This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Temple chapter.
I always try to explain all the things a sorority is that no one can see to those who don’t
understand what we do or why we do it. It’s more than fancy letters on a sweatshirt or the cute
crafts that we make for each other. Those simple, materialistic things are just a way for us to
represent our respective organization in fun and creative ways. When reading this article, try to
forget about the stereotypes you’ve heard or negative portrayal in the media you’ve seen. It is so
much more than all of those things.
Everyone has his or her views on Greek life, but it’s something you can’t completely understand
from the outside. Greek life is more than anyone expects and I, for one, had that firsthand
experience.
My father is a brother of Phi Beta Sigma, and therefore I lived in a household where my father
constantly talked about the sense of brotherhood within his fraternity. Growing up, I always
knew I wanted to join Greek life because of the stories he told; I just didn’t know what to expect.
During my first semester here at Temple I decided to not go through formal recruitment last
minute. Watching my roommate experience this amazing opportunity, I immediately regretted
my decision. I thought that avoiding clubs my first semester would help me focus on my
schoolwork more and help me receive a high GPA as a freshman.
Although it helped, I was not happy with my college experience. Throughout high school, I was
constantly involved; therefore it was a culture shock when I did not continue this involvement at
Temple right away. When the spring semester sprung forward, I noticed that I was not happy
with my college experience so I decided to become more involved. I became a staff writer for
Her Campus and went through with what I really wanted – joining a sorority.
Although many may think that a sorority only fits me because it’s something I always wanted to
do, this is not the case for everyone. My friend and fellow sister, Meghan Hill, also went through
recruitment with me last spring. Ironically, she didn’t want to at first. Originally, when I asked
her to rush with me she said, “No I don’t think so. It’s not something that interests me and it’s
not for me.”
Currently, Meghan is on our Executive Board, continues to be involved in our sorority, and loves
being apart of Alpha Xi Delta just as much as we all do. Although it might not seem like
something you would be interested in, you never know until you take the time to see what Greek
Life is all about. It is something that you fall in love with and something that immediately
becomes a part of you.
Olivia Farkas, a founding member of Alpha Xi Delta’s Iota Chi chapter here at Temple and the
future president of this chapter shares her experience. “Before Alpha Xi Delta, it’s hard to think
of who I was beforehand. I look back, and I can’t even recognize that girl. The woman I was
when I came to college was one who was afraid of new experiences, someone who was stuck in
her normal routine, and someone who was content with following a ‘basic’ path in college.
When I joined Alpha Xi Delta, I was wary about what would come in the future, but I was
willing to take the risk. Joining Alpha Xi Delta was truly the best decision I’ve ever made,” Farkas said.
As a new member of Alpha Xi Delta I didn’t realize how important, exciting and life changing
my new member period would be. Throughout this new member period, I spent an exciting
amount of time constantly meeting with initiated sisters. In the end I received a “big sister.” To
me, this “big/little” experience is one for the books. I found a sister in my chapter that I
automatically connected with because of our common interests, common experiences and
common characteristics.
Elena Lynch, who is a dedicated sister of Delta Zeta, says, “I can’t imagine my college
experience being as amazing as it is if I hadn’t joined Delta Zeta. Not only has DZ made my
academic and professional life flourish, but I have met friends who will be by my side for the
rest of my life.”
Over the year, I noticed that being apart of a Panhellenic sorority is something to be really proud
of. Becoming apart of Alpha Xi Delta changed me by helping me develop personally in so many
positive ways. I learn different leadership roles every day, and many other girls do too by
running for our Executive Board or different chair positions that our sorority has to offer.
Additionally, holding these leadership positions have even helped me explore my interests for
future career paths. My communication and social skills were also unknowingly enhanced
through being apart of Alpha Xi Delta.
By being in this organization, I learned this sense of sisterhood that my father always talked
about and realized that we all have a strong bond. Through this experience, I made a ton of new
friends and continue to meet new ladies that I have so much in common with. In addition to that,
I had the pleasure to become sisters with 145 other girls. In my opinion, a sorority is all about the
sense of sisterhood and the sense of belonging to something that is greater than yourself. Overall,
being a sorority girl comes with this weird sense of pride when you wear your letters.
Each sorority has its own philanthropy in which they constantly participate in different events to
raise money for something that they are truly passionate about. Recently, my sorority Alpha Xi
Delta has participated in Walk Now for Autism and the AmaXIng Challenge. My sisters have put
in a tremendous amount of work for these events and all proceeds went to our philanthropy,
Autism Speaks.
Walk Now took place at Citizens Bank Park on October 24th. All of the sisters of Alpha Xi Delta
participated in this event. Spending the day with my sisters cheering on the walkers, participating
in the walk and doing arts and crafts with young children was a great way to spend my Saturday
morning. We met amazing families who were impacted by autism at this walk, which made
being there even more inspirational.
Being apart of Alpha Xi Delta, I am always inspired by my sisters and our amazing work with
Autism Speaks. Furthermore, this was the first time I came in contact with other Alpha Xi Delta
sisters from a different chapter. For me, meeting these girls was very interesting because we
immediately bonded with these girls we didn’t know simply because we are all under the same
sisterhood.
Marikate Kidd, a very involved sister of Phi Sigma Sigma, says, “Joining Phi Sig made my
college experience 10x better because I was able to meet so many people that I might not have
been able to get the chance to talk with. It made me feel right at home at Temple and helped me
settle in perfectly my freshman year. Phi Sig helped me in so many ways: make awesome
friends, give back to the community and open new doors for me and I am so grateful to be apart
of an amazing organization.”
The sisters in the sorority you join will be your sisters for life. Because of the common
sisterhood, your sisters are all easy to talk to, always there for you and will keep you in line.
Becoming a sister of a sorority gave me good structure to my life and taught me many viable life
lessons – leadership, dedication and, most importantly, sisterhood. They taught me things that
are important in everyday life, not just my sorority.
Knowing that my sisters are always there for me, always there to inspire me and always there to
pick out the positives in life makes me even more proud to call myself an Alpha Xi. Overall,
sororities are not trying to make you into something you’re not, they are trying to make you
something more and this is something that a lot of girls do not understand. My sisters of Alpha
Xi Delta helped me realize my potential and continue to encourage me to be the best person I can
be. I had the opportunity for this experience and I am glad that I took advantage of it. I couldn’t
imagine my college experience any way else because it now truly is completed.
Fiona Spinelli, a sister of Delta Phi Epsilon, stated, “Being in a sorority means becoming an
overall better person. My sorority taught me how to become more open and outgoing. It taught
me how to network and come out of my comfort zone by reaching out and meeting new people,
not only my sorority, but other organizations as well. It also taught me how to balance my social
life alongside with my other responsibilities. But most importantly, I was able to form lifelong
friendships that cannot be replaced.”