Just before I graduated high school I was sitting down and talking to a teacher I didn’t necessarily always get along with or agree with but I respected greatly. She was an amazing teacher; vibrant, outspoken and really challenged me not only as a student but as a person. As many times as I butted heads with her, she was probably one of the very few people from high school that still remains in my thoughts to this day. It was the day that I sat down with her that I realized something important about myself.

It was a week or two before my high school graduation and as most seniors don’t have to do hardly anything the last couple of weeks of school besides show up, I found myself bored and wandering the halls sometime after lunch. I had made my way into the bathroom to touch up my mascara, chatted with a few fellow seniors who roamed aimlessly around the halls and then found myself sitting in a teacher’s classroom. She was possibly the most interesting person I had ever met and taking her class my junior year was probably the most fun learning in a long time. She was grading papers last minute just as most were while I spoke to her about a book I had read that week.

“But what about college?” she shot me a sharp glance. “Are you excited about college?”

“Yeah,” I answered instinctively. I had been asked the question about two hundred times since I had posted my acceptance letter on every social media outlet possible so the answer was easy and also true. “I’m really excited.”

She asked me all the typical questions: what I planned on majoring in, where I would be living, and what organizations I wanted to join.

“I’m not sure yet. But I’m going to rush.” I shrugged not really thinking anything of it at the time.

She looked up at me with confused, narrowed eyes. “Rush? You mean you want to be in a sorority?”

“Maybe,” I nodded. “It looked like a lot of fun and from all the research I’ve done-”

“Victoria,” she interrupted me. “Why would you want to do that? You are not meant to be in a sorority! You are a leader and not some follower.”

It took me off guard at the time, making me all sorts of confused. It had sounded like a compliment, her calling me a leader, but at the same time she was saying I wasn’t cut out for something. I didn’t understand it and her statement made me really think about what sororities were really like. I had done my research, watched Youtube videos, read blogs and sure some of the stuff was kind of catty and petty but so was high school. What did it matter if I got to meet new people and maybe even get some lifelong friends out of it?

After a lot of reflection, thought and a years’ worth of experience of actually being in a sorority I feel like I can finally express what I’ve been feeling lately.

I was never really the type of girl to party harder than I studied. Play hard, work harder has always been my motto. So when I came out of my freshman year proud of not only my 4.0 GPA but my letters on my shirt as well, people were stunned. Many would ask me how I had time to study when all sorority girls do is get wasted and party all the time. The answer was simple: I joined a sorority for more than the partying.

When I went through formal recruitment, I wanted to be what the girls in the houses wanted and from what my teacher had insinuated, they wanted a follower. I talked about socials and mingling with frats but when it was their turn to ask me questions, the one that always made me think for a moment was: “So could you see yourself being in a leadership position here?”

I was stunned. Why would they want to know that?

“Sure,” I answered truthfully. “I could defiantly see myself in a leadership position.”

They asked me about what activities I was in during high school, if I enjoyed them or not, what kind of classes I was taking, where I had traveled and what my hobbies were and then told me about their study abroad trips or how a sister was on Student Council. These amazing women were so much more than what most gave them credit for. They were kind, intelligent, cultured and above all well rounded. I was in awe of them all, their ambitions and ability to coax my own out of me. Every chapter was amazing and I soon found myself a little confused. These women I had been speaking to all day didn’t seem like the followers that teacher had said they would be. These incredibly sorority women were leaders on campus, in their communities and to each other.

Almost immediately after my initiation, it seemed like everyone was encouraging you to be a part of a committee or a council or even run as a member of Exec. Everyone from freshman to seniors had a fair chance and they welcomed any and every one. It was incredible to see sisters reaching out, those who had held positions offering to take their sisters out for coffee to tell them about what their title meant and required of you. These women wanted us, encouraged us, to be leaders by exposing us to other organizations outside of Greek life and helping one another to achieve our goals.

After an entire years’ worth of experiences, I can safely say that teacher was wrong. My sisters are leaders, every single one of them. From my president who pushes us to be the best chapter we can possibly be to my philanthropy chair who cares more about our charity than anyone could ever imagine. Yes, we are still eighteen, nineteen and twenty somethings having fun and going out whenever we can but we take our sisterhood seriously and wear our letters with pride. I look around my chapter room at all of my sisters sometimes and know that they’ll all do incredible things in this world but I also realize that I can also do amazing things because my sisters believe that I can and encourage me to do so.

So to that teacher or friend, parent or sibling who told you that being in a sorority will only hurt your chances of being or doing whatever you want, tell them to remember these few things: Sororities typically have the highest GPA’s on most University campuses. Sororities are some of the largest contributors to huge charities in the United States such as The Ronald McDonald House and Breast Cancer Research and Awareness. And just in case you need a little more proof that sororities build leaders; Condoleeza Rice, Lady Bird Johnson and even Hillary Clinton were all in sororities. They made strides in this world, changed the way women were looked at and, above all, were incredible leaders.

So yes, my teacher was right. I am a leader and I'm not a follower. That's why I joined my sorority. 

Love ya,

Victoria