I just had to brag about my life for a second. It's too good not to.
It's almost been two weeks since recruitment has been over and I still don't think that I have caught up on sleep. I could sit here and complain about all the petty little things that get to me, but it would be a waste of my time. The two weeks I spent in that recruitment room were two weeks that I will look back on for the rest of my life. It sounds corny, I'm aware. I know how cheesey and "legally blonde" like whenever I talk about Phi Mu and I do it a lot and I KNOWWW. I only have one more year to be annoying and talk about Phi Mu as much as I do so just bare with me and deal with it. No one gets it though. You don't get it unless you've been apart of it. If you are a boy, I'm sorry. You just don't get it. If you are older and aren't in greek life, you don't get it. People may be apart of something bigger and something great, but they haven't been apart of this. I wish I could explain it to everyone and I wish everyone could experience what we get to. I wish I already knew every new members name and that I could just tell them how lucky they are to be starting off their college experience. I get jealous anytime I see a new girl wearing a Phi Mu shirt around campus just knowing that they are about to have the best four years and I won't be here to experience it with them. (It sounds like I'm dying, my gosh.) I am so thankful that I have gotten the opportunity to be the one to pledge these girls in and I am even more excited to be the one to get to initiate them so soon.
During recruitment, I had to read a senior letter during one of the Preference Ceremonies. We read it to the girls coming through recruitment to try and maybe be able to bring it all to words. I practiced a few times in front of the chapter to see how well I could hold myself together and they will all be the first to admit that I am a whimp. I cried before I even started. But if I could let you feel a little bit what these girls mean to me and how much they have molded and shaped me, you would understand why I am that whimp.
My senior letter wraps it up and if you think it's corny, I'm sorry. If I wasn't apart of this I would think I was lame too. But thankfully, I am apart of it...
As I begin my senior year at Georgia College and as a Phi Mu,
I am now finally realizing what is all coming to an end. Slowly, things
are starting to be known as “the last.” Last recruitment, last bid day,
last formal. But what I know and can say with every part of me, is that
these friendships and the love that I have grown for this chapter will
last a lifetime. As we start to part ways after our senior year, there
will be one thing that will always hold us together.
I
took a chance and decided to go through sorority recruitment my
freshman year even though I knew nothing about what being in a sorority
meant. I took an even bigger chance and ran for President. What these
girls around you don’t know is that I have learned way more from them
than they will ever learn from me. They have taught me what having
family away from home is like and each girl in this chapter has taught
me something different about myself that I may have never learned
otherwise. Sarah has taught me to be caring and genuine. Amanda has
taught me to have more fun than I ever knew I could have. Reb has taught
me to not take life so seriously. Bri has taught me understanding. Lindsay has taught me to love the
Lord more and more each day. Kelsey has taught me to remain calm and
carry on. Kristina Cherry and Kaitlin Brannen have taught me to be a
leader. Caitlin Buttimer has taught me patience and gentleness. Shelby
has taught me compassion. And Joanna has taught me to strive for
selflessness. My pledge class of Fall 2009 has taught me about
commitment. The younger pledge classes have taught me encouragement. The
executive board has taught me to be apart of a team. And this chapter
has taught me what being apart of a sisterhood truly means. There are
girls who have graduated and left me changed and I hope that you come to
have a special place in my heart and in this bond as well. What I am
trying to say to each of you is that you can be apart of something that
can teach you these kind of things about yourself, too. My list isn’t
limited to this handful of girls but extends to over one hundred who
stand around you right now and who I can confidently call my friend and
wholeheartedly call my sister.
What I wish I
could show you is what happens when the doors close after a day of
recruitment is over. I hope that you were able to get a glimpse this
week at what I get to experience everyday. I get to experience laughter
and a lot of it. I wouldn’t trade a single moment with these girls for
anything and those moments are all starting to mean a lot more as they
soon will come to an end. Even though the events, the snap cup, and the
chapters at grits may end, the laughter won’t. These ladies will be
apart of me forever.
It blows my mind to think
that just three years ago I sat in the same seat you did and had to make
a decision that I had no idea then would change my life. I went from
not knowing a thing about sororities to not knowing who I am without
one. But what I do know now is that I am loved by way more people than I
have ever deserved. This group of girls make me a better person every
day because they believe in me and we believe together that 167 is
better than 1. We hold each other when we cry, we celebrate together
when we win, and we support each other in everything we do. A sister who
stood here and read her letter last year said, “There are two things I
know I will always have in life, Jesus and Phi Mu,” and no sentence has
ever held so true to me.
Phi Mu has turned into
something more than just a group of girls that I get to spend my Monday
nights at chapter with. It has turned into a lifestyle. I’m not just
Hannah, the girl trying to find her place, But I am a Phi Mu, and that
means something much, much more. I hope that you get to experience the
love and support that I have gotten in these past three years from these
girls. My college experience would not have remotely come close to be
as amazing as it was without the girls you see here in this room. I have
one more year left to make the best memories that I can with these
girls that the Lord has blessed me with. Gamma Sigma, I promise you that
this year will be one for the books and that we are going to have the
time of our lives. We have to make the best of every situation and know
that together we can do anything. I think we have proved ourselves to
everyone on campus and to everyone we spread our light to. And I can
promise to all of you who have a heavy decision to make tonight, that
you will get to be apart of something bigger if you choose Phi Mu. I
have one more year with you all, so lets make it one to remember.
Phillipians
1:3 says, “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers
for all of you, I pray with joy.” Choose joy, and choose Phi Mu.
ONLY 172 UNTIL GEORGIA COLLEGE MIRACLE 2013!!!
