If you want to develop character, better yourself, and regularly contemplate homicide become a sorority officer. Being on exec board will inspire you, excite you, and put you through hell. It’s a totally different type of hazing. You will learn how to become a leader, and you will learn it the hard way. Girls will disagree with you every step of the way. Over-opinionated seniors will tell you you’re doing everything wrong and leading to the destruction of the chapter. (They’re just sad they’re leaving…let it ride.) As a matter of fact, you will consistently feel like the chapter is about to fall into chaos. I remember the night my sophomore year when we went into crisis mode over formal t-shirts and I sat up with the other officers until 2:00 AM, comforting our crying t-shirt chair and making phone calls. Like seriously…we were CRYING over T-SHIRTS. However, in the end it makes you stronger. You learn how to run a committee meeting, judge the talents of your committee members, and effectively delegate all the stuff you’d rather have someone else do for you. You learn that exec meetings are a completely useless necessity, and you will sit quietly through them each week pretending that you don’t have wine in your travel mug. You learn how to speak so that people will listen, and how to give orders politely…most of the time. You learn how stuff really gets done. This is one of the reasons that Greeks are better at life.
This country would be better off if it were solely run by sorority girls. Not only would everything be more organized (since we’re obvi the most organized creatures on the planet) but there would probably be a lot more pink and glitter too. Kidding. Kinda. But seriously, you have to learn to be organized if you want to finish your schoolwork and sorority work in time to go to the bar. We might not (ever even attempt to) stick to a “budget” when shopping for ourselves, but the recruitment budget is written in stone, and we know how to make the most of it. A seasoned sorority officer could have this little deficit problem sorted out in a heartbeat. Finally, we know when to listen and when to talk. I listen to opinions and advice, but in the end I do the job I was elected to do and make the hard decisions, even if they’re unpopular. The chapter’s needs come first.
One night this semester a sister was comforting me over wine as I had a meltdown after a brutal recruitment workshop. A group of newly initiated sisters came home from dinner, and we watched them cross the entryway, giggling and gossiping. “Remember,” she told me, “you’re doing this for them.”
In the end being an officer is one of the most selfless things a sorority woman can do. Sure, you will go on a crazy power-trip or twelve at some point, you will argue viciously over insignificant details, and you will learn the frighteningly awesome feeling of telling people what to do and having them listen because you said it. However, you will also be securing the future for your chapter. Someone has to care about all those silly little details so that every event can be as perfect as your sisters are. It takes that level of absolute devotion from a handful of women to keep the chapter running smoothly. Your sacrifices of time, energy, sleep, and sanity will guarantee that all of your current and future sisters can continue to have the amazing experience you have had.
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