Recruitment week twenty-sixteen has come and gone. Joy, exhaustion, elatedness, and an extra strong sisterly bond are just a few of the emotions we're feeling. We have our new Phi's and we literally could not be any happier.

We all know the stigma that goes with being in a sorority, the argument that you're paying for your friends or that all you do is party. Sisterhood is so much more than that though, and recruitment week has shown us just exactly what sisterhood really means.

When it comes to having a Kappa Phi, sister you know without a doubt you will always, always have someone to cry with. You will have someone who will cry for you, who will tell you that they believe in you without a doubt. Being a Phi Mu sister means having someone to drive to the top of a mountain with in the middle of the night to see the stars. It means having someone to escape with, someone to sing karaoke with at the top of your lungs, a room to stay in until 3 in the morning just talking.

You are not paying to buy your friends; you are paying to create a legacy that will last long past your lifetime. You are paying to do Philanthropy events and send money to children who are suffering, or cards to the elderly who have been long since abandoned. You are paying to go to formals with sisters you love so much it makes you heart burst. The money you pay doesn't give you your friends, it gives you the opportunity to do things with them. You're paying to have chapter and ritual, to have money to replace the dishwasher when it breaks in the house. You don't pay for the bond, the bond makes itself, and you are just along for the ride.

To the dear, new sisters that joined us yesterday: you should know that you've just found a home that will not betray you. A home with doors always open, arms wide wider than the ocean, welcome to you at any time of day or night. The girls that are now you sisters will change you in ways you cannot even yet imagine. They will grow you, they will make you better, they will take you inside your heart and warm the coldest parts of you.

These girls will choose you, every time. They will carry you when you cannot carry yourself; they will laugh with you, they will make you laugh until you cry. These girls have put in so many hours, so many months and days to get you where you are. They have shed tears, missed sleep, missed deadlines and every single one of them believes that it was worth it to get you where you are. We would do it all over again, in a fraction of a second.

These next few months will be some of the best you have ever had, don't let them go to waste. Put yourself out there, participate, fight for the bond you chose because it is worth it. So worth it.

There is so much good to be found within the hearts of these girls. So much light and laughter, each one is so caring, so genuine. These girls devote weekends to serving, to painting houses or working 5k's, to having Christmas breakfasts with children in November. They give their lunch breaks to sell bracelets to raise money for kids in the Philippines, they drive an hour to play with children at the CMNH in Atlanta. They have faculty breakfasts and sisterhood events where we talk the good we see in each other.

These girls live life to the fullest. They are full of joy, full of laughter, full of so much heart. They make any day an adventure, any moment worthy of clinging to. And we need those kinds of people in our lives, the people that shine for the moment, the people that show up no matter what. The pursuit of happiness, the pursuit of all things beautiful: these are good things, these are the things that keep us trucking along when the world is shaking.

My sisters, I love you dearly. Thank you for always always being there, for forever staying kind and honest. You are the best representation of what is good in this world and I am so grateful for you

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All photos by Countless Memories Photography