As thousands of girls prepare to go through recruitment at Ole Miss, and as I encounter daily negative stigmas surrounding Greek life, I want to explain the truth of what it means to be Greek to me:

Was I attracted to the idea of getting really dressed up for formals or swaps or other functions? Absolutely. Did I like the thought of feeling like a cool girl walking around sporting letters? Most definitely. Did I have a very shallow view of sororities and believe them to be mostly what people said they would be? Probably. Did that change? Completely.

Immediately during recruitment, I realized finding the place that I wanted to be, the place that felt like home to me, was not going to happen if I had the "fake it until you make it" mentality. I needed to be genuine, so in return I could see who was being genuine with me. I needed to have conversations that truly interested me, talk about things that meant the most to me, rather than saying the things I thought someone wanted to hear or having meaningless conversations because they were easy. I, like many many other girls in recruitment, truly found that my fit at one house and one house only, and I knew it was the place for me.

I cannot imagine where I'd be without the 400 women that inspire and surround me daily. Lately, God has been speaking so much into my life about the topic of need. We live in a world that always wants more. Our selfish desires and tendencies and jealousies tell us that if we could just have or do or be this thing then life would be better, and we let those thoughts control much of our choices and actions. I had those thoughts even during recruitment week as I looked at girls who seemed to have a pick of whatever they wanted to be, and truthfully, being in a sorority was a huge want of mine driving all that I was doing, but it wasn't a need. However, God knew what I did need. He knew I'd need a home away from home. He knew I'd need genuine friends to comfort me in the troubling days I'd face freshman year and will face throughout college, to celebrate with me in the successes, to lift me up and pray for me daily, and to inspire and challenge me to become the best version of me. That is exactly what I got, and I could not be more grateful.

So, don't think you need to be in a sorority, or a specific sorority, or that your life has to look anything like everything you may have seen or heard about sororities. Know that you have to find the place that can best offer you what you truly need- friendship and community, support and love, encouragement and loyalty. And if things don't seem to be going in the direction you may have thought you wanted them to during recruitment week, remember God knows better than you, and he will provide for your needs.