My first night on campus I remember upperclassmen telling me how lucky I was to be a freshman because I had four years at OU ahead of me. Now I am one of those seemingly crazy seniors jealous of the freshman that will be arriving on campus in the fall, but I didn’t always feel that way.
As a seasoned upper classman, I can admit that finding home on a college campus doesn’t happen overnight or at least that it didn’t for me. It probably took me a full semester to like OU and until the end of my freshman year to love OU. Looking back and talking with friends though, it was normal but just hard to realize when all your high school friends go to college and blast their social media with how much they love college while forgetting to post how difficult the transition can be. Over the past 3 years I probably signed up for about 20 student organizations, joined 10, and stuck with 3. Those numbers may not sound encouraging but what is encouraging is that every student at Ohio University finds their niche(s).
My freshman year I went through recruitment. I’d always wanted to be in a sorority; my mom was in a sorority, my aunts were all in sororities, even my grandmas were in sororities. I went through formal recruitment my first semester and much to my surprise ultimately dropped out of the process. Long story short, I didn’t get that magic sense of home everyone talked about.
While there were some tears in the moment this isn’t some sob story, freshman year I got super involved. I ended up joining a business organization focused on entrepreneurship, a political organization, The Schey Sales Centre, and student senate. By the end of my first year I had a sense of place and I found some great friends but still didn’t have the feeling of home. When sophomore year rolled around, I decided to give the sorority thing another shot. I wouldn’t say recruitment during the second go around was a piece of cake, but I did end up finding my sense of home in Alpha Delta Pi.
If you’re an incoming freshman reading this, I want to share a takeaway from my experience with you. Everyone will tell you this but be yourself during recruitment. Don’t be what you think
a sorority wants you to be, that’s what I did my freshman year and now I don’t wonder why I didn’t feel at home in any chapter.
If you’re a sophomore considering going through recruitment, don’t doubt that you can find even more of home at Ohio University. I’m glad I joined my chapter as a sophomore because of all the experiences I may not have had if I had ended up joining right off the bat. Those experiences gave me the context to be even more of an asset to my chapter. I also didn’t think any big leadership opportunity would be in my reach if I joined as a sophomore, and I was dead wrong about that.
While I’m sure this school year will look a little different, I’m confident that the friendships you’ll make and your experiences at Ohio U will be just as powerful as mine have been. Joining Alpha Delta Pi has been one of my best decisions and I hope deciding to “Go Greek” will be one of your best decisions too!