So you have gone through an entire week of heels and small talk, leading up to this moment when you can open your bid and run to your new sisters. Soon you will be finding your place there, getting a big and a little and making lifelong friendships. Between all of the philanthropy events and meetings with your own chapter, it’s easy to forget there are actually other sororities out there. Those other girls that you met during recruitment and maybe even connected with quickly become a side thought. They turn into weekend stories and competitions for the cutest bid day theme. At least this is how it was for me and probably still would be, if I hadn’t had my Panhellenic experience my junior year.

After two years as an active member, I decided to apply to be a Gamma Chi for Fall 2015 Formal Recruitment (also known as a Rho Gamma, Pi Chi, or recruitment counselor). Part of this position required me to disaffiliate from my chapter, meaning that I had to cut off all communication with my sisters and move into a dorm with the other Gamma Chis for the two weeks during recruitment. I’m not going to lie, I was anxious about this process. I didn’t even know most of these girls, so how was I supposed to live with them? And I definitely couldn’t see them replacing the sisters that I had spent every day with since freshman year. Of course, I had also heard all of the stereotypes about every chapter and just knew I wouldn’t bond with these girls. Within the first day, though, I had a revelation: There are amazing girls in EVERY sorority.

There are funny, talented, smart, kind women in every single chapter. Women I could see myself being best friends with or even aspiring to become. I sat out in the hallway with my fellow Gamma Chis just talking for hours and went on Sonic trips for discounted slushies, or Mexican food dates. In the two weeks that we lived together, we became sisters of our own. We talked about boys, school, life, and everything in between. More often than not, I would forget which sorority each of these girls were even a part of because I just saw them as my friends. Not as an intramural rival or the girls who got the letter shirt pattern we wanted. When I watched my baby PNMs who I had guided all week open their bids, I can honestly say I was overjoyed for all of them. Yes, some of them are now my sisters and I am thrilled but I am equally as excited for the ones who found their homes somewhere else, because I know they will meet incredible women and be just as happy.

At the end of recruitment, I was ready to go back to my chapter. I even cried as I said their name and tackled my best friends who came to welcome me back. Nothing can replace the women I share my ritual with, but it was also emotional to say goodbye to my Panhellenic friendships. The younger version of myself who would seek the negative in other chapters can now chant along with each of them and will openly support every philanthropy. Because all of them are filled with girls just like you and me. So I encourage every sorority member to go out there and find your Panhellenic experience. Whether it be as a Gamma Chi, a member of Panhellenic Executive Board, an RA for a Greek life dorm, or any other experience your school offers. Get out there and meet all of the amazing women in this community. Strengthen the bonds of sisterhood between all sororities, and tear down any labels outsiders want to pin on us. Every sorority is special and amazing in its own way, so let’s break down the walls and come together as an entire Greek community. As the saying goes, “no matter the letters, we are all Greek together.”