After being in a sorority for most of my college career, I realized many aspects of my sorority experience can be applied to relatable life lessons. Get ready to get learnt y’all because I got that good good advice.
As a VERY insecure person (still working on gaining self-confidence up in here) it as always been hard for me to accept compliments. When I joined my sorority, some of the women would compliment me on aspects of my personality. I thought it was because they were just being nice and friendly and I did not take it to heart. What I started to realize was that their compliments were a reflection of who I was. It was important to accept them not just to be polite but to also see those compliments as an extension of who I truly am. When I learned to accept them, I felt so good giving others compliments too. It was a chance to help them see who they truly are as well, and help me form a connection with other women in the sorority as well. It seems so simple but it goes a long way!
When I was in my sorority I was given opportunities to run for positions and participate in various activities across campus. I ended up not taking like 99% of them because I thought I would let my sorority sisters down. THAT IS INSECURITY TALKING. Y’all, there are so many opportunities you can take while in a sorority that will help you grow personally and professionally! Take them! Do things! As cheesy as it sounds, remember to believe in yourself because you never know you can accomplish until you try. Take the opportunities your sorority presents to you because the worst that can happen is that you have an experience that teaches you something important. Be brave and go for it.
If anyone was not aware of this I would just like to say it, you will not be friends with everyone in your sorority. WOW, WHAT A CONCEPT. It is literally impossible to have 90 friends. It is a total no go. Also, not everyone is going to like you. It is just a fact of life. Some people will find you annoying and you will find you don’t vibe well with certain people. They will just grind your gears and you will grind theirs. That is just how the cookie crumbles sometimes. But the important thing to remember, even if you are in a group that big, is to respect one another. I remember knowing I would not be friends with some of the women but still respecting them. That is key. Friends with everyone, no thanks. But mutually respect for the women in your sorority? Now that is the shit I do like.
Emotions?! Feelings?! WHOA. NO THANKS. That is how I used to be. I bet you all feel me on that. I thought I had to be happy all of the time because of a preconceived notion that I was not allowed to show any emotion besides happy. When I got my big, that changed. Don’t get me wrong, we have to work on our relationship every day, but that is how it goes with a successful relationship. I love her not only because we have a great together, but she also taught me that is okay to show that you are a multidimensional human being with a plethora of feelings. She was the first person I truly opened up to in college. I was able to learn so much about myself but allowing myself to feel all the fee-fees. Even the not so great ones. That is what being a human being is all about. And we do that, we can form genuine connections with others. As time went on, I was able to open up to more people in the sorority. It all started with my big. I love you, Kayla! Thank you!
Just like in life, sometimes shit that happens in the sorority is just not fair. Sometimes instead of being out on the floor at recruitment, you may find yourself being sat out for a majority of the time. Or you may lose out to someone for a position that you have worked hard for because another person was chosen because she worked for it and was friends with a majority of the people on the executive board. Or you may be stuck cleaning the bathroom because it seems as though no one had time to do it themselves. I could go on and on. But I won’t because you all get the idea, shit happens. The situations like these that happened to me or people I loved bummed me out at the time. But as I get older, I realize that life will just be downright unfair sometimes. Sometimes you can’t control what happens to you, but you always can control how you react to them. Being exposed to these different types of situations while being ina sorority taught me that and made a stronger, more well-rounded woman.
Being in a sorority, you will (hopefully) be exposed to many different types of women. I was lucky to be a part of a sorority like that. I was surrounded by women with different opinions and backgrounds than mine, and I was exposed to different perspectives. Even if I disagreed with someone in my sorority on something, I still wanted to respect where they were coming from so that I could learn something new. I did see women that we’re unable to other people’s perspectives and that led to a lot of conflicts between them and other women. I learned from those women as well. Being surrounded by different people many challenges many things you believe in, but it is important to keep an open mind. This will not only help you with maintaining positive interactions with others but also will help you to be self-reflective as well.
When I mean tough, damn the bathrooms in the house were a wreck. Nobody wanted to do that chore. I feel people, I get it. Cleaning bathrooms is not something I would consider a leisure activity for me. Sometimes I would walk in there and be in dismay with the amount of toilet paper and tampons I would find on the floors. I could have complained and whined. But you know what? I got my ass up and I took care of it. Why? Because I knew that I needed to do something about it so it could get better. Just like in life, when you got a messy situation or bathroom, you just gotta get out there and take care of shit.
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