Going into college, I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to be involved in. When I went to the Involvement Fair during my first week of freshman year, I was completely overwhelmed. There were so many options, so many things I could do, and in a way, I felt the decision I made then would impact the person whom I would become in college. So, like many other freshmen, I signed up for a whole bunch of clubs at first and attended a couple of meetings, but there was no place that really gave me the sense of home that I was looking for. Being from Washington, which is thousands of miles away from Delaware, I needed to find a support system–people who I could lean on when things got hard and who I knew would be there no matter what. It wasn’t until I went through formal Panhellenic recruitment that I found that home I truly was looking for.
I never thought I fit the image of a sorority girl. In the media, you typically see certain aspects of Panhellenic women, and I just didn’t feel like I was that kind of person. I liked my alone time and enjoyed having a few good friends rather than a huge group of them. Additionally, as an Honors student, my grades and classes were all extremely important to me. I didn’t want anything to get in the way of that and wanted to find like-minded people.
Now, these were all my thoughts prior to recruitment. I had no idea what I signed up for when I decided to go through formal recruitment or even join a chapter. I just decided to do it after hearing from so many people that it was the best decision that they had ever made. In the end, it was just another trial, like I did with many of my other clubs, to see if I found where I belonged and what I was looking for.
However, it did end up being one of the best decisions I have ever made and one I will forever be grateful for. There’s a cheesy thing you hear when going through recruitment: that you’ll meet your best friends through the process. I never fully believed that because I hadn’t fully clicked with anyone at UD yet. But like they said, I really did meet my best friends, even before I got a bid to a chapter. I met my best friend at a Dunkin’, not knowing we would end up in the same sorority at all. Recruitment also gave me a huge confidence boost. I generally tend to be a shier person, so being able to talk to so many people for so long made me become a more outgoing person. I wanted to show the best version of myself.
Joining my chapter demolished my idea of who I thought sorority girls were and changed my entire mindset. While there are social events in my sorority, it is much more about the sisterhood and the bond we all share together. I know that I can count on all my sisters to be there for me if I need them to be. No one person in my chapter is the same; every girl I meet comes from a unique background, with different dreams and personalities, and I love getting to know each and every one of them. Finally, I just love being able to have best friends who are always down to do anything, whether that is staying up all night at the library before finals or having a night in just playing old Wii games like Mario Party 8 or Just Dance. My sorority is the home away from home that I always dreamed of and I’m so happy I took a chance and found it.
So, if you’re reading this and wondering about going through recruitment, take this as a sign and just do it! You never know how it will work out unless you try! 🙂
