Greek Life

Since orientation ended, I have hit the ground running. At points I feel like I haven’t stopped! Between difficult classes, AMP meetings, sorority meetings, rush, giving tours, FCA meetings, blogging, and rehearsals, life here at the college is in full force. But there have been events that have happened over the past few weeks that have made me realize how happy I am to be involved on this campus.

After the first week of classes, the entire sorority and fraternity community lunged into the two week process of fall rush. I’m not sure the specifics of fall rush for the men, but for the women it is a whirlwind of sisterhood, singing, and memories. The process of formal rush is well run and always ends up working out for the best for each girl thanks to incredible advisors like Anne Arseneau and our Inter-Sorority President, Tildi Sharp. The first round the girls get to go to meet every house and get to know the girls. The second round is philanthropy round. In the fantastic W&M tradition, the greek community here is very active in service. The idea of philanthropy day is to show the girls going through rush a little bit more about the sisters and what philanthropic adventures are important to them. The third round is skit day, where the girls get to see a lot more of the personalities of the sorority. Just to give you an idea, I played Paula Dean in our sleep over party themed skit. Let me just tell you, I make a mean sorority stew! Anyway, the final round is preference night and then the next day the girls get their bids. It sounds overwhelming, I know, but it is totally worth it in the end!

During rush, however, I was constantly reminded about how many people are involved in so many different things on campus, and how diverse our campus is in activities and clubs. I will always want to try out for a sketch comedy group, but I just don’t know how to fit it all in! Maybe if we had 48 hour days. There are just too many things that I want to do here at W&M! But I digress, during rush I was able to vent to friends on my AMP committee about how tired I was, and they would support me and bring me WaWa coffee to our late night Monday meetings. I would get phone calls from friends on sports teams asking me how I was doing and if I needed any help with anything. It was a great feeling to know that people all over the campus will reach out to you if you need help.

During rush I had a particularly tough time because my Grandma was placed in the hospital and my aunt was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. I found myself not wanting to worry about rush and whether or not my particular sorority was going to get the girls we wanted. I was constantly worried about my family back in Chicago, and always on the phone with my Mom and Dad. All the while the power was out in my apartment as was the cable, so my roommate and I were placed in the Holiday Inn for five days. Woof. It was really rough. I found myself at one point during rush thinking that I wasn’t able to handle it all and sat in the bathroom at my sorority house. A sister came in to my room and held my hand and let me just vent and helped me sketch out a plan as to how I was going to tackle it all: work, family issues, and all my commitments. We scheduled everything in my planner down to the last detail and email. Looking back on that moment I realized that I am indebted to all of my friends here at W&M. When you take the time to let your guard down and get involved in something that might not seem like something you would do, like join a sorority, there will always be friends and people there to support you and help you through everything. The community of trust and friendship here at W&M cannot be compared to anywhere else, and I am so happy to say that I am a part of it.

Thank you W&M. 🙂