Sorority era
Growing up, I ALWAYS wanted to join a sorority. It was never a maybe for me- the second I confirmed that I would be attending FIU, I registered for recruitment. I looked forward to recruitment all summer, and I was even more excited to find my sisters because my dad was always telling me about his frat brothers and how they are still all connected today. One thing I surprisingly didn’t think about till I was literally in line for my first party on day 1 of recruitment was how my future sorority sisters would react to me having epilepsy. I wasn’t even going to talk about it during recruitment, but of course, I ended up talking about Project T.E.E.N., my advocacy work, and starting Club Purple. To my shock, literally every single girl I talked to was so like “Wait, that’s so cool”. This was so reassuring because if I had to go through high school stereotypes again, I would have actually crashed out.
Two weekends later, I finally got to run home to Phi Mu!! This was the chapter I wanted from literally day 1, and I am SO happy I landed there because the girls I have met are now truly some of my best friends. A month into my sorority experience, I was matched with my big. For those of you who don’t know sorority stuff, a big is basically a girl who's my "big sister” and looks out for me and all that stuff. My big, Gianna, has been one of the best people I’ve met in college. She’s constantly supporting me and pushing me to do things that she knows I would do well at. She also brought me into the best pham, where I met Paula and later on Gaby & Ayla, who are my perfect sibs. I remember one day, Gianna and Paula sent one of my epilepsy Instagram posts to the chapter so they could support me because, for some reason, I was SO scared to share the Instagram with my sisters. This was exactly the push I needed because now, I feel so much more confident and at home with my sisters. Joining Phi Mu has honestly been the best decision I’ve made in college. I’ve grown so much as a person just by being present; my confidence has grown immensely. Last weekend, I finally became a big to my little, Melanie, and I’m so excited to give her the same experience I’m having so far.
Every day I am thankful that Phi Mu has given me a place to grow as a person, be comfortable in my diagnosis, and push me to grow as a young woman. The opportunities and support they have given me is something I will always be grateful for. LIOB forever!!
xoxo,
sofi :)
