Becoming a brother of Alpha Phi Omega at Villanova University was the best decision I have made so far during my time in college. It is a great organization with an amazing purpose. Don't believe me? Rush and find out for yourself! Here are some of the many reasons I love APO.
1. Friendship
At the end of my freshman year at Villanova, I still hadn't felt like I made friends that I really connected with. Everyone kept telling me that your college friends were the people you would keep in touch with and stay friends with forever. So when I started sophomore year and all of my friends were busy with the sororities that they joined, I went out and looked for the perfect club for me. After contemplating rushing a sorority, and later deciding that it wasn't for me, a friend mentioned APO. Since joining APO, I have made some amazing friends that share the same interests as me. Doing service together is a great bonding experience.
2. Leadership
Not only did I make some great friends, but through APO, I found a group of natural born leaders. It takes a true leader to spend your free time doing service for others. Being a part of this fraternity has taught me valuable skills that I will have for the rest of my life. It has highlighted my leadership strengths and made me aware of my weaknesses, as well as taught me how to lead a group of people to work towards a common goal.
3. Service
While I did a lot of service in high school, I never thought of it as a fun way to bond with new friends. Not only has doing service together made us such a close-knit group of people, but I truly believe that it has made me a better person. The fraternity has shown me how to care for others in a way that I never thought possible. Serving others for nothing in return is something that I will cherish for years to come.
4. Be a part of something bigger than yourself
APO is an incredible organization that allows us to make an actual impact on the world. The people in this organization aren't in it for themselves; they are in it to make the world a better place, one step at a time.
5. Lifelong memories
After you graduate from college, you aren't going to remember the nights that you stayed in and watched Netflix while eating Ben and Jerry's out of the carton. But you will remember the lives you touched and the people you touched those lives with. Some of my most memorable experiences since coming to Villanova have been the service events that I took part in with my fellow brothers, like walking at Relay for Life until two in the morning, sorting through clothing at Cradles for Crayons, sitting outside Daugherty in the cold trying to talk people into letting you paint their faces, or all the long nights spent trying to figure out how to handle the obscene amount of people interested in joining the fraternity.
