Two years ago, I went through formal sorority recruitment, accepted a bid to Delta Delta Delta, and found my home. Last semester, I applied to be a Pi Chi, or recruitment counselor, to help potential new members find their home. A week ago, I ran back home to my sisters with nine other Delta Pi Chi's and 35 new baby Deltas. While being a Pi Chi, I was able to take a step back from my chapter and it put a lot of things into perspective for me.

When I joined Tri Delta two years ago, I was a super awkward freshmen that knew no one in my chapter besides the girl who preffed me on preference night. Most of the girls in my pledge class already knew each other because they were already best friends from high school or were roommates or knew each other from mutual friends. I felt like a fish out of water because I didn't know anyone and I'm terrible at making new friends. I slowly started making friends and started to feel comfortable in my new home. I moved into the sorority house at the beginning of second semester and became really close with a lot of the girls a year older than me. By the time freshmen year was over, I laughed about how awkward I used to be.

Sophomore year is when things went downhill for me. I became super homesick all the time and by Thanksgiving break, I was looking into transferring schools. I was living in my sorority house during sophomore year. It was fun at first but then I started distancing myself away from my pledge sisters. I felt like I didn't fit in. My pledge sisters loved to go out and be the life of the party and I didn't. First semester was rough and then came second semester. At this time, I decided to make my blog known to my friends and family, something that was terrifying to do. Some sisters ridiculed my blog and that made me feel so terrible about something I was so passionate about. I supported my sisters passions, so why couldn't they support mine? So after that incident, I never brought my blog back up to my sisters. I shared my links to blog posts on Facebook and to my boyfriend at the time but that was it.

The last month of sophomore year though got a lot better. The guy I was dating during my first two years of college and I broke up and it brought me a lot closer to my sisters. They helped me realized that I deserved so much better and that they were always here for me. I stopped distancing myself from my sisters, went out more, was happier, and felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders.

It's now my junior year. I was a Pi Chi for the first month of school and running back home to my sisters for the second time on bid day was one of the best moments of my life. My sorority daughter tackled me to the ground and one of my best friends jumped on top of us. I cried uncontrollably on bid day because I finally felt like I completely fit in with my chapter. I felt like I belonged. My sisters have also become more accepting of what my passions are. This past summer, I created YouTube channel to go along with my blog. This became a huge passion of mine. One of my favorite things to hear is when a sister tells me she watched my videos and loved them! I like having the guts to put myself out there for the world to see and it's amazing having my sisters support me. It took a while but that's okay. Some of my sisters have even asked to be in my videos, which is something I find so awesome.

College hasn't been the easiest few years. There's been a lot of tears, anger, and wanting to transfer because I was so unhappy. But there were more smiles and laughter and love because of my sorority. Being able to take that time away from my chapter really reminded me why I love being a Tri Delta at SEMO. Sometimes you really need to take a step back to see what's really in front of you. My sorority sisters mean the absolute world to me. They have helped shape me into the woman I am today.

To my pledge sisters, thank you so much for loving me and supporting my passions. I couldn't be more blessed with the best. To my sorority daughter, thanks for being my partner in crime and being my mini me. To my best friends, you guys are what keeps me going. To my sorority mom, I know we aren't the closest mom/daughter pairing but thank you for always watching out for me. To the rest of my sorority sisters, thank you for making me feel at home. I can't wait to see what the next couple years brings us.

DLAM.