and got excited for rush. When the evening of their informational nights came, I was walking through Ropp Agriculture Building not even thinking about it.
That is when I saw the group of Sigma Alpha girls preparing for their event. One of them came up to me and told me that I should come to the informational night and the next thing I knew, I was in the classroom listening to what Sigma Alpha was all about. Then the craziest thing happened, I started to picture myself as a part of this group. It seemed like I barely blinked before I had received and accepted my bid and was a Membership Candidate.
Sigma Alpha isn't a normal sorority though. Sigma Alpha is a professional sorority for women pursuing careers in agriculture. That description alone sets us apart from other Greek Life (in my own opinion of course).
As agriculture students, we face different kinds of challenges than most college students. Our industry faces a lot of criticism and we have to have a foundation in order handle the challenges that we face. Sigma Alpha not only gave me a group of sisters that became that foundation, but we are able to grow together and learn the skills that we will need when we enter into our future careers in the agriculture industry.
Not only has Sigma Alpha given me this foundation, but I have gained a second family. These girls are home for me. Sigma Alpha opened my eyes to all of the amazing organizations that the ISU Ag Department had to offer and gave me a Big that encouraged me to take chances that I may not have taken before.
If you are thinking about joining Sigma Alpha, or any other RSO for that matter, don't hesitate. You never know what it could lead to or how many doors it could open for you.
The Sigma Alpha Bet Xi Chapter would like to invite any woman with an interest in agriculture and building their professional portfolio to our rush events. Our informational nights will be held on September 7th and 8th at 6PM in Ropp 111. We will also be holding a baseball social/cookout with our friends from FarmHouse on September 10th at Anderson Field in Normal, IL. I hope to see you there!
