Coming to the University of Texas at Austin I was totally against joining any sororities or spirit groups of any kind because I thought they were only for girls who liked to party.

Plus, the idea of having to go out and be forced to socialize with random people never was an appealing idea.

So let me tell you how surprised I was this year when I found myself joining The Texas Ladybirds.

Even now that I'm officially in the group, I still can't get myself to believe it.

It's completely different than the others on campus and couldn't be farther from the Spirits that I considered joining earlier in the semester but dropped last minute to put my all into becoming a Ladybird.

Unlike Texas Bluebonnets, Texas Spirits and Texas Sweethearts, the Texas Ladybirds pride themselves on the smallness of their group, being 32 members total.

Of course, this isn't the only thing that makes my group special but it is a significant reason why I decided to put myself out there and go for it.

Also, the amount of environmental and humanitarian volunteer work we do almost on a weekly basis really makes my heart happy.

Just this spring semester we've cleaned our adopted street for the second time this school year, we've reintroduced our sustainability steering committee that strives to make our social events as eco-friendly as possible and we've volunteered at the Inside Books Project.

I truly thought I was the only person in my life consumed by the rapid deterioration of the planet and wanted to join the efforts to combat further destruction of the natural environment.

Yet here I am being proven wrong once again by the 31 other women who I call my fellow Ladybirds.

My Ladybirds are constantly showing how strong and committed they are to helping the environment while reconstructing a predominantly patriarchal society one foot at a time.

Our president even composts! How many people know someone who composts as a college student?!