The answer for your question is not one that is simplistic. It is complex, but it all comes down to two things: charity and friends. I am an Alpha Omicron Pi girl, and I will be that for the rest of my days. I was told many times while talking to well educated elders that Greek life was the way to go, so I did. I never thought that I would fall in love with the passion, and loving hearts of woman my own age.

I have always been the type of person to only have no more than four or five good friends at a time. Being in a sorority I now have 70+ girls a phone call away. I may not get along with all of them, but at the end of the day I am their sister. I was raised with tons of boys in the house, and I never had a lot of girls who were friends. I thought sorority life would be hard for me for this very reason, but I found my home. These girls share a bond with me that my friends from home will never understand, and that's okay. There are times it is hard and stressful, but the family here at NSU that I have found is amazing.

I use the word charity, because philanthropy can be an intimidating word. I love giving back. Alpha Omicron Pi’s philanthropy is Arthritis Research. Arthritis may seem like a hard one to connect to, but somehow I did it. This past December I ran in the Jingle Bell Run in Tulsa for artists, and I heard a story that touched my heart. Not many know that many kids around the world have arthritis. No, it is not only an elderly issue. Before the run, a mother stood at the microphone and told us about her daughter. Her daughter was no more than 5, and she suffered with arthritis. She explained the pain her daughter dealt with on a day to day bias. My heart grew heavy. She also told all of the runners this, “when you cross that finish line think of the kids like my daughter, because she may never get to do what you are doing today”. A simple action like running that this little girl may not be able to do. Personally, I hate running and I always seem to take it for granted. Who knew I would feel so blessed to run in a 5k. Charity makes my heart happy, because I know that when I pay my dues my money goes to little kids like the one that crossed my mind as I stumbled across that finish line.

Greek life is what you make it. It can be mostly a social experience, or it can be life changing. This is only a fraction of the experience. You can't begin to understand the different levels, and complexity of it until you are in it yourself. Yes, I will always be a sorority girl. I'm proud of my letters, and every woman who have worn them before me. We are women empowering other women.