Preference Party, Fall 2011

I stand before you today as a woman of a second chance. In fact, I never believed in second chances until this fraternity came into my life. I was forever changed the day I walked into Alpha Gamma Delta. I was a mess, you see, a disaster. I had no idea what life had in store for me and I didn’t care to find out. But instead of throwing me away like everyone else had, my sisters picked me up. They grabbed my hand and forced me to look at life directly in the face.

And so I stand before you, having taken my second chance. Having looked life in the face. A sorority (or in our case, technically, a fraternity) is more than just an RSO. It is more than an organization, a group of women forced to live in a house together and socialize with each other multiple times a week. If you do it right, it is a breath of fresh air. It is the crisp leaves in the fall. It is white snow in the winter. It is the summer sunshine and the way it feels on your skin. Your sorority sisters tell it like it is, confront you of your demons and extract them so you can start anew.  So you can have a second chance, too. It is more than your college years, it is an eternal bond you carry with other women who hold the same morals, values and standards as yourself. It is, like the seasons, a constant reminder of how things change, but the steadiness and calm that comes with each.

My whole world continues to flip upside down every now and then and life throws me more curve balls than I can handle. I’d have no way of dealing with these without the women you see standing beside you in red.  My sisters aren’t just my friends; they aren’t just members of the same group. My sisters are my stronghold, my foundation, the backbone in my body. Without these beautiful, strong, courageous women in this room, none of us would be who we are.

My most cherished and caring friends stand before me. These are women who will stand in my wedding, and I in theirs. These are the women who will live in different states, cities, maybe even different countries, yet we will still call each other on a weekly basis to talk about our husbands, our children, our different lives. We will reunite at our 100^th anniversary and sing the same songs our alumni sang to us. We will hold dear the virtues and traditions of our ritual, the strength we gave to each other and the memories and laughter that resonate in the walls of our home. We will always have each other. Always.

I could speak forever about the things Alpha Gamma Delta has done for me, but I will simply tell you this…

 It has shown me what a real woman consists of and turned me exactly into that woman. It has given me morals when I was lacking, and it has guided me when I lost my way. It is more than just a house, it is a home. It is the place where I grew up and the place I will hold in my heart forever and continue to grow with. As I leave in December on a journey into a life unknown, there are things that are uncertain on my path. I know, though, that I will always trust in Alpha Gamma Delta. I will trust continuously in my sisters, my dearest friends, and the bonds we have created through one thing: our sisterhood.