When I was a freshman at UCF, I wasn't involved with anything. No clubs, no Greek Life, no athletics, no student government – nothing. My dream was to attend the University of Florida so when I didn't get in, I was crushed and had the mindset I was going to hate any other school. I chose UCF on a whim the day before the acceptance deadline of all the schools I applied too. I spent almost every weekend my freshman year traveling home and visiting my sister who went to UF. When I was in Orlando, school took precedence and became a majority of my life; I worked my butt off my freshman year so that as soon as I could, I would transfer to UF, I would be able, too. Yes, I still had friends and a social life, and yes, I made perfect grades, but I was still miserable.
My freshman year roommate was my best friend from back home and she was involved in a sorority at UCF. But, throughout our time as roommates, I saw her grow up more than in the seven years I had previously known her. She talked about her sorority in such a positive light and I could see the impact it was making on her. It gave her friendships, leadership opportunities, community involvement and so much more. I saw how happy Greek Life had made her, and since I knew that I wouldn't be able to transfer to UF until junior year, I decided to give it a try, fall of my sophomore year at UCF.
Post-recruitment, I ended up running home to the same chapter my best friend and freshman year roommate belonged to. The week after I ran home, applications to transfer UF were available and, of course, I still applied. In the meantime, I had the time of my life, fell in love with UCF and made some incredible memories.
My sorority introduced me to the most amazing group of women I have ever met. Each and every one of them is kind, brilliant, thoughtful and so much more. Despite being a new member, all 150 plus members knew my name and wanted to be my friend. They had my back through everything and were so supportive with school, family and work. Soon enough, I met my Big and typical to what every sorority girl says, she actually is the greatest person I have ever met. I always had a group of people to attend football games with and do social events around UCF, so I grew more involved on campus. I joined academic honor societies related to my major – that my sisters encouraged me to join and also were a part of; academics are important to my chapter and maintaining a certain GPA was mandatory for involvement, so my grades stayed great. Our philanthropy is one that I wasn't familiar with at first, but now is something that I am so passionate about and love being a part of. My Big Sister told me about a job opportunity, and to this day I still work for that company. The list of positive occurrences that my sorority has given me goes on and on.
Come spring of my sophomore year, I realized my college experience had completely changed. I loved everything about where I was in my life and I owed it all to the wonderful organization that gave me so much to be grateful for. In March of 2015, I received my acceptance to the University of Florida. Being only 20 at the time, this was my highest goal that I have ever set for myself and I finally reached it. I cannot even express how I felt when I found out I was accepted ... It was the proudest moment of my life.
But ...
My first instinct was not "I am finally a Florida Gator." It was simply just the thought that I did it; I reached my goal. I will forever love the idea of UF and, who knows, maybe I will go to graduate school there ... but, I no longer wanted to drop everything at UCF and transfer. I wanted to stay at the school that had given me so much joy and continue to grow there. Everything happens for a reason, and what happened was, I fell in love with the University of Central Florida and more specifically, the happiness that being a part of the Panhellenic Community had given me.
If it weren't for my sorority, I would be in Gainesville right now and my college experience wouldn't be half of what it is today. Now I get to look back in 20 years at all the memories I created and say that being a part of a sorority was the best thing that has ever happened to me.
And it truly is.
