“So, why do you want to join a sorority?” Philanthropy.  Scholarship. Intramurals. Home. Leadership. Family. Sisterhood. If you went through formal recruitment, you know what I am talking about. House after house, women would ask this question. It gives them a good idea of why you want to be a part of their sisterhood. What I have discovered is that you cannot exactly know why you want to be in a sorority until you have experienced it. Being in a sorority is so much more than what I could have ever imagined when I was going through recruitment. How could I have possibly known what was in store for me in the following years? 

Gamma Phi Beta has shaped me into the woman I am today. Even though only a few, short years have passed since my initiation, the transformation I have seen in myself is astounding. I came to college as a shy and insecure freshman without a voice. I was too afraid of what others would think of myself and my opinions. Now, two and a half years later, I am the chapter president of my organization. If someone had told me where I would be in two years, I would not have believed it. Being a member of Gamma Phi Beta gave me the confidence I needed to become a leader. I was given a safe and supportive environment to thrive in. People listened to what I had to say. I was given respect and support. For the first time in my life, I felt like what I had to say was important. 

The opportunities that Gamma Phi Beta has given me are endless. Before college, I had never held a leadership position. I was in multiple clubs, but I was only a member. I think it is so easy for our young members to just step aside and let others be the leaders. Being in a sorority is what you make it. You can join and just be a member, or you can join and make a difference. I encourage you to look for what you want to see changed in your organization. Talk to others about it. Chances are, other girls have seen the same problems and just need that little push to get the ball rolling. You can be that little push. You can be a leader. Work as long as it takes to bring your ideas to life. I promise, there is nothing more rewarding than seeing something that started out as a small idea in your head turn into something that everyone of your members is a part of.

What Gamma Phi Beta has given to me is something I could have never  dreamed of. Last year, I was our chapter’s recruitment chair. The amount of time and dedication that it took to bring in a new pledge class was something I never could have imagined when I ran for the position. But there was something else I could not have imagined, either: how it felt to watch those 46 girls run towards our members screaming and laughing and smiling. 

When we let young women into our sisterhood, we are not just letting them into our home. We are not just letting them join a wonderful sisterhood. We are giving them the opportunity to grow and shine. We are giving them the opportunity to learn to love something so much that it truly changes who they are. We are giving them the opportunity to be the best woman they can possibly be. 

This past summer, I was given the opportunity to fly to Seattle, Wash. for the 2014 International Convention. There is nothing more special than practicing ritual with 1,000 other women. Convention opened my eyes to all of the lifelong possibilities of being in a sorority. A sorority is not a four-year commitment. It is a lifelong commitment. The women I met at Convention set wonderful examples for lifelong membership. 

There is nothing that makes me happier than seeing a 75 year old woman in the same lettered shirt I am wearing or singing the same songs that I learned as a new member, or whose love for Gamma Phi Beta is so strong she is still seeing to it that her sisters are getting the best possible experience in the organization she holds so dearly 55 years after her initiation. 

Convention opened my eyes to how much being a member of this organization has changed my life and how much more it could be changed if I keep my heart open to all the possibilities. I encourage you to open your heart to your organization. Do not step back because you think leadership will be too much work. There will be work. It will be time consuming. But it will also be rewarding and fulfilling. It will make you a stronger and more confident person. It will change you. 

The friends I have gained because I joined this organization are friends I truly cannot imagine my life without. A sorority gives you friends who will back you up, one hundred percent. I have gained friends who will drop everything they are doing to take me to class when I have overslept. I have gained friends who will go with me to dinner even if they have already ate, just to sit with me so I won’t be alone. I have gained friends who I know one day will be the bridesmaids in my wedding. Friends who I know will have my back until the day I die. Friends who will pick me up when I am down and lift me up higher than I knew possible. 

Being a part of a sorority is something that you can only understand if you are a part of it. It is so hard to describe what it feels like to have a love so strong for an organization that it fills up all of your thoughts and your hopes and your dreams. A love that sometimes becomes so overwhelming that you feel as if your heart may burst. It is hard to describe what it feels like to have a love this strong for an organization that other people define as a club. 

Do not let anyone tell you that a sorority is just a club. A sorority is a way of life. It is a place where you can live out your values each and every day. It is a vehicle that will take you on to become the woman you have always aspired to be. A sorority is a place where you can make your dreams come true.

“So why do you want to join a sorority?” So that 30 years from now when I board a plane and see a young woman in letters, I can say, “You’re a sister? I am, too.”