I'll never forget my first year at the University of Kansas.

I had never felt as lost and out of place as I did during my freshman year of college. It was a whole new world and as intriguing as it was—I didn't even get a magic carpet ride or anything. Excitement and uneasiness, discomfort and intrigue. I was in a new place where I didn't recognize any of the faces that passed me. I started feeling like a stranger with how many I had been around every day. It was an awkward mixture of loneliness and confusion some days. I'll tell you, it got kind of dark at some points. And maybe it was okay, maybe it was okay because it helped me see the brighter parts clearer.

I'll never forget my first year at the University of Kansas.

Tau Beta Sigma was a reason I wouldn't ever want to.

Coming into college, I never really had a firm intention of joining a sorority. I wasn't really sure where I would fit in. I could have been a Tri-Delta or Sigma Kappa legacy. I thought about joining a sorority.

And well, I did.

A national honorary band sorority, that is. Tau Beta Sigma consists of 70 years of passion, music, service and unconditional love that has made a mark on the world in various ways. We are a co-gender band service sorority, a ten story castle of never-ending support. Building legacies of women in music, bonds that could never break and lives that would never be the same. And mine was no different.

A member of Tau approached freshman me during band and invited me personally to a rush just for the fun of it. I ended up going and having the time of my life. I met some really cool people that night. Today I consider them some of the closest friends I have. Tau Beta, this one is for you.

In Fall of 2014, I became a sister of Tau Beta Sigma. And my life has changed vastly since then in ways that I don't think I could have done on my own. Tau challenged me, taught me how to be a leader, how to be strong and how to not give up. I joined a family that never let me down. Finally, I had a purpose in life that wasn't just watching copious amounts of Netflix and studying until my brain was sore. Late night meetings in the music library, smiles and business: This is where I found my home.

This is for the people that believed in me. The ones that inspired me with every thread of strength that they had. The people that asked me to come to trivia at 23rd Street Brewery on a birthday I thought I would spend alone in my room. The millions of miles we travel going on adventures to countless states. This is for my brothers in KKY that make life so much sweeter. This is for the people with service in their hearts that do anything to make life that much easier for those who need it. This is for the memories that stay in my heart through and through.

I have fallen in love with the awe-struck echoes our voices leave when we sing, with the resilience of our chapter, with the creation, the passion and the ways that we shake the world.

I thank my lucky stars every day for my turtles.

I would not be the same person I am today without them.