Every week at chapter, a sister of my sorority passes on what we call the “supportive sister bra” to another sister who she feels has supported her in the past. I was lucky enough to receive the bra last week and started to think about which sister to whom I would pass it next. So that raised the question: what exactly does it mean to be a supportive sister?
Greek sisterhood is something that is completely wrapped up in the cliché saying, “From the outside, you can’t understand it. From the inside, you can’t explain it.” I get asked all the time what the difference between my friends and my sisters are because the two seem equal in worth. While I totally value my friends just as much as I do my sisters, I know that the level of support given by my sisters is limitless and unconditional. My sisters are stuck with me for life. Having joined Greek life as a complete newbie to the process, I didn’t immediately understand how much my sisters would eventually mean to me. Two years later, I couldn’t imagine going through life without them by my side.
Supportive sisters encompass everything that a biological sister does. When your boyfriend breaks up with you, they’re at your house with your favorite candy and sushi to watch movies all night and let you cry. When you studied all night at study hours for an exam, you definitely got a few texts the morning of with a pep talk and reassurance of how awesome and smart you are. And when you got the A on that exam, your sisters were there to celebrate with a night out. When you get an interview for your dream internship, older sisters in the chapter are the ones helping you plan an appropriate power outfit and giving you mock situation questions. When a loved one passes away, your sisters are the ones who have a card and gift waiting for you on your bed when you return from the funeral at home. It’s small acts of kindness that remind you every day why your sisters are the ones who truly have your back when it seems like the rest of the world has turned away.
All your sisters want is for you to succeed and do it with confidence. Sisters are the ones who hold you up when all you want to do is crawl into a hole and hibernate for months. They are the first ones with whom you want to share your accomplishments, and they are the ones with whom you feel comfortable enough to cry when it seems as though your world is crumbling around you. I could walk into the sorority house at any given moment and be surrounded by truly amazing and inspiring women who do nothing but support me. There is a reason that everyone joins Greek life and there is a reason why people choose to stay. My supportive sisters are the reason that I stay.
