Sorority recruitment was one of the most emotional weeks of my life. Going into recruitment, I really had no idea what to expect. It ended up being an incredible experience that ultimately led me home to my amazing chapter. But it was not always easy for me to get there. There were lots of smiles and amazing memories made, but there were also some extremely hard times and quite a few tears shed throughout the week. One thing was for certain: I would not have survived sorority recruitment without my Gamma Chi.

It was about two weeks before recruitment started and I got a phone call from some bubbly girl explaining that she was my Gamma Chi for recruitment. The first thought I had was, of course, "what the heck is a Gamma Chi?!" I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into! She went on to explain that she was a member of a sorority at school who temporarily disaffiliates from her chapter during recruitment to help lead PNM's (or potential new members she explained) through the crazy week. She was so nice on the phone though and told me how happy she was to get to meet me soon, so I didn't worry too much. Then two weeks later, when I was finally moving into college, I walked into my dorm and there she was sitting in the lobby! I just remember her being so approachable as she was giving me my recruitment packet and explaining when our first meeting was.

For the first two days of recruitment, our whole group was together, and our Gamma Chi fearlessly lead her 14 PNM's from chapter to chapter like a momma duck leading her little ducklings. So, rightfully, we starting calling our Gamma Chi our momma duck. Throughout the whole week, she tried to make everything such a positive experience for our whole group. She did everything from ordering us cheese sticks or buying us cake pops to providing us with a selfie stick or even with face masks for fun. Our momma duck never let her little ducklings go hungry or with too many pimples durning recruitment!

Recruitment wasn't all cake pops and pizza; however, it was also filled with sadness and tears at times. There was one morning I didn't get invited back to a chapter that I absolutely loved. It happens, it's all part of the process, but it doesn't make it hurt any less when it happens to you. I remember feeling like the world was caving in and I completely did not want to pull myself together or force myself to go to the other chapters who did invite me back that day. This is when my amazing momma duck kept me in line and helped me realize me not getting invited back was actually not the end of the world. She explained how I couldn't disrespect the chapters who did invite me back by not showing up and that her little ducklings were not disrespectful.

My gamma chi was there for me whether it was 3 p.m. and I was trying to rank my list or it was 3 a.m. and I wasn't sure if I had made the right decisions. She was always there with mints or band aids or lip gloss or honestly anything I ever needed during recruitment. So, thank you, momma duck, for always being there because I know I couldn't have done it without you.