Sorority Life Allowed Me to Pursue my Passions

By: Vanessa Bendle- Alpha Gamma Delta

If you’re going through sorority recruitment, you might have some questions about the process. Personally, I remember being shy and not having much to ask the girls. I was nervous going into the weekend that’d I’d be asked that dreaded question… “do you have any questions?”. I had no idea what being in a sorority was about so I didn’t even know where to start. I knew I’d be asked about myself, including my extracurriculars, so I prepared to answer those types of questions. In high school, I was in various clubs and teams. But in my senior year, everything changed when I discovered I was passionate about videography. After graduation, I was given the opportunity to explore more filming wedding videos. A piece of advice I was given before recruitment was to have something that makes you memorable, and I thought that filming weddings is something I could mention that would make me stand out more as a PNM.  

On the first day of recruitment,  I remember being shown a recruitment video at a particular sorority and being in absolute awe. Shortly after, I got the chance to talk to members of that house and ask more about the video. I learned that I’d have a ton of opportunities to incorporate my love for videography into sorority life. It’s definitely something I wasn’t expecting, but it made me that much more excited about the process. I felt that joining a sorority truly would give me the opportunity to excel at what I was passionate about. In the following months, I learned that was true. I saw women with many diverse talents being able to use their skills and flourish. There are women who are artists, leaders, athletes, and more. All these women get the chance to explore these talents through their experience as a sorority member. 

Throughout the last two years, I’ve been given countless opportunities for video events for not only my own sorority but entire the Panhellenic community. In my second year, I applied for the Social Media director position on Western’s panhellenic council. Video hadn’t been used in the past to promote formal recruitment, therefore I thought it could be a way to help unknowing girls discover sorority life. The council agreed with my idea, creating a new multimedia position so that I could bring my ideas to life. Over the past year, I got to work on a council of incredible women who supported my creativity wholeheartedly. I’m lucky I was given a place to foster panhellenic friendships and help improve our experience as sorority members. The best advice I have for recruitment is to relax. That is hypocritical coming from me considering I was a bundle of nerves the entire weekend. But when I look back, recruitment is such a memorable experience and you’ll the house that’s right for you.