{Alpha O for LIFE!}

I was charged by my fellow sorority sister, actually - a fellow Tau Gamma sister, Meghan (who was initiated into the same chapter as I was, just a year after me for those of you that don't quite understand), to write about my experience as a sorority girl and share it with all of you...and here I go :-)

In Sept 2004, I headed to Eastern Washington University to start my Freshman year of college and the beginning of my journey to something amazing and definitely unplanned (aside from getting my college degree haha).

I had a VERY hard time being away from my family, my boyfriend, and everything that was familiar. I had a "not so pleasant" room mate that made it impossible to make my dorm room feel anything like a home away from home. I had no friends at Eastern and for once in my life, I was struggling to make new ones. For those of you that know me personally, I'm very outgoing, bubbly and usually make friends pretty easily. But it was like a whole new experience for me trying to make friends in a place that wasn't familiar to me like my hometown and my high school. Needless to say, I got extremely depressed, homesick, gained about 30lbs and shut myself off from the outside world. I was just days away from calling my parents to tell them that I wanted to come home and that going to college 5.5 hours away from everything I loved, just wasn't for me.

Something that day motivated me to get out of my dorm, where I had shut myself in, and go to lunch at the main cafeteria, sit down, and see if I could meet anyone and at least give it a fighting chance. I had gotten my food, grabbed my tray, walked over to the condiment bar and heard, "Caty?!". It didn't even take me a second to whirl around and see one of my closest friends, Tiffany, staring back at me!

*I know what you all are thinking "how did you not know that she was there?". Well, I'll tell you why...Tiffany and I had played softball together for years in high school. Tiffany was a Senior when I was a Junior and when she graduated, we lost touch for a bit since she was busy getting into college and moving. The last Tiffany and I had talked, she mentioned that she had been trying to get into a college in Oregon, so that's where I thought she ended up, since it had been a while since we talked last.*

Now, back to the story...when I saw Tiffany, I instantly wanted to start crying but there was no way in heck I was going to do that and make a scene, so instead, I left my tray at the condiment bar and ran across the cafeteria to give Tiffany the BIGGEST. HUG. EVER! We ate lunch together, caught up from where we left off and it was EXACTLY what I needed! Needless to say, I never made that phone call home ;-)

One thing out of our lunch date together that sparked interest was that she and her roommate were going through "Formal Recruitment" to join a sorority. This was definitely not what I expected out of Tiffany because we both grew up as "tom boys" and I honestly didn't think we were "sorority girl" material at all! (I know, I was one of those people that only thought of sorority girls being the "Barbie doll" types - SHAME ON ME). She told me all about the experiences she was having, that Formal Recruitment was an almost week long event, and that she was having a lot of fun. I was really interested at this point, but unfortunately, it was too late for me to join the Recruitment process so it was the last time I ever really curious about it.

Tiffany ended up joining the Tau Gamma Chapter of Alpha Omicron Pi through Formal Recruitment. Over a few weeks she would tell me about all the fun experiences she was having and all the new friends she was making. This was pretty much the best thing for me to hear because what I desperately wanted was to make new friends and joining a sorority seemed like a great way to do just that. Tiff mentioned something about how Tau Gamma was going to be holding an Informal Recruitment event, to invite women that were interested in potentially joining a sorority or for those who didn't make it to sign up for Formal Recruitment in time (like me). I went to the Informal even with Tiffany, I LOVED all the incredible women I met there, they made me feel SO welcome and a lot of the ladies I talked to made me feel like I had known them for years.

Tiffany and I just before heading out to the Informal Recruitment event

Not sure how much time had passed since attending that event, but I was offered a Bid to join Alpha Omicron Pi and I never looked back!

My Bid Day - Winter 2005 :-)

I feel like my collegiate days were a complete blur because I had such an amazing experience. Of course there was drama, and a fair share of ups and downs, but the experiences I took away from my active membership will be memories I cherish forever! I met amazing women and gained life long friends that are still a huge force in my life today. AOII is the reason I didn't drop out of the first college I committed to and it plays a HUGE role in how I live my life today. While I was an active member, I held the positions of Recording Secretary, Historian and even served on the Panhellenic Council as Panhellenic Treasurer. All of these roles taught me amazing leadership skills that I use today.

The whole group of ladies I was initiated with

Nadina and I

My Big (Tiffany) at the top and my two Littles below me :-)

Bid Day 2005

Us Gals :-)

Lori and I

Red Rose Formal 2006

After going Alumn in 2008, it turned out that my AOII journey wouldn't end there (of course, once you're a member, you're a member for life, so it never "ended"). On this very day, I serve on Tau Gamma's Alumnae Advisory Committee as the Financial Adviser for the chapter that I was initiated into. I've had this position for over a year now and I completely love it! I'm blessed to work with amazing women on the AAC committee as well as amazing young women that are members of Tau Gamma today.

My membership as an AOII means SO much more to me know that I have a little girl of my own, that I can only hope will want to join AOII in the future as well!

I owe SO much to Tiffany for giving me to courage to get out there and for showing me that I was never alone when I felt the most alone I had ever felt in my life!

There are always those select people that will say, "what's so special about being in a sorority, you pay for your 'friends'". I can tell you right now, a quote that I found that I LOVE to use, "I may have paid for my friends, but I surely didn't pay enough for them!!" - Author Unknown ;-) 

So, that's my sorority life story, what's your?! Link up with us on Meghan's page HERE and "TELL US ABOUT IT!!" :-)