welcome to the dark side

To say this is a post I never thought I'd be writing is an understatement, a post talking about my introduction to life as a sorority girl. Anyone who knew me in high school, knows how skeptical I was of Greek life and I am sure they are all sitting there right now saying "I told you so." Freshman year I watched as all my friends vented about recruitment and then celebrated with pictures of bid day complete with matching shirts, bows, and lots of "throw what you know" hand signs, and I sat there thinking, never me. Fast forward a really long and difficult year of me trying to find my place at Marquette and all the sudden I am on the phone with my mom explaining to her that I was on my way to my first recruitment event.

Honestly, the whole situation comes down to good timing. I was invited to do informal recruitment, thanks to some heavy bragging by close friends of mine already in sororities, and it just happened that I didn't have any former commitments to dance or work that weekend. Add that to a pretty emotional week in September and me looking for any distraction I could find, I found myself standing around a crowded sorority house talking about myself. And I don't care how cheesy it sounds, as soon as I stepped foot in the little blue house on the corner of 17th and Kilbourne, I knew I was home. For the first time in a really long while, I felt like I had found the place I truly belonged. As I sat around talking with other education majors, other girls that volunteered on weekends, other girls that had recognized me from church on the week nights, I knew that there was no question about whether or not this was the place for me and luckily the sorority felt the same.

Still a little skeptical of the Greek life, I walked into my pledging ceremony on September 17. Anyone recognize that date? After spending all day willing myself through the one year anniversary, I was greeted with hugs from strangers when a close friend of mine pulled me aside and told me that she loved me, a simple gesture that many other girls in the sorority picked up on and immediately knew this day signified a lot more than a pledging ceremony for me. I was immediately pulled aside by a few girls that I had never spoken to in my life. They told me that they had no idea what was going on, but that they were always there for me. And they have held to their word 100%. The girls of the Alpha Xi Delta sorority have completely wrapped their arms around me and supported me through things they aren't even aware of. 

Six weeks in and I already feel like I have been apart of this family for a lifetime. So yes I have become that cliche sorority girls who raves that her big is the best, because she honestly is, and claims that AXiD has changed my life, because it has. It is such a blessing to be accepted for all my flaws, all my past, and all my hopes for the future, and trust me these girls know the worst of it. I am still getting used to walking around in letters and using the term "sisters" to describe anyone but my five sisters, but I truly am counting my blessings and thanking God that I was led to this organization.