As a senior in high school, I was tired of my every day routine and was ready to move far away from my hometown and start all over. I wanted to meet new people and travel to a new place. I made the perfect decision for myself and went to a college out of state. I was excited to make new friends and put my worries from high school behind, but it was still scary being far from home and I was worried that I wouldn’t make any friends. This made me interested in sorority life, so I decided to go through recruitment. The thought of having a “home away from home” and tons of sisters to count on was intriguing to me, but I never knew how much it would really change my life for the better. Joining a sorority was one of the best decisions I made for myself during my freshman year, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
The week of recruitment was pretty stressful, but the outcome of it was worth it. A lot of girls in my Pi Chi group seemed to already have friends in a few sororities from their hometowns and were not worried at all about getting a bid. The school in particular that I go to is a competitive SEC school where Greek life is a big deal, which made me pretty scared that I might get cut from recruitment altogether. However, once the parties actually started and I met a lot of girls who were also from out of state and said that their sorority was what made them feel at home here, I knew I had made the right choice. I was ecstatic on bid day when I accepted a bid from the sorority that I knew was my first choice since day one.
As a sorority member, I’ve made friends that are both in state and out of state students. If it weren’t for my sorority, I would have had nobody to eat lunch with, study with, hang out with on the weekends, or go to for help in times of trouble. Joining a sorority instantly set me up with a bunch of girls who were a lot like me and had the same priorities and compatible personalities to mine. I had a plethora of older girls to look up to and get advice from and a new pledge class of sisters to become my friends. I can’t even imagine how different my college experience would have been had I not joined my sorority. They’ve given me a support system so strong that I barely ever felt homesick while at school.
If you’re an out-of-state student, I highly suggest that you go through recruitment, regardless of how competitive, tiring and scary people make it out to be. While it is a really stressful week, it's also fun and the outcome makes the process completely worth it. Joining a sorority instantly makes college a little less scary and gives you a group of girls you can count on and hang out with right off the bat. While it may sound cheesy, I can now prove to you that your sorority really will give you a “home away from home." It’s more than just basic recruitment videos and weekly meetings, it’s a friendship and historical bond that lasts forever.