Sorority. To some that word causes immediate cringing, eye-rolling, and head shaking. To others it induces squeals, smiles and happy memories. Pop culture as well as detailed documentaries, books and movies perpetuate both the cringe inducing image as well as the squealing, beautiful people, party girl stereotype. As for me, my experience could not be detailed in pop culture or stereotyped because it was different. And the proof of that was a reunion last night 8 years in the making.
Between figuring out where your classes are, how to find Fisher Hall, where exactly is the 'Framp everyone is talking about and do you send an AIM request to that cute guy in your SPE class, you're also tasked with deciding how to expand your social circle. At Duquesne, Greek life was alive and well but a little different from some other schools as Duquesne's campus is self contained, official houses don't exist and instead Greeks live on wings in Towers and have parties off campus. There are professional, social, service and religious (this is Duquesne after all) sororities and fraternities. As a freshman on campus, walking down A-Walk and seeing Greek letters pressed on t-shirts, jackets and sweats can cause more confusion. Deciding not to rush freshman year, more or less because I had some good friends to hang out with and they weren't rushing, I surprised myself sophomore year.
My roommate was rushing, another close friend who we were with all the time decided to rush and since I wouldn't be doing it alone, that was reason enough for me. A little more independent sophomore year, I threw myself into Rush and making new friends. Some of the sisters were friends from Freshman year so that helped and being pretty outgoing, I quickly became friends with my pledge class. Then, something weird happened. My roommate dropped out from Rush. It wasn't for her. My other friend was still involved and made it through but didn't do anything with the sorority after. Suddenly, I had my own activities and group separate from my closest friends. My social circle expanded beyond my dorm floor and friends from class and cute boys that lived in Towers. Living on the wing for two years created some amazing memories and bonds that time hasn't weakened. Sure, there was drama and conflict sometimes, after all, any group of women living together for an extended period of time would create that, and it wasn't because we were in a sorority. Far from the stereotype, my sorority appreciated and celebrated everyones differences (Stitch towel and green beer anyone?).
MySpace and Facebook quickly replaced AIM and helped us keep in touch through the years, even while some of us were scattered across the world. Sure, marriage and babies and careers have kept us busy but what united us all those years ago remains today. When my dad passed away this summer, I had emails from sisters that had lost parents too; girls I kept up with on Facebook but hadn't seen in years. My sorority sisters were some of the first to comment, text, email or call. To see us together last night, you would probably wonder how such a different group of people could be laughing and having such a great time together. We already know that answer: if not for our sorority, most of us wouldn't have crossed each other's paths. However, our sorority united a stone cold pack of unique girls that will remain forever involved in one an other's lives and celebrate triumphs, heartbreaks, and every day moments. So to answer your question, yes, you guy I went out with two years ago, former boss, cousin I see once a year, that is why I was in a sorority. You won't find that in a movie.
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