Growing up I watched countless TV show’s tell me how scary or judgemental greek life or more specifically sororities were. In my head, this built up an image of a group of girls who were mean and cruel. Being a first-generation student made it super difficult my first year of college to branch out and try and make new friends. I didn’t really know how sororities worked and the sheer thought of them made me want to collapse into anxiety attach. Flash forward to fall semester sophomore year, I get a Facebook notification for a service sorority on campus called Epsilon Sigma Alpha that focuses on giving back to the community while still maintaining the social aspect of other sororities. I figured what’s the worst that would happen? So I signed up for recruitment which consisted of 5 zoom sessions called “Rush Week” during this time I realized that Sororities weren’t that bad! I was able to connect with girls who I would have never met and I was able to help out my community by participating in countless events like Up til Dawn for St. Jude and raising money for Hope 4 Heros. ESA was able to help me connect with countless girls from different backgrounds and gave me opportunities to have plenty of future coffee dates! The sorority was the exact opposite of everything I saw on TV, all the girls were extremely welcoming and made sure we were all comfortable throughout the process of rush week and activation. Through ESA I was able to meet my “Big” (an older girl who has been apart of the sorority and helps guide you through). My big happened to also be a psychology major and was interested in working with children as well. This has proved to be extremely helpful because I know as I get closer to Graduate School, internships, and jobs having her to turn to as a resource will help make the process as smooth as possible. All in all the experiences that I have had with ESA have been amazing and I never would have been able to experience these things if I hadn’t pushed myself out of my comfort zone. I definitely recommend it to any first-generation student even if you are slightly interested in greek life to get involved because it will help create a great community of people who are willing to help you navigate your way through some of the most important years of your life!
