The lifelong bonds you form, the communities you serve, and the invaluable lessons you learn are all part of an unforgettable Greek organization experience. Joining a brotherhood or sisterhood is an honor and a privilege, and with it comes social awareness and responsibility. Each week we are going to be featuring an essay written by a fraternity/sorority member to highlight how Greek life has had a positive impact.

I Wanted to Transfer

As a senior in high school, (if you were like me) you applied to a variety of colleges, hoping that one would be the perfect fit. After the stress of applications are submitted, the anxiety of waiting to hear back begins. But eventually you receive the letter you’ve been waiting for. The letter that makes the rest of the acceptance letters meaningless, for me, it was the letter from the University of San Diego. After you accept the invitation the exciting part of the college seeking process begins, but there is a few things adults forget to warn you about. They forget to tell you, that packing up your room is a lot more work then you expected because you have to pile years and years of memories into boxes and hope it fits in the dorms. They forget to tell you, your best friends don’t follow you and you’ll have to make new friends, which you haven’t had to do in years. They forget to tell you, saying goodbye to your siblings and parents during orientation will be one of the hardest goodbyes, even though you know they are only a phone call away. During my first semester of college, I discovered the details above and more. I called my parents at least once a day because making friends is not as easy as it use to be in preschool. I facetimed my best friends and decided I didn’t need anyone else because I was happy with them. What I did not see right away was that facetiming friends was not the same as having them in person, so I did what most unhappy college students do and started filling out transfer applications. Luckily I was able to meet up with a senior at USD, who came from my home. She told me she felt the same way during her first semester, but rushing her sorority made her want to stay forever. I decided I would give the sorority thing a try and keep the transfer applications as a back up. During recruitment, I was blessed with the best and received a bid from Kappa Kappa Gamma. Kappa has given me a reason to stay at my dream school. It has given me a community of over a hundred sisters. It has given me friends who will one day be my bridesmaids, and it has given me a big to call my best friend. My big, Ale, is my role model in all aspects. She is the older sister I never had and the one I call when college becomes too overwhelming to handle by myself. Additionally, Kappa has given me a platform to network for future careers and an outlet to continue philanthropy work in my community. Being in Kappa has allowed me to get involved on campus and feel apart of the people around me. I will forever be thankful for Kappa Kappa Gamma and all the opportunities it has given me.