My very first blog post. Ever!

This is me.

Well, as I answered time after time during recruitment, I am a sophomore. As for my major, I am currently listed through the university as a BA in Visual Communications Design but am in the process of switching over to a BFA in Arts and Technology. I do not have a favorite movie. I'll watch pretty much any television show. I listen to all kinds of music. These some of the most basic facts anyone could answer about themselves...  I am from Columbus. Born and raised a buckeye and I've been attending Ohio State football games for as long as I can remember. I am Italian. My family and puppy mean the world to me and my 2 younger sisters are my best friends. I am sensitive and shy, but once you get to know me and I get to know you, you'll find I have a wild side. I hate being alone and like any other college student, I love to sleep. I believe that everything happens for a reason. All in all, I'm a pretty average 20 year old.

I'm a sorority girl? Whaaat?

Being from Gahanna, I live than 5 minutes from New Albany. Having Columbus Academy just up the street from my house and having both Columbus School for Girls  and St. Charles school for boys a few miles from my high school, I am well accustomed to being around overly preppy people. A lot of them were stuck up and thought they were so much better than everyone else. I attended a branch campus last year so I knew nothing about Greek life. I just knew that the people I expected to go Greek, did. My mom was in Greek life here at OSU so she was always trying to get me to just keep an open mind, but never pressured me. When I got to Columbus, my mom encouraged my to just check out Greek life. I considered informal recruitment in the fall, but I was too busy trying to meet people in my dorm and get involved in other organizations so I decided I would wait until formal. Once formal came, I started to get cold feet. Was this really for me? Was I cut out to be a sorority girl? Was I one of them!? None of my friends here were greek, nor did they even consider it, but I felt as though there was something missing from my college experience. Over winter break, my mom brought up formal recruitment and suggested that I at least sign up and go to the first round or two.  I reluctantly agreed.

I went through Union Round with the several hundred other girls and continued to the next round. I didn't get invited back to any of the sororities I wanted. However, little did I know, I didn't actually know that what I thought I wanted, wasn't what was right for me. I only got invited back to 3 of 14 houses out of a  max of 10. I decided to make the best of the situation, visited those 3 chapters and immediately fell in love with Delta Zeta Sorority. It was a long shot that out of the three that had some interest, that the one I loved would love me back. After one of the most stressful weeks this year, I made a life changing decision to go through preference round and rank Delta Zeta as my number one choice with one other as a back up. If I didn't get Delta Zeta, I knew there would be a reason why. There is a reason for everything. But I got a bid, and life as I knew it changed instantly. I went from having 2 sisters and a bunch of friends, to having a bunch of friends and just as many sisters. All of my friends that I had made before sorority recruitment joked around and teased me that I was going to become the stereotypical sorority girl. They would leave for dinner without me, assuming I was with my sorority sisters and not include me on weekend plans. After a few weeks, I decided to stand up against their opinions of me going Greek. I put together a quote on a half sheet of paper and taped it to the doors of my three closest friends in my dorm. This is what it said...

I’ve heard it said a sorority
Is a waste of time; but I know better…
For I have seen the love and walked
In the splendor of sisterhood…
I’ve heard it said that a sorority
Is sad; I can’t agree…
I’ve heard it said that a sorority
Is a dull, selfish place; It can’t be true…
I’ve seen the affection, watched it
Fill my heart, the very air…
And I have learned the Creed
Polished and spotless from end to end
And I’ve watched the sorority’s
Devotion drape each and every active
And pledge to look like nature’s
Freshly-granted love nourished for growth…
I’ve heard it said that a sorority is
Harmful, but they are wrong…
For I know my sisters…watched them
Strive to save a cause, spend of themselves…
And I’ve watched them hope, dream,
And aspire, side by side…
I’ve heard them say these things,
But I would disagree…
Because for every shadow I have
Seen a hundred rays of light…
For every plaintive note I’ve
Heard the symphony of joy…
For every penny-weight of bad,
I’ve found a ton of good…
Good in nature, in people, in my sorority…
I’m thankful I belong.

Their opinions changed. They apologized for calling me out. They became my biggest supporters. They made me realize that although Greek life might not be for everyone, it was the place for me.

What the heck is a blogabus!? And how do I  feel about it?

I was so nervous to take this class. I didn't have any idea what it would be about and how it would benefit me. When I told me mom I was thinking about taking a Greek Life class, she freaked out. Why did I need to learn more about other fraternities and sororities? Is that what I was paying to go to college for? After I read the blogabus, I sent it to her. I had her watch the videos. My mom is pretty up to date with technology; she has a blackberry, she has a facebook (which she rarely interacts with me on, more recently I have been lucky enough to witness her reconnect with her sorority sisters whom she had lost touch with) and she knows how to use an iPod. She immediately agreed with me that this class would be beneficial in helping me to make my mark on the world. Well, maybe not the world, but by using the skills in the class, and the help of my fellow Greek classmates, unite in doing something that will make a change.