Oh no! Not another article about *gasp* Greeks!
OK, I'll be honest. My freshman year of college I was anti-Greek. I rolled my eyes whenever I saw anyone in letters. I came to college with preconceived ideas that Greeks were bad news.
But they weren't. Alfred State's Greeks were the best news ever. Alfred is a small village which makes Greek Life here such a small tight knit community where you actually know the other Greeks, and the important philanthropic causes they stand for. I realized that when the friends I already made started becoming Greek, and I became friends with people I didn't know were already Greek. It felt like I was being surrounded by an epidemic. But this "disease" was something that I saw was bettering the campus and communities. It took me two long years to see that.
The fall 2014 semester I was beginning my junior year of college. I was feeling great because I had finally set myself free from a terrible relationship and was put on remission for my depression over the summer. I wasn't completely OK, but it was a start to a better mindset and life.
I was hesitant about rushing the Delta Chi Omega sorority because I wasn't sure what kind of person I would come to be if I decided to pledge and become a sister. But I didn't want to let go of that opportunity either. I was already growing attached to the sisters, and so many of them had begun helping me pick up the stray pieces of my shattered soul. It was hard to do by myself, trying to grab broken shards of glass of all sizes in a frieze carpet was my daily struggle. But the sisters of Delta Chi Omega had a way of making that struggle not feel as exhausting as it did. I decided in my mind that the bliss I felt around the sisters was something I wanted to relearn to feel all the time when I wasn't around them.
Fast forward to the Spring 2016 semester, my last semester before I graduate college.
I've had so much time to reflect on everything that's happened the past couple of semesters. I became a sister that fall 2014 semester with four pledge sisters by my side. I held positions in the house to the point where I've become President. I've done so much for the sorority because the sorority has done so much for me. And I believe that's the most important part.
Being a sister of Delta Chi Omega has given me the second home here in Alfred I know I can always come back to. Being a sister of Delta Chi Omega has taught me more about being open minded to others, to understand we all come from different cultures and we all have an epic backstory because we're all important main characters that collectively share the backstory and history of an entire sorority. Being a sister of Delta Chi Omega has helped me grow as a person, it helped me learn my true values and beliefs, and discover the potential I hold within myself.
Being a sister of Delta Chi Omega has given me an infinite amount of sisters scattered across the world that will forever cherish the bonds of sisterhood. Being a sister of Delta Chi Omega has given me sisters who have my back, who wipe my tears, who feed me to death and much more. Being a sister of Delta Chi Omega has given me brothers from Kappa Sigma Epsilon who aren't afraid to be protective, but can be silly with me. Being a sister of Delta Chi Omega encouraged me to be myself, to be weird around a group of girls, and create inside jokes day after day. Being a sister of Delta Chi Omega most importantly taught me to love my body and love myself. I never thought a day would come where I can emit confidence from my body and encourage young girls to see their inner and outer beauty as well.
I'm proud to be a Greek at Alfred State College and I enjoy the fact that the Greek community is close with each other. It's hard to find a group of people you want to share history with and call your family with every fiber of your being. When you do find those people, you do anything to keep them around, because family doesn't always have to be by blood, it can be from the bonds you'll always share forever.
