Ever since I started college, I knew I wanted to join a sorority. It seemed like the perfect way to be involved on campus and meet new friends. I went through recruitment last winter, and I was so thrilled to have 60 new sisters at the end of it.
As time after Bid Day went on, I could feel myself putting distance between my sorority and me. I attended the socials of my friends in other sororities more than I went to my own. I never participated in the Pi Phi GroupMe and I didn't feel like I had many friends in the group.
I held on to the hope that once I moved into the sorority dorm for my sophomore year, I would start making more friends since we would all be under one roof. Unfortunately, I still wasn't making the connections I had hoped for even after I moved into the dorm. My anxiety over the situation grew with each passing day.
After talking to my parents several times, I was convinced that being in a sorority wasn't for me and that dropping would be my best option. I didn't want my mom and dad to pay hundreds of dollars for me to be a part of something that I wasn't into. I decided to stick with it a bit longer because recruitment was coming up and I figured this would be an opportunity to bond with my sisters.
Going through recruitment as an active member was the best thing I could've done. Spending hours with the girls gave me a chance to finally talk to more of them and make actual connections. For the first time, I felt genuinely excited to be a part of the group and wanted the girls going through recruitment to share that feeling when they walked out the door at the end of each round.
When recruitment ended and we got our new pledge class, the excitement continued to grow. With so many events and meetings going on at that time, I was able to spend more time with my sisters. I used to be the girl that always kept her door closed, but I found myself starting to keep my door open and talking to my floor mates in the hallway.
It took a year, a lot of thinking and a lot of stress, but I finally feel like I've found my home. I'm so thankful that I decided not to drop out of my sorority, because this semester has been the best one yet. I found the girls I can not only grab lunch with, but the girls I can dance on tables and run around Oxford with.
If you're thinking about dropping out of your sorority, my advice to you is to stick with it. Go to your socials, talk to your sisters and don't be shy. For some girls, it only takes a day to find where they fit within their sorority, but for others it can take much longer. Your niche is out there, don't be afraid to find it.
