One of the very first things I got involved with in college was Greek life. I always knew I wanted to be in a sorority, so I went through the long (for some) four-day process that is Fall Recruitment. Our school has five sororities: Alpha Delta Pi, Alpha Sigma Alpha, Phi Mu, Sigma Sigma Sigma and Sigma Kappa. The very first night was the most painstaking of them all, going to all five parties.
I dropped one that night and was so scared to see where I'd go on Saturday, and for good reason. I got asked back to one, and only one, sorority: Alpha Delta Pi. The next two days were spent at their parties and I accepted my bid that Monday. I've spent the last six months as an active member of this sorority, and I've got to be brutally honest—it was the worst mistake of my life. I'm going to tell you why:
1. It's expensive.
I spend a lot of money each semester to be apart of this sorority. The money is honestly a lot, but it's worth every penny. The money goes to important things like initiation festivities, bid day and fun sisterhood events for us to do. My favorite expenditures are the copious t-shirts and my beautiful badge.
2. They all piss me off.
Everyone pisses everyone off at some point. As a chapter officer, I do my best to uphold the duties of my office, and sometimes that makes people unhappy. But that's OK! I love each and every one of them and at the end of the day, I realize how silly I was to even be upset with them in the first place.
3. I never have alone time.
If I'm not in class, doing something for my EMT-B class (which is officially over now, yay), or eating/sleeping, I'm surrounded by at least one of these women. There are four Alpha Delta Pi women in my hallway in my dorm - four! (I never get a break.) They never let me eat alone, which I appreciate immensely because apparently that's a bad thing to do. It seems that I'm always planning my schedule around sorority events and I enjoy (almost) all of them. Seeing their beautiful faces every day whether it be on campus, in my dorm or on SnapChat really makes my day.
Most of all, the biggest reason joining a sorority was the worst mistake of my life?
4. I have to say goodbye in a year.
I'm transferring schools in the fall of 2017. Here at Northwest, I'm a pre-nursing "major" (it's not actually a major, it's a pre-professional program). In order to get a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree, I have to go to a school that offers the program, and Northwest doesn't. I've got it narrowed down (hahaha not so narrow) to five schools, potentially six. I feel like I barely know these women and I really want to be close to all of them. All of them. Yes, we're sisters for life, but I feel like only being with them for two full years isn't enough. I'm not very good at goodbyes, but this one is necessary.
I love all the things we do for the betterment of society whether it be volunteering at Ronald McDonald House, donating money to St. Jude's for another Greek organization's philanthropy or volunteering at the Humane Society (soon, I swear). We're so dedicated to service, and I love it! I love that I can tell them that I need someone to talk to and ten people hop on my case, willing to listen and give advice. Most of all? I love that I can call so many women on Northwest's campus and nationwide my sisters.
I know that in the worst of times I have someone to talk to, a shoulder to cry on, and someone to hug incessantly (I'm a hugger, just call me the new Danny Tanner). I know in the best of times, fifty women will like my Facebook post about passing my EMT final, or anything else that's big in my life. The support I get from these women warms my heart in unbelievable ways. I never in a million years thought that I'd be as accepted as my weird, quirky, lovable self as I am by all of these women. So yeah, joining a sorority was the absolute worst mistake in my life because a year from now, I say my good-byes—not forever, but for a while.
