Over the summer, I temporarily left the sorority that I loved after just joining the year before.
I applied earlier this year for a position working for the Panhellenic Council (PC), the council at FIU that the seven sororities are apart of. There are different rankings on the Panhellenic Council. Starting with the President and Vice Presidents, then followed by the Directors. Every woman who has a position for the PC has to temporarily leave their organization in order to help with formal fall recruitment in an unbiased manner. Since the President, Vice Presidents, and Directors have “left” their organization, they get a new set of Greek letters instead of the ones they accepted during their own year of recruitment. The President and Vice Presidents now become Pi Chi (πx) and the Directors are Pi Delta (πΔ). The new letters are temporary, and the Pi Chis and Pi Deltas can go back to their normal affiliation once fall recruitment is over.
As I previously stated, I applied for a position as a Pi Delta. I got accepted for the position as “Director of Public Relations” and would be working under the Pi Chi, Vice President of Communications. I was ecstatic to get this position – I love working social media and being able to do that for the entire Panhellenic Council experience was so exciting to me.
I started the position formally in March. I would gather pictures online to post on the FIU Panhellenic Instagram page, make digital flyers, post Instagram stories, and respond to questions asked by women who would direct message the page. My Pi Chi and I would also have to plan photoshoots with the sorority women to use on the social media page or for events that the PC would be hosting. Additionally, I would also attend 1-2 meetings weekly meetings with the other Executive Board members and train for recruitment week.
The greatest difficulty I faced was the fact that I had to “disappear” for a while once recruitment got closer. It’s hard not being able to socialize in the slightest with the women who are your friends and inspire you. It got even harder during recruitment week, since women going through recruitment would talk about my sisters, and how they loved talking to “X” and how they can see themselves when they were talking to “Y.” The hours were long and tiresome, but everything was worth it knowing that I got to “run home” again at the end of the week. Even though I had to go into hiding, I am glad that I didn’t let that one fear stop me from applying and accepting the position. No feeling compares to seeing all your friends again and getting into one giant, crying group hug after the end of a fun, yet stressful week.
To put it simply, I loved my experience as a Pi Delta. I got to meet so many amazing, funny, and strong women from other organizations I never would have met otherwise. I got to grow my experience with public relations and learn more about how to manage an online platform. I got to answer hundreds and hundreds of questions (sounds boring, but it was low key kind of fun). Even though I was only in my sorority for a year before I temporarily left, I felt the growth within myself while I was gone and was realizing my potential with each task I had accomplished.
I cannot encourage anyone to apply for a Pi Chi or Pi Delta position enough. If you are in a sorority and want experience, memories, and personal growth, then apply!