If I Paid For My Friends, I Didn't Pay Nearly Enough.

With recruitment just around the corner (where does the time go?), it's that time of year for the skeptics to come around, tongues blazing, to make sure everyone knows that joining a sorority is absolutely the worst thing you could ever do.  This is for a few reasons, the most popular of which is:

You're paying for your friends.

So, today, being a week away from reuniting with some the best young women I've ever met, I feel inclined to clarify a few things.

1. Dues cover the cost of functions, meal plans, housing and other resources meant to help YOU.

Sure, functions aren't "necessary," but what's wrong with wanting to get dressed up with your best friends and have a night of fun?  That's not something that's unique to Greek life.  Meal plans and having a place to live, study or just hang out isn't unique to Greeks either.  As far as resources, many Greek organizations employ people from the University to support their members academically.  And guess what?  The all-Greek GPA is consistently higher than the non-Greek GPA!

2. You don't need to join a sorority to make friends.

This is 100% true, and that's why you don't join a sorority just to make friends.  However, at a school of about 30,000 people, it's nice to have an outlet to meet new people.  Sororities make a big school feel much smaller, and they give individuals a platform to shine in ways that wouldn't necessarily be possible on a larger scale (like the entire University).  That being said, sororities DO seek people out based on their values.  So although you can find friends anywhere, in a sorority you are given an opportunity to form deeper friendships based on values.

3. Sororities DO make a positive impact on the entire community.
(This is my favorite one).

Like I said, this is my favorite one, and that's because the idea that all we care about is ourselves is just blatantly wrong.  At least here at the Alpha Lambda chapter it is.  Although it doesn't all come down to philanthropy, it's the most important thing to us, so it's all I'll mention here.  I'm by no means saying that non-Greeks aren't philanthropic or don't care about helping others.  There's tons of people who are philanthropic on their own.  And that rocks.  Seriously.

But for us, our sorority gives us an outlet to support causes we truly believe in.  Here at Tri Delta, it's St. Jude.  On our own, we couldn't pull off events that bring hundreds of people together to support St. Jude or do a letter-writing campaign that raised almost $100,000.

Every year since I've joined this incredible organization, our chapter has raised over $100,000 for the kids.  Many of us have even spent weekends driving the 10+ hour drive to Memphis, TN, to see our hard work firsthand on the walls of the hospital and in the eyes of the patients we serve.  And don't just take it from me--just last week, Tri Delta was named the St. Jude Partner of the Year for our newest commitment to fund an entire housing facility of the patients and their families.  Out of all the hundreds of organizations that help St. Jude, they thought it best to recognize us.  That is truly something special.

So, all in all, I just want to say that joining Tri Delta has been one of the best decisions I've ever made.  It's given me friendships and opportunities I couldn't have imagined as a wide-eyed high school senior without a clue.

Now, as a rising college senior graduating in December and freaking out about living in the "real world" miles away from the girls who have made me a stronger, more competent and complex woman than I used to be, I can confidently tell you one thing:

If I paid for these friends, I didn't pay nearly enough.

These girls became my second family after the summer my real family fell apart.  Two in particular went from complete strangers to my best friends all in one night when I broke down around a campfire.  I don't think I've ever told them quite how much that meant to me.  So, to them: thank you. I love you.

If Greek life still isn't for you, that's fine--this post isn't meant for you.  This post is meant for those of us who were told, wrongly, what it meant to be a "sorority girl."  I was one rash decision away from never even giving sorority life a chance, all because of what I'd "heard."

I write this for you today to personally urge you not to let anyone make your decisions for you.  Plus, proving people wrong is kind of fun, isn't it? :)

Delta love and all of mine,

Kellie