Starting college is just a crazy time. Everyone is asking so many things like, "Are you ready?" and "Are you excited or nervous?" One of the biggest questions I got was, "Are you going to join a sorority?" and I answered yes. I would always get a response somewhere along the lines of, "Well, why on earth would you want to do that?" You see, being the first one in your family to join a sorority can be so frustrating because no one understands why you want to join one. It can also be frustrating because you know absolutely nothing about it, so going into recruitment you don't really have an answer except maybe that it just felt like something you would like, that it is an easy way to make friends and it can look good on a resume. It wasn't until I found my home that I could really answer the question.

So, why did I join a sorority?

That's a great question, and it is a question I have gotten a lot between recruitment and my family. At first, I never knew how to answer. I would always say either to make friends or that it just looks good on a resume. It wasn't until I became a part of Alpha Delta Pi that I really understood why me and thousands of other individuals go Greek. I didn't just join an organization and this isn't just something for me to do to pass time. Those girls, in just a few short months, are my family. They love me even when I rant about pointless things like politics and all 138 of them are a shoulder to cry on. I have already met a girl that I know will be my best friend forever, and not like the high school best friends, but the "be in my wedding" best friends. ADPI is my home away from home, and it makes me love USM even more than I already do. They look out for me even when I'm not looking out for myself. They tell me I'm beautiful when I'm ugly and wipe my tears when I cry. ADPI gave me 138 friends and has made me feel at home in a place where I knew very few people, and for that I will always be thankful.

You see sisterhood is something I have been blessed to have experienced my whole life with my older sister. She has guided me and helped me grow in so many ways throughout life that I couldn't even begin to explain, but now that I am "grown" I have had to start figuring things out on my own the hard way. Joining a sorority has given me a little bit of that guidance that I was blessed to have back home.

So with all that being said, I don't need a long explanation about how I found my home or how figuring that out was so stressful because at the end of the day it all boils down to one thing. The real reason I joined ADPI is LOVE.