The time has finally come. I am an alum of Alpha Delta Pi. You spend four years being an active member of a sorority attending countless mandatory meetings and events, along with mixers and philanthropies. Then one day it is all over. I remember being a freshman and asking myself, "Do I really want to put myself through this?"; "Was it really worth it?" Freshman year is so so much fun, but the amount of mandatory events we had to attend was out of this world. Plus, we always had to go last to get food at any function; that’s hard when there’s 60 girls in front of you for food and you love to eat. But through it all, attending all those silly events and complaining with my sisters I made the best friends I will ever have.
Complaining = bonding. As mentioned, freshman year and simply a sorority in general is a lot of extra time and work. Plus, let’s not sugarcoat this. With a group of 70 women, not everyone gets along. No one can expect that. Thinking that you can throw 70 different personalities in a room and think they all will be best friends is a jump. So complaining about anything mandatory, how much time we did not have, and how little we liked little Sandy Sue all really bonded us. Although that complaining was negative in itself, it also allowed us to bond and spend countless hours together. All those mandatory events added up to a lot of time. And we really were not fans of Sandy Sue, so we had a lot to say about her, meaning a lot of time with that too. All of this talking, all of this complaining for years. But to me, this complaining isn’t so bad at all. All these memories I will carry with me for the rest of my life, and when all my sisters come together again years later we can all think about all of our memories, good and bad.
Then there was the Ronald McDonald House. Who is going to drive? Do we get philanthropy points for driving? Oh well, let us all figure out what we are bringing. Tacos? Classic, it is always taco night. Now comes the fun part. Making the families dinner, and in our case, a lot of times tacos. I love this part because you have 12-15 girls making tacos (not this many people need to make tacos FYI), so a lot of time we get to talk with each other or if any children are out and about can play with them. So now, here we are making dinner for families that just need to time to breathe and get the time to take five minutes out of their busy days to sit down and eat with loved ones. The Ronald McDonald House for me was one of my favorite aspects of Alpha Delta Pi. Giving back just a little bit, with sisters who care just as much as you do, is amazing. Anyone can volunteer for the Ronald McDonald House, and Alpha Delta Pi opened me up to that. Now I can forever continue to give back. Although this is a very small thing I can do, Alpha Delta Pi will always be the reason I started to volunteer for this wonderful organization and will continue to do so.
Then there are the friendships I have made with over a hundred girls. I came into a chapter of about 70 girls, and now the sisters above me have graduated; now that I am a senior the chapter is made up for 80 new girls. I know for a fact if I ever had a problem or needed advice I could go to any one of my sisters. It does not matter if we weren’t the closest of friends; all that matters is that we are there for each other no matter what. Although some of my sisters I have only had a few conversations with, they are so special to me. If they ever need anything I would be there for them and that is something every special about Alpha Delta Pi. As mentioned, 70-some girls thrown together are not going to be best friends, but I will tell you that 70-some girls thrown together will have a special kind of bond that lasts a lifetime.
