When I started school here at LSU, I realized that I was a lamb in a world of wolves. It wasn’t the safety net that was my private school, where everyone was (generally) like me in terms of beliefs and opinions. It wasn’t my small hometown, where everyone knows each other and you can’t go anywhere without recognizing someone, a bubble where the cathedral is the center of town and almost everyone is Christian. It was something utterly new and completely terrifying.

I tried several times to find a place where I felt like I truly belonged. I joined a sports team, several clubs, made a group of friends, and started searching for a place of worship. Despite those feelings, I was missing the fundamental parts of my own heart and dogma that I so desperately searched and prayed for. I had a “place” perhaps, but I didn’t feel at home.

I wanted so badly to fit in somewhere that I found myself abandoning who I was, who I know that I am, and who I wanted to be. In trying to find myself, I lost myself.

Then, something changed. I met a group of girls and guys (friends of my best friend) who flipped my ideal of “college life” and demolished my desire to “fit in” in the sense of society. I ended up talking more to them about my feelings and opinions, asking people to coffee and enjoying getting to know these new friends. I found myself praying more, not out of obligation, but out of a true desire of my heart to change something in the way that I was living.

Though I found these friends (from all different schools!) who supported me, I wanted for the community that so many at LSU seemed to have. I reconnected with my faith life and filled my God-shaped hole, but I realized that, without a firm backing of like-minded supporters, I was still wandering around my campus aimlessly.

Because of those people, I was introduced to someone that unknowingly changed my life (dramatic, but literal). After having coffee and talking, I found myself being drawn to her personality, kindness, and pure love of God. So, when she told me about a group of girls just like her, I was immediately excited by the idea of finding my place.

After countless nights of prayer and asking my best friends about their opinions, I decided to go to recruitment for Sigma Phi Lambda, a Christian sorority on campus. I realized that, after the first day, I felt like I’d known the girls for years. It only took a weekend for me to start falling for the genuine hearts and dedication to Christ that each of these girls have. I didn’t feel ashamed of my faith like I did in the past, and I felt like I fit in perfectly as I was, without any changing.

I found girls who are just like me, and some that aren’t. I found true sisterhood and, for the first time since starting school in the fall, peace. So, I went to an open chapter meeting to see what these girls were all about.

I found myself immediately engulfed in love by women who wanted me to be there, wanted the best for me, and valued my thoughts and concerns. As I stood with my eyes closed, fully engaged in praise and worship, I heard the girls around me raising their voices to proclaim their faith. I say this again to drive the point home: for the first time, I felt at home at LSU.

So, as I grow into my full potential alongside the girls in Phi Lamb, I’m excited to see what comes next in my life. I'm ecstatic to have another best girl friend (thank you for everything), I’m blessed to have found such community (the exact community that I’d been praying for) and immediate sisterhood.