On October 31, 2010 I was hosting a Halloween party when my mom came home with the “big envelope”. I opened it in a hurry. I was so excited to know whether I would be attending the school of my dreams. I had visited Drake the summer before my senior year and had fallen in love with everything about it, so when I got accepted my mind started to race about all the things I would do when I was there. In high school I was involved in theatre, the gay-straight alliance, DECA, and worked at Taco Bell. I was never friends with many women and there was only a small group of people who I really felt close to. I always envisioned coming to college as the part in my life story where I would break out of my shell and become this charismatic, know-everybody kind of woman. I knew that going out of state would force me to get to know people at quicker rate because I’d be in Iowa all alone, and I understood that to meet people in college you had to get involved.
Going Greek seemed like the only way to turn into the person I had been dreaming of becoming. My high school boyfriend at the time was anti-Greek life, but nothing could stop me from telling friends and family that I was going to be in a sorority when I started college.
When I started my first year, I was a wreck. Ten hours away from my mom, confused about my major, and feeling so out of place that I was thinking one semester and I’ll go back home to go to University of Colorado at Denver. Then formal recruitment came, it was the make or break moment. I met women in every chapter who I could look up to and many of whom were the role-model of what I wanted to be. I found a home in Greek life where I have been able to thrive for the last three years.
Being Greek has impacted my life in so many ways. I am no longer the young woman I was in high school. I have a large group of friends that I know share my values—I call them my sorority sisters. I have grown as a leader through being on the Executive board of my chapter, attending membership education workshops, and taking the time to go to leadership conferences. Greek life makes me want to aspire to be more than what I am. I try harder in my classes, I work out and eat better, and I am more service-oriented than I ever was in high school. My favorite part of Greek life is recruitment, because I love the idea that when a woman is looking for a chapter, there is chapter also looking for her. When I think about recruitment I think about it in the way of dating, we each want to date someone who makes us better and who we can make better. When a woman joins Greek life she should not only become the leader, the friend, or the volunteer that she’s always wanted to be but should make Greek life and her chapter into the organization that it strives to be. We each bring in a special quality to Greek life that it never had before we joined, and Greek life gives each of something once we are a part of it. For me being Greek has given me opportunities to grow.
Outside of Greek life I have planned two Spring Leadership conferences, been involved with both SAGE and Rainbow Union, am a part of Sigma Tau Delta English Honors Fraternity, and created a sound design for the theatre department. I am constantly encouraged through Greek life to not only take a risk but to try something new and live life to its fullest. Being Greek keeps me busy, I won’t lie to you about that. I have taken 18 credits the last four semesters, held a leadership position in my chapter for two and a half years, worked between 8-15 hours per week through Recreation Services, and juggled a variety of different interests such as running a half marathon , bible study, and activism. But Greek life taught me time management. I have a weekly schedule and have made the Dean’s list every semester since being at Drake. There are always women willing to help me with my studies or help me on project if I’m too busy. My sisters always have my back when I get panicky about my classes or schedule, and through Greek life I have surrounded myself with people who want to do their best and be the best. I’d rather be busy all night and day doing homework, playing games at chapter retreat, and having movie night with my sisters than anything else in this world. Greek life can and will make you into the woman you want to be; you’ll learn skills that can’t be taught in a lecture hall, discover your values through the eyes of sisterhood, and always have a community of friends who are there to support you as you change and grow into the woman you’ve been waiting to become.
Drake University Sorority Recruitment Blog 