“Oh you’re in sorority? So basically you are paying for your friends.” More times than not I have heard this when I tell people I am in a sorority. After being in a sorority for almost a year now, and after completing recruitment where I welcomed 57 amazing women home to Alpha Chi Omega, I know this is so far from the truth.

I am the first to admit that Greek life has a certain stigma that surrounds it, and often those who aren’t a part of it never quite understand it. But that’s ok, because, before I joined the community I really didn’t understand it either. Truth is, Greek life is so much more than the Instagram pictures or the socials. It is a family of students who want to find a home, a place where they can give back to the community while meeting some kick-ass people.

Being in Alpha Chi I have realized just what an effect it has had on me as a person. Because of the 150 ladies I was able to surround myself with, I have become an independent woman, who is comfortable in who she is, but I have also become someone who isn’t afraid to take risks. I have become a woman who knows so much more about the underlying issues of unhealthy relationships and domestic violence. Instead of sitting around, I have become a woman, like all my sisters, who is doing everything she can to put an end to it. I have seen us as we all sit in one room for 10 hours during sisterhood week laughing until we cry, but I have also seen us all stand by a sister when she experiences a devastating loss. You see, these are the girls I want to share every good and bad moment with, because these are the people that have become my family.

Now I sit here writing this post after two very long weeks of recruitment and I can say that more girls than you can imagine have experienced this too. Yesterday I was lucky enough to welcome 57 Real Strong Women home to a place where they are accepted for all their amazingly crazy personalities. A place where they can get support during the good and the bad. I have watched their faces as they walked, actually ran, off the bus into the arms of those who love them unconditionally today and tomorrow. I have seen them burst into tears when they connect with a girl they met only 15 minutes earlier on so much more than a surface level.

You see these places we call “srats” can become a college student’s whole life. They can be the reason someone stays when they are thousands of miles from home. They can be the connection a woman needs to get that job they have always dreamed about or just a place they can laugh until they cry and make unforgettable memories, and sure, have some good Instagram posts while they are at it.

So yes, I went Greek. Yes I am a sorority woman but no, I have not bought my friends, and I can proudly say I’m in this for life, because this forever home is something I am proud to be a part of .

Until Next Time… Go Hawks!