If you asked me last year this time, when I was still in high school, if I would join a sorority, I would have laughed at you and said something along the lines of “yeah, right, like EK would join a sorority.” And boy, was I wrong. My mom was in a sorority at a bigger school, and she told me growing up that if I wanted to join one, then do it, but it may not be something I wanted to do. Not only that, I had a subconscious bias towards “sorority girls,” and how I did not want to be one of them. Low and behold, I came to Mercer, recruitment started, and some of my close friends, Helen O’Dell and Morgan Howes, were going through recruitment. All week they were just talking about how great it is and it made me think “hmmm, maybe I was wrong.” I called one of my family friends, who was actually a member of Beta Sigma years ago, and she told me how Beta Sigma really wants all of the sisters to focus on academics while having fun and meeting new people every day. The more I talked to her, the more I fell in love with it. I decided that I would go through recruitment my sophomore year, but then Helen told me that there was a way for me to go through it my freshman year. I went through informal recruitment, where I met different sisters in the chapter, talked to them, then eventually received my bid. And let me tell you, it was one of my favorite days of my life. Since I have been in Beta Sigma, I’ve met some of my closest friends, and I’ve changed and grown as a woman in just 7 months because of this chapter. I could not imagine my college life without Beta Sigma. Every time someone asks me if I am in a sorority, I proudly say that I am in Alpha Delta Pi at Mercer University. I love this chapter and the women in it. If I had to give advice to any potential new members, it would be to go through recruitment. You don’t have to join a sorority at the end, but you meet new people. Don’t be nervous because let me tell you, for people like me who haven’t gone through formal recruitment, we are just as nervous and excited as you!
Why ADPi Wednesday: Katie Johnson
Why I STAYED ADPi
When I first started thinking about going through primary recruitment, I just wanted to make friends, and everyone said that was an easy way to do it. I didn’t know anything about sororities, and I was a little skeptical at first. I figured I would try it out, meet some new people, and see how I felt about it after a year. Adpi took me by surprise. I thought the girls I met during recruitment were nice, smart, dedicated women who would make good friends, but nothing more than that. What I thought was the key to never having to go to the caf alone ended up being one of the most prominent parts of my college experience.
It didn’t start that way immediately. During my second semester of freshman year, I was no longer as excited about ADPi and was struggling to find my place. I no longer had the special treatment and feeling of being a new member, so it took some time to adjust. Freshman year, I had a small officer position but I didn’t really work with a lot of people through it so it wasn’t that impactful on my experience. Coming into sophomore year, I met and got closer with some older ADPi’s during recruitment that ended up being some of my very best friends and mentors to this day. Somehow I had gone an entire year without meeting Ansley Sanders, but fate (or Elizabeth O’dell) put us in the same group for recruitment and now I don’t know what I would do without her in my life. After recruitment, the rest of the semester was kind of mediocre in my ADPi experience. The events were fun, the friendships were great, but I craved something more out of this membership. I heard over and over how ADPi shaped people’s lives and made them grow so much as people, and I just hadn’t figured it out. Then came election season.
For the next year, my newly elected officer position was on the executive board, Vice President of Panhellenic Relations. While this specific position did not require a ton of my time or outside work, it allowed me to learn so much about how the chapter works. It gave me such a new appreciation for the organization I wanted to love so badly, but just hadn’t found my rhythm in. It gave me the opportunity to build relationships with other leaders in the chapter, being officers on the executive team or officers on the team I got to lead, as well as leaders in other chapters on Panhellenic Exec. Being any type of leader in an organization during 2020 was no walk in the park, but it was an experience I would not give back for anything. Being a younger member on exec, I got to learn so much from the older class and create friendships that I probably would not have otherwise. This year, in a new position of Vice President of Membership Experience, I’ve gotten to step into a more serious leadership role as a returning exec member and pour back into the chapter that has poured so much into me.
There were so many times I wondered what I was even doing in a sorority. None of my family has been involved in fraternities or sororities, so I wasn’t really sure what I was getting into. That first year, I kept wondering if this was the right thing for me or if I had made a huge mistake. At times, I wondered if it was worth it to continue. Looking back, I am so thankful that I jumped in blindly and just kept going. I knew there was something special about ADPi. I felt it during recruitment and the whole new member process, it just took me a little time to figure out what part of ADPi was special for me.
Why ADPi Wednesday: Seiler Rivers
“We live for each other.” From the moment I heard Alpha Delta Pi’s open motto, I could tell it was indubitably true. Even through the screen of virtual recruitment, the women I would grow to love like sisters fully and completely modeled a family. Every smile, welcoming anecdote, and deep connection was a testimony to the short aphorism that every woman in the chapter lives by.
To the women of ADPi, sisterhood is more than formals and events. This has been even more clear this year, as those functions have been largely absent during this season of COVID. However, as a new member, I can confidently say that the trustful hunch I felt during recruitment has not let me down. From a friendly face in an intimidating class, to my go-to cookout buddy, to someone to cry with on a particularly tough week, I can confidently say that the women of ADPi have truly lived for me during my time so far in our chapter. I decided to go ADPi because I knew that the women of this chapter would be a found family--one that I get to choose every day, and one that constantly and consistently chooses me in return.
Why ADPi Wednesday: Savannah Smith AC '19
My entire college admissions process revolved around plans. I quickly scheduled tours and arranged my applications. I barely allowed myself to breathe amidst my rigorous studies and extracurriculars. This crafting of an ideal student led me to Mercer, my dream school. However, once I arrived here in August, I learned quickly that I would not continue to exist solely as the perfect college admissions profile.
I couldn’t, not as my plans for college beyond simply getting in collapsed around me. I expected that I would serve on SGA (Students Government Association) and write for the school newspaper. In my head, these tasks would involve challenging myself among like minded people. Regardless of whether they would have or not, they didn't pan out- I lost my SGA election and I realized that I did not have a passion for journalism. Since then, I have even determined that these extracurriculars would have been ways to continue being my high school self, the one who perfectly calculated her life to appeal to colleges.
To me, Alpha Delta Pi embodies one of the major changes in my life since arriving at Mercer. Bid day, with all of its anticipation and excitement, worked this transition for me. Even then, I knew something good was in store. Not even pulling my bid card fully out of the envelope, I sprinted down the hall as soon as I saw the word “Pi.” Running the hill on bid day was truly running home, as I then entered the warm embrace of sisterhood. Because of ADPi, I allow myself to breathe, have fun, and prioritize relationships.
While in high school, I would have been too busy continuing a quise of perfection to invest in real friendships with others. By joining a sorority, something that never would have been in high schools Savannah’s plan, I now say that “We Live For Each Other.” While I may not be where I expected, that is a change I must welcome.
“Running the hill on bid day was truly running home, as I then entered the warm embrace of sisterhood. Because of ADPi, I allow myself to breathe, have fun, and prioritize relationships.”