The following article is brought to HC SJU by Alexis Winterborne, a junior on Hawk Hill who accepted a sorority bid her freshman year, but dropped the sisterhood only months later. Below, she shares her story eloquently about being a part of the small population on campus that fits into this unique realm, each with their own stories and decisions for choosing to drop Greek life. This story was written as a part of our Greek Life series, “I Decided Greek Life Was…”in order to open hawk womens’ eyes to every chosen student life on campus, Greek or not.
HCXO,
Taylor
As SJU’s Greek rush winds down and all the bids are placed and accepted, a very small population will begin to emerge here on campus. These are the students that went through rush; accepted a bid and then later dropped out of the sister or brother hood they just recently pledged. I have been a member of this miniscule group since the first semester of my sophomore year. I am a former sister of our own Sigma Sigma Sigma.
So I can imagine you’re all wondering how one goes through rushing and accepts a bid to only to abandon her new sisters the following semester. One of the most remarkable aspects of college is the freedom and accessibility that you have to explore every interest you have or ever will have. I came into college an over ambitious freshman, eager to experience all of it and too naive to acknowledge realistic limitations.
I joined the university’s dance team in the fall and as that season slowed down in the spring semester, I became a sister of Tri Sigma. To say I bit off more than I could chew is a colossal understatement. Even though I was fore warned of the conflicts I would face between the two groups, I was convinced that I could do it. But by the middle of the fall semester my sophomore year, it was clearly evident I couldn’t. I was missing chapter meetings and Sigma events and my dance teammates were less than thrilled with how thin I was spreading myself.
I made the difficult decision to leave my sorority. After much deliberation, I knew my first priority was dancing, something that had been a huge part of my life, my whole life.
The real moral of the story is, I over committed myself, despite others incessant warnings, and ended up putting all parties involved in an unnecessary situation. I was just so excited to be a part of the wonderful Greek life here at SJU. A testimony to what phenomenal women we have here at Saint Joe’s, Sigma Sigma Sigma especially; all the girls were very understanding, unbelievably sweet and sad to see me go. I am happy to say I still have many good friends in the sorority and will always treasure the time when I could call myself a baby sailboat.
Alexis
Above is a picture of Alexis, immediately left of the trophy that was awarded to the Saint Joseph’s University dance team this past January at the Universal Dance Association national competition.