Going into recruitment season, it's important to take time to consider who we are as Greek and what it is we're inviting new members into.

Because I'm in love with Greek life and cannot wait to share it with new members, I made the decision to become a recruitment counselor during the fall. During the spring semester, I made the decision to disaffiliate from my sorority letters for a brief period of time in order to guide potential new sorority members through the recruitment process as an unbiased and disaffiliated sorority woman. As the "Gamma Chi" (as we recruitment counselors call ourselves) journey began I came to see Greek life in a much different light.

As an affiliated sorority member, Greek life is competitive between chapters and you survive this competitive nature by bonding to your sisters and your core values. As a disaffiliated member, I have been lucky enough to experience the true meaning of what this whole Greek business is about.  

Sisterhood. Unblemished, pure sisterhood.  

As our Gamma Chi class came to know one another, we became a sisterhood with our own values, our own set of standards, and even our own philanthropy. The girl sitting next to you in class wasn't a member of your sorority and she was most likely someone you didn't know previously. But, over the course of the semester, this girl became your peer and then your friend and finally your sister.  

You begin this journey as a sorority member with your own preconceived notions about girls in other sororities and, as you progress, you learn that the individual chapters are merely divisions of one, true sisterhood. All of us Greek women sought out a deeper, more homely college experience. We came together to love and serve one another as well as a few causes we hold dear to our hearts. We pledged ourselves to an organization we knew would become our family.  

How do I know we are all true sisters? Simple, we all made the choice to set aside our letters for a few months, to learn that our preconceived notions of one another were a farce, and to set out with the intent of guiding future Greek women  into the loving homes we have built for ourselves here.  

As I've gone through this journey with my new sisters beside me I have realized that the point of the Gamma Chi organization may be to disaffiliate us in order to provide an unbiased front for our future sisters, but the true achievement of this program is teaching us the honest meaning of the Greek system. This meaning reveals itself in the relationship I've built with my Gamma Chi buddy who happens to be moving in with me soon, the support I've extended to GChi sisters who are in need of it, and the complete confidence I feel that, wherever my new members end up, they will be in amazingly capable hands. In knowing this well kept secret of the Greek system, we are ready to guide young women through this journey of their college career because we know that, regardless of their path, they're about to fall head over heels for the chapters of the women we've grown to love ourselves.  Take this lesson and apply it to the recruitment process we are all about to embark on. If you're considering going Greek, do it. Plain and simple it will expand your horizons, give you a whole new family of strong, confident women, and change your life for the better. If you've made this amazing decision already, keep an open mind. Every sorority is the best sorority. Find the one that you can't wait to go back to because the girls already feel like home to you. If you're recruiting more family members to love, show them why you're the best and you won't have to tell them.