Quote:
Originally Posted by breathesgelatin
I have had Pi Phi benefit me in ways that are sometimes surprising. When I get around certain types of people and Greek Life comes up and they find out I am a Pi Phi, some kind of switch goes off in their head. Sometimes they get nicer to me. Sometimes they tell me chatty stories or start to think of me as their peer when maybe they did not before. A lot of times they say "You really need to meet and talk with my high school daughter!" In one extreme situation I was even given pictures of the daughter to evaluate.
I honestly believe that being a Pi Phi (specifically a Pi Phi, not having been president of a sorority and an award-winning member on a regional level in general) has helped me with job applications and that sort of thing. Because people see that I am a Pi Phi and suddenly assume that I am "one of them."
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This is exactly what I meant when I wrote previously that it was a pleasant surprise to discover what an excellent reputation Tri Delta has nationally. I've had numerous times when people looked at me differently when they discovered I was a DDD, treated me with more respect, and assumed I must have been in a "top" house in college simply because that is their perception of Tri Delta. In my extreme example, one woman was completely flabbergasted and blurted out, "I didn't know you came from a wealthy family!" (I didn't.) But her perception of DDD based on her limited experience from her school was that Tri Delta = very big bucks.
I do think that the leadership opportunities were of great benefit to me from the non-Greek perspective, especially when you have the opportunity to explain what it involves. Very few college women get to take on the kinds of responsibilities a chapter president or treasurer does during their college years. (I was president, not treasurer. Just using it as an example.) In many of those cases, I don't think it mattered a bit to them which sorority I was in or where I went to school. They were interested in how the leadership experiences had shaped me and contributed to my growth as a person.