Maybe I’m naïve. Maybe in my attempt to put my best self forward, I foolishly believed that other people would try to do the same. Maybe we have conflicting ideas of what our best selves are supposed to be. Rush week is hard at every college, but this experience was one that I didn’t expect to take place on my campus, my happy place.

Let it be noted that I love Tulane. My decision to attend was probably one of the biggest and best of my life, and I wouldn’t change it for anything. The reason I love being here so much is because it has an addicting, positive atmosphere that will likely inspire you to become a better version of yourself, and the beautiful thing is that you can really and truly believe in yourself. Moreover, this love and support that you have for yourself leads to stronger, more beautiful, and more genuine relationships that make you believe the best of people and lead you to feel that maybe the world isn’t such a bad place after all.

This uplifting and empowering environment is why I was so shocked at my experience in recruitment. Don’t get me wrong – I’ve been having a really great time (at the moment, I’m only halfway through the process), but after mulling it over a bit, I’ve realized that the self I was putting forward just wasn’t me. Not only that, but I felt like it would have been a mistake to let many of the girls know my true self, full of quirks and weirdness. My conversations weren't really genuine.

I was pretty hurt after seeing that I was released from certain sororities, and I know I’m not the only one who experienced this because that’s how this week is supposed to work, right? From what I have heard, the pretty, skinny, charismatic girls will most likely get into the sororities that have the best reputations, and the rest of us are lucky to get a bid at all.

If you’re wondering when the arc of my depressing article is going to happen, you’re in luck! That time is now!

My thoughts are that if Tulane is such a progressive school, fighting for self-love and love for one another, why are girls subjecting themselves to a system that will inevitably make everyone who participates in it have a lowered self-esteem? This system feeds into girls’ insecurities, but when are we going to realize that it doesn’t have to be this way? That every participant is worthy of love and sisterhood and so many wonderful things that aren’t promised to them, but should be?

2017 will be the year of self-love, self-care, respect for others, and change.

So what if we changed the system? What if we created a harmonious organization where everyone ends up satisfied? What if we stopped caring about what other people thought of our real selves, and found our sisterhood – our home – through verisimilitude and authenticity?

To the girls who were cut on the first day, the last, or somewhere in between, and to the girls who have seemingly found success in the system - ladies, I implore you to love yourselves in spite of those Greek letters. You are so worthy of love, and I’m sorry you were lead to believe that you weren’t at some point this week. You are wonderful, and you have so much to offer, no matter who you are, what your dress size is, what your skin or hair or eye color is, et cetera, et cetera!

Never forget that. Never change. Embrace the weird.

Soon enough, you will find someone who does, too.