I am a tomboy. I love sports and am typically the girl next door. You can constantly find me playing basketball with all the boys at the gym until midnight, and they all constantly forget that I am a member of the Greek community. They say I’m not the “typical sorority girl”-- whatever that means. It’s true that I wasn’t sure about joining Greek life, or that I would fit in. But the past year, and this recruitment is reminding me as to why I have joined, and how proud I am to be in a sorority.

I recently got to move into the sorority house I am lucky to call my new home. I am experiencing work week, and soon will be going through recruitment on “the other side.” Work week is exhausting. Girls are up from 7:30 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. We are constantly working on bouncing and clapping, chanting songs, long conversations, skits, and speeches. To not bond is not an option. Constantly being with one another is giving us the opportunity to hang out, make jokes, and go through this process together. And I have never felt more happy or at home. We all have a lot of pressure. We all want the best for our house and we all work our butts off to achieve that goal. It’s true that work week is a love-hate relationship. I hate being sweaty, losing my voice, and smiling and talking for hours on end. But I have already met a ton of new girls through mock trials, and have made new friends. We are all going through this together, which makes it special.

I’m going to be honest. I am exhausted. During the days, I am fairly quiet. But when I stand around, waiting to sing the song once again, I look around. At each of my sisters. Some I know more than others, some I just met, some are older than me. But we are all here for the same purpose. To be a part of a legacy. To represent the Greek community full-heartedly, and proudly. I hope none of us ever forget that. The reason I love being a part of the Greek family, is because it has made me realize how diverse, and strong it truly is. I feel comfortable, and at home. I am not afraid to be myself. We all start rush with chants about our house, big smiles, lots of hair flips, etc. I used to think it was superficial. But now, as I do it, I realize it’s not hard to do these movements, because they are truly how I feel about my house. I agree with what the songs say, and will do whatever it takes to make sure each and every girl walking through that door feels special. We want to show our excitement for our chapter and our love for it. We could tell you the history of our house, what we stand for, our achievements, our falls, our wishes, and our community. I use OUR, because it truly is OURS. We are all there for each other, even if it is just the little things.

We can talk to you about times our sisters lifted us up, celebrated with us, and all of our memories. Joining my house automatically gave me 200 plus friends at a college where I knew very few. So no, we are not all the same people. We are a diverse community with different outlooks, goals, personalities. But that’s what makes it fun. I don’t want to constantly be around someone that is just like me. I want friends that will make my life exciting, catch me when I fall, and have late-night memories with me. We wear our letters for a reason. We work hard to recruit girls for a reason. It’s because we want more family, friends, sisters, and people to understand the love we feel for one another. Rush has already given me that. I met my big during my recruitment process, and have now met so many girls while practicing for recruitment. As we start to rush one another as practice for actual recruitment, I am happy to say I have quickly “rushed” my new best friends. We are all different, but have a similar goal and love for our house. I am a tomboy. I am the girl next door, but I am also a sister to hundreds of girls. And we are all different. But we all represent the same letters, purpose, and ritual. And I am lucky to have so many best friends, and am forever proud

of this.