I didn’t know I was going to be a sorority girl when I first stepped foot on Lehigh’s campus. Honestly, I was pretty naïve about the Greek life here. Two of my best friends and I decided to give Open Houses a try and we fell in love with one house in particular. We were sure it was the perfect place for us and talked about how much fun it would be when we were all sisters. After the first round of Formal Recruitment, we fell deeper in love. We thought we had found our place; the place that would be the right fit for all of us. And of course, we were all going to be together. That wasn’t a question.
Round two rolled around and while being cut hurt, we were still all going back to our favorite house so we weren’t too concerned. We spent those first few nights watching Friends, eating take out, and discussing our future as sorority girls. I was in deep. I had gone from the girl who went along with the whole Rho Gam thing because everyone else was to the girl who was already looking up my favorite house’s philanthropy and colors. But then, after round three, one of my best friends was cut from our top choice. We were shocked. How could that happen? She’s so pretty and cute and that wasn’t what was supposed to happen. I was so upset for her, but, and I hate to admit it, I was also so relieved it wasn’t me.
My relief was short lived. The Rho Gams handed out our bids that Sunday, and something devastating happened. My bid to my perfect house wasn’t there. I had received a bid to another house instead. I faked happiness for my one best friend that had received a bid to our top choice, and excitement that my other best friend and I would be in the same sorority, and then I got back to my room as fast as I possibly could. I cried on the phone to my mom. How did this happen? What had I done wrong? What was wrong with me?
I’ll admit it took me a longer time than it should to realize that there wasn’t anything wrong with me. Sorority recruitment is a giant gamble; there’s so little rhyme or reason to why someone ends up where they do. But, as my parents so rightly have said since day one, everything happens for a reason. I thought that one house was the perfect place for me. I never even gave the sorority I ended up in a thought. And for the first few weeks, I wondered if signing my bid had been a mistake.
But then, something amazing happened. There’s no one moment I can point to as the moment I fell in love with my chapter, because I fall in love with my chapter every day. I fall in love when my sisters drop everything to cuddle with me while I cry over a boy. I fall in love when I need something for a theme and I have 4 girls offer up their closets before I even finish my sentence. I fall in love when my sisters are even more excited than I am about being offered my dream job and they tell me how proud of me they are. But more than all of that, I fall in love with how much of a better person I am thanks to these girls. Because of my sisters and how they’ve changed me, I have had the confidence to do the most amazing things. I owe my entire Lehigh experience to these girls.
Sometimes, you don’t get what you want. And that hurts. But I promise you, that pain is temporary. Years from now, when you look back on your college career, you won’t remember the chapter that cut you. You’ll remember the one that saw how wonderful you were and became your home. Embrace those girls because they are the ones that will be your friends, your shoulder to cry on, your personal stylists, and your life coaches. They’re the girls that will make you a better person, if you let them.