For one week every year at WPI, sororities are put front and center of life on campus. Recruitment is a whirl-wind, selective, exciting, and frustrating process that I have witnessed from the sidelines for two years now. Every sorority prides itself on sisterhood. But what, exactly, does that mean?

For eight years I went to a very small private school where I became very close to the three other girls that stayed constant in my grade/class. We effectively grew up together. They were and still are some of my closest friends. I know their parents, and their siblings, and their pets. I gained a love of sports from one. An ear for music from another. A passion for writing from the last. We shaped each other’s lives in ways that are just now being realized.

My cross-country team in high school contained a group of girls that I pushed me every day to be a better me. I learned how to endure pain and fatigue and utter exhaustion because of them. When the stress of a school day built up, running would always release the negativity. We joked that we were running away from our problems, but really we were getting stronger with every step. Together, mile after mile, we ran and we laughed and we struggled.

On to college and I move in with three complete strangers that end up becoming some of the most amazing women that I am privileged to know. Then, the rowing team and I collide in a glorious splash. I am still amazed at the series of choices and circumstances that threw all of us together in a boat. I have said this a billion times, but it can’t be stated enough. We have each other’s backs in any condition, rain or shine.

Sisterhood. Sometimes it means growing up together, sometimes it means learning together, and sometimes it means always being supportive of one another. As one of my close friends said, the best sisterhood is one that accepts you for who you are and doesn’t judge or reject any part of you. It should be a place where you can be yourself without fear or anxiety. I might not be in a sorority and I might not have a sister, but I have a sisterhood. You are my roommates, my teammates, and my nearest and dearest friends. I love each and every one of you.