Dear New Members of the Alpha Rho chapter of Delta Zeta,

Hello New Turtles! Let me just start out by saying that I am so happy and proud to welcome each and every one of you to our sisterhood.

On Bid Night a couple of weeks ago, as the initiated sisters saw you running toward your new home on Winter Street (and you saw us waiting for you with open arms, singing and clapping and cheering) we shared a collective excitement that was unexplainable to those on the outside of the event.

That night represented different things to each of us. To you, it was a beginning, an opening up of opportunities and the start of a lifelong friendship. To the seniors, it was a passing down of the torch, an evaluation of all of the changes and progress they've made in our chapter throughout their college years, and a vision of what each of you can and will bring to our chapter. For me, caught somewhere in between, it was a mixture of emotions. I felt the overwhelming fullness of expanding our sisterhood (experiencing this from the other side for the first time), while simultaneously feeling the underlying sense of tradition, of a process started anew with each Bid Night. I remembered who I was during my Bid Night, reflected on who I am now, and realized just how much personal growth has been incited by my involvement in Delta Zeta. I wish the same and so much more to each of you as you embark on your new membership, though I am certainly far from reaching the end of my own learning and growth in this sorority.

During your time in Delta Zeta, you are going to form stronger bonds than you could ever imagine with incredible women, some of whom you may not have even known existed before formal recruitment. You're going to see women in your hometown, or online or while traveling wearing your letters and have an instant shared connection with them. You're going to make memories to last a lifetime, with friends that will turn into family. Bid Night was only the beginning.

You're going to get a Big and, if she's anything like mine, she will never leave you alone. I mean that in every possible sense. If you have seen any interaction between my Big Emily, my Twin Katie and I, then you will probably already know that we are constantly teasing and trying to annoy one another. But, more than that, there is an overwhelming sense of togetherness that we share. I share this unity with not only my Big and my Twin, but with all of my sisters.

One of the most meaningful parts of being in a sorority for me is this higher awareness of never being truly alone. In laughter, no Delta Zeta is alone. In tears, no Delta Zeta is alone. In triumph and in failure, through ups and downs and everything in between, no Delta Zeta is alone. We are a backbone and a support system. We are a collection of women brought together specifically to bring each other up instead of tearing one another down. We are a sisterhood.

All of this is to say: welcome home New Turtles! We are so excited to have you here! May you grow to love and cherish this sorority as much as I do, and may it provide love, light, laughter and memories for the years ahead.

DZLAM,

Hayley Glessner