This summer I worked as a hostess in addition to my unpaid internship. Having two jobs was eye opening and I really hope I never have to do it ever again. During my second to last week at the restaurant I told one of my coworkers that my little came to visit me. For those of you who are unaccustomed to the Greek lingo, a little is a nickname given to a new member of the sorority/fraternity. They are given a big, who is basically a mentor to the little. Anyway, when I mentioned the word little, my coworker gave me dagger eyes and said, “Wait hold up… you’re in a sorority?” I simply said, “Yeah, I am.” She had this look on her face that basically made it seem like me being in a sorority was ridiculous and I wasn’t who she thought I was. For the rest of the shift, I felt the need to tell her that being in a sorority at my school isn’t like other schools, and that it’s very lowkey, etc. Why I felt the need to do that? I have absolutely no idea.
When I tell people I’m in a sorority, I don’t know why, but I feel uncomfortable. I feel like they have automatically put me in this category of a southern bell, monogram loving, getting drunk off boxed wine type of girl. While I do enjoy slapping the bag from time to time, that’s not all a sorority is. For those of you who say, “Oh you’re paying for friendship,” well, to be perfectly honest, I think you’re wrong. The girls I have met not only in my sorority, but also members of other organizations have impacted my life in ways that I am forever grateful for.
Did you know that when you type in sorority in Google, the definition comes up as, “A society for female students in a university or college, typically for social purposes?” SOCIAL PURPOSES? For the first time maybe ever, Google, you’re wrong.
I am a member of the Delta Delta Delta at Denison University. For those of you that have never heard of Denison University, it’s a Liberal Arts University thirty minutes outside of Columbus, comprised of about 2,500 students. Tri Delta has 139 chapters. Every year, we write letters asking friends and family to donate to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. My sorority consists of around 120 women. We were able to raise $27,000 for St. Jude. You may have had no idea that sorority girls were capable of doing something like that, because society portrays us as girls who just get drunk off wine coolers. Newsflash – we do a hell of a lot more than that.
For those of you that say, “You guys are so selective. Don’t you feel bad for the girls who don’t get rejected by every sorority?” Let me explain. In the beginning of the recruitment process, as a chapter we meet and talk about what it means to be a Tri Delta. Not a single one of the adjectives we use has anything to do with looks or money. We could care less about your Louis Vuitton bag and your platinum blonde hair. We want girls who are great to be around, support her friends, and push others around her to be the best they can be. If you don’t fit that Tri Delta mold, then maybe there’s another sorority out there for you. Yes, sororities are selective in the way that a job is selective. During recruitment you have a lot of first impressions to make with the members of your potential new sorority. When you go in for a job interview, you also have to make a similar first impression. You might love this sorority/company, but they might go with someone else who fits better. But perhaps it might just be a perfect fit. Sororities can be amazing if everyone allows them to be what they are; an organization of empowered women who share a common goal to make each other strive for greatness.
So yes, I am in a sorority. I am not your typical sorority member. I wear my letters with pride and I love the sorority I’m in. I will not let disapproving gazes belittle the amazing women I have met along my journey as a member of Tri Delta. And the next time someone asks me if I’m in a sorority, I’m simply going to say, “Yeah, I’m a member of Tri Delta, and we’re dope as hell.”