Hello there!
I’m Emily, and I am currently serving as Kappa Omega’s Vice President of Membership Recruitment! I find it important for times of self reflection, and since we are starting a new year and semester, I figured now would serve as a great time to reflect on why I joined AOII and more importantly, why I stay.
My sisters proved me wrong.
Let me explain a little about myself prior to coming to college in 2015. I was very shy, and I kept a tight circle. I had a packed resume and stayed busy. I never once imagined joining a sorority, more or less going through recruitment. That was, until my dad suggested giving it a chance and using recruitment as interview practice. Though my dad attended UK, he was never Greek, but explained that it would be a good way to immediately meet some people on a huge campus. And for a girl as timid as I was, I took a huge leap by deciding to give it a shot.
So I signed up. Then I immediately went shopping because I needed a skirt for Round 2 and new shoes for Sisterhood and of course a perfect Bid Day dress! Then in what felt like no time I was moved into college, meeting my gamma chi group, and then outside my first house!
Everyone’s recruitment story is different. Personally, I didn’t have that picture perfect recruitment experience, and that is where I draw my passions for recruitment.
As someone who struggled with depression and anxiety, and possessed very low self confidence, I didn’t think I would be accepted into a sorority. I have battled darkness in the form of depression and self injury for years, but very few know the extent of my troubled times. During recruitment, I was constantly comparing myself, diving further down the rabbit hole of self-loathing and criticisms. I didn’t have long, perfectly curled locks, I thought I stood out like a sore thumb with my pixie cut. I wasn’t wearing Lilly Pulitzer, so therefore I thought I was out of the running for a bid. And what hurt me the most was that I was focused more on the houses I was getting cut from, than the one that consistently invited me back.
It was on Preference Day that I only got one house back. I cried in line outside the house that I now call my home, because I was beginning to realize that I needed to trust that there was a reason only AOII had invited me back. When I was picked up at the door by Olivia, she told me just how excited she was to meet me because she had heard about what a sweet and genuine girl I was from her sisters. It was there in the living room that I decided to be vulnerable and share about myself and my recruitment experience. It was during the beautiful ceremony that Sara, with whom I had talked earlier in the week, promised that if I were to join, she and the rest of the women of AOII would love me unconditionally. It was when I was sad to leave the house that I knew it was where I needed to be.
Since that moment, I have never regretted my decision to accept the invitation of membership into Alpha Omicron Pi. AOII has given me a voice and a platform to share about the tremendous sisterhood that has given me so much confidence and security. I didn’t think I would find a home at college. I didn’t think I’d find my best friends. I didn’t think I would find the women who I go to for advice, and the ones who build me up when I’m feeling low. The ones who care for me as if we were family. I didn’t think anyone would accept me. And I definitely didn’t think that I would ever become so dedicated to a sisterhood bound by the common bond of friendship.
But the women of Alpha Omicron Pi proved that all of those things were possible. They invited and welcomed me with open arms and unconditionally loving hearts. They are encouraging and accepting of me when I thought no one would be. They recognize my quirks, and welcome me because of them. They acknowledge the struggles that I still experience, and are here to comfort and assist me in whatever way I need. My sisters prove to me each day that I am enough just the way I am. It is for that reason that I desire to extend the same feeling of love and acceptance to every sister of mine, and every woman that comes into the Pi House.
Here's Emily (sitting) with Lizzie Shepard at this years initiation!