I walked up to that first house thinking that everything I had done over the last four years was all in preparation for this very moment. I was depending on sorority recruitment to set the tone for my entire college experience. I could potentially be walking into the house where I would meet my future bridesmaids and my life would be changed forever.
One house. That is what was written down on the obnoxious neon pink paper that was handed to me on day one of Sisterhood. One out of eleven. I was the girl who was at the top of her high school class both socially and academically. I had been told that sororities were going to love me and every house on campus would fight for me to be theirs. This wasn’t part of my plan. I was supposed to come to college, have my pick of houses, work my way up the ladder and end my collegiate career as the chapter president that left her mark on campus. How did this happen to me?
I walked away that afternoon feeling as if I was the smallest person on campus. I felt defeated, unwanted and like I wasn’t good enough for anyone. Every person I called, my mom, my Gamma Chi, my best friends, they all told me that I was worth more than any Greek letters. Do you know how hard it is to see yourself as a beloved daughter of God with inherent dignity and beauty when you are lying on the floor of your dorm sobbing in the middle of the day?
In that moment all I wanted to do was quit. I knew it meant giving up any hope of being the sorority woman I dreamed of becoming, but I was angry. I was angry at myself, I was angry at the system, I was angry with God. I was supposed to be the girl that changed the world. If I was made for greatness, why was He limiting my opportunities to be great? Why did God not want what I thought was best for me?
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11
Turns out God puts you in the places He does for reasons that we don’t always know or understand. His plan is bigger than us. If there is one thing I learned throughout this whole process it is that sometimes you don’t get to have any control over what happens to you. For someone who is a control freak, that was a hard lesson to learn.
On the morning of pref my Gamma Chi sent me this verse:
“Seek His will in all you do and He will show you which path to take”
Proverbs 3:6
That morning, when I walked into that house I knew that I was standing in the house I was always meant to be in. God always knew where He wanted me to end up, all I had to do was trust in Him. He literally opened up a new door in my life and I am so excited to see where He leads me next. I did not expect sorority recruitment to be one of the events that would shape the beginning of my adult faith life, but we all know God likes to work in unexpected ways.
I also learned that in my short time on campus I had become friends with the most caring, most supportive and all around most awesome girls on campus. Without the support of these girls, I do not think that I would have walked back into that house. They literally sat in my future home during their rounds and thought about me and about who would be my big. It is said that you find your bridesmaids once you join a sorority, but I think I found some of mine during recruitment.
To anyone who went through recruitment, whether it was this past fall or 25 years ago, always remember that you are so loved and were made for greatness. The Greek letters on your chest do not determine your value, but you can give value to those letters. Do good. Inspire ambition. Change the world. Be leading women.