The moment you run home is going to be one of the highlights of your college career. You are welled up with so much excitement and you don’t even know the half of what you are getting into. You are told you are running into sisterhood, into philanthropies, and into the Greek community, and you are running into all these things, but you are running into so much more.
Almost exactly one year ago, I decided to run home to Alpha Sigma Alpha. I had almost every apprehension you could think of about joining a sorority, not to mention the fact that I felt like I was behind in the game going through recruitment as a sophomore, but reflecting back on this past year, it has been one of the best things that could have happened to me.
This past year has been full of some amazing, and some less than amazing moments but through it all I had my sisters by my side. When I first ran home I was nervous, I was worried, but more importantly I was, without a doubt, excited and that excitement is what got me through the jam-packed first few weeks where I was adjusting to having this new time commitment on my hands. I was not only adjusting to the time commitment, but also to having so many people interested in who I was and what interested me.
It only took a week or so until I could finally relax in this new situation and that is when it hit me, I was a part of something much larger than I ever had been before. This is when I truly felt like I was in a place that I could call home, not a physical building per say, but more so the feeling of home in a group of individuals, and not long after that is when I realized these individuals were much more. They were women that would look out for me. Women that genuinely cared about my well-being. Women that I can confide in. Women that are dedicated Women that I look up too. Women that would drop what they were doing and help me in an instant. Women that I would do the same for. Women of Poise and Purpose.
This year has proven to me that I have never been more right about taking a chance on something. I was lucky enough to run home with one of my best friends but since then I have found deep and lasting friendships within this group of women that will last me a lifetime. Friends I feel I have known my whole life – hard to believe it has only been a year, and a fast year at that.
Not only have I made these bonds with these women, but I have also grown in service with these women through participation in our philanthropies, whether it be direct and in the community or indirect and fundraising on campus, these women have driven me to serve.
These women are also connections for me. We are not all the same, and that is something that makes this organization so special to me. We have different majors, different backgrounds, different home situations, and different interests. All these factors lead to different opportunities: different jobs, different locations, different lives and I know, no matter where I go, a sister is near and that is something I find comfort in.
No matter where you ran home, all of these things can be true. You will find your people, you will find how you can serve and you will have these connections your whole life because you have joined a community of women dedicated to each other. You have run home to an organization that will give you far more than you can give it. You have run home to a group of women who would give you the world if they could. These four collegiate years will fly by. Cherish it. Participate in it. Find value in all that you are doing, and most importantly do what you love because no matter what you have a group of women that will stand alongside you.
