A Greek Dilemma

I've just started my senior year of college at the University of Central Oklahoma, and with this new year I've seen a new crop of young women eagerly run to join my sorority. On the other hand, I've also seen another large group of women roll their eyes at the concept of sorority life and go about their days.

Welcoming Our New Sisters Home

I'm pleased to say I've been a part of both of these groups of women. My freshman year the thought of "Going Greek" barely crossed my mind. I saw the greek life members sporting their "GO GREEK" stickers and smiling as they told everyone how great their brothers or sisters were. I rolled my eyes and told myself sorority life just wasn't for me.
My second semester year my high school friend, Kady, joined the Epsilon Upsilon chapter of Delta Zeta at UCO. We teased her about joining a lame sorority but she did it anyway. It seemed to make her happy enough so we eventually stopped teasing so much.
After my sophomore year I decided I would sign up for formal recruitment. I still had no intention of joining a sorority, but I wanted to see what the fuss was about and I couldn't accept that I would graduate college without the "Rush" experience.
Now, shortly after I signed up for recruitment I was hired for my college dream job. I was asked to take an RA position in one of the residence halls. I'll get into this more later, but I REALLY wanted to be an RA.
I didn't account for the challenges I would face by doing both. In fact, I was "on call" to handle emergencies DURING recruitment. Thankfully, there were no emergencies while I was visiting the houses and meeting the girls. Somewhere along the way I began to actually care about joining one of these organizations of college women. They were all focused on leadership, experience, and their friendships with each other. On preference night I met the woman who would become my "Big" at the Delta Zeta. She inspired me that night and all I wanted was to join this sorority the next day. Luckily they gave me a bid and I had my moment to run to my new sisters about one year ago.

Me and My Big

Throughout the past year I've gotten to experience the best and worst parts of being in a sorority (except living in house; RAs have to live on campus). I enjoyed homecoming competitions, late night trips to get coffee at 7-11, and themed parties. I suffered through financial woes while trying to pay dues, getting too drunk and feeling awful, and disagreements with my sisters.
This semester I had to Disaffiliate during recruitment because of my RA job. Bid day was 2 days ago and I found myself in tears coming back to our house to rejoin my sisters and welcome the new ones. Even when there was "girl drama" or financial difficulties, I still found myself happy to be a part of something bigger than myself.
I'm not saying everyone should join a sorority. In fact, maybe there are people who really DON'T believe sorority life is for them. However, I do think that going through recruitment is an amazing experience, and maybe the women will surprise you like they did me. That doesn't mean you have to join one; you can easily walk away, but no two sororities are the same and there is likely to be a home out there for any college woman looking to find one. You just have to be willing to take that first step.

Delta Zeta Bid Day 2015