[als463]

Originally Posted by AZTheta

Here's a thought:

I enjoyed friendships with other girls my entire life (starting with Brownies, going on to Job's Daughters, and other organizations as well) and wanted that to continue when I entered college. I knew that I would have that in a sorority. It was a safe haven for me from the large, impersonal University. Going to school with thousands of unknown people was intimidating - but was made much friendlier when I joined. I knew that at some point during the day I would run into another sister on campus and I would feel "at home" and "connected." I had seen what sorority women had (watching at Cal Berkeley, as well as watching the older sisters/friends I knew), and I wanted it.

I didn't think about philanthropy at the time, or leadership. I thought about friends. I thought about being part of a group, and belonging. AND yes I did think about parties - that was part of the equation. It wasn't until my senior year that I began to grasp the "lifetime membership" thing, and I saw how much I had been changed by my years of membership (including living in the house and rooming with a cross section of sisters, not always by their or my choice!). It was really about being friends, through all sorts of situations (some of which were pretty unpleasant). I liked what I saw, I wanted it, and I learned how to be an adult friend (corny, okay - but true, I had to learn!).

I'd want to know how they build and maintain friendships day-to-day. That's the bottom line for me.

I want to echo everything AZTheta has said. I also want to note that women need to keep an open mind about going through sorority recruitment. At the end of the day, you are all still NPC sisters. Trashing other sororities is never good and I'm not saying you would do that. Some of my best friends and people I can lean on happen to be in different sororities. One of my favorites is actually a Kappa Alpha Theta sister and while we are not sisters in Theta together, I am proud to still call her my NPC sister. She knows who she is .