Just like it’s hard to describe why your favorite song is just that, I find it difficult to put why I chose Alpha Chi Omega into words. When I was going through recruitment, I had it in my mind that I would join a sorority with cookie-cutter girls exactly like me. While it is important to have similarities with your sorority, I have not found this to be true at AXO and I could not be more thankful for that. In keeping with the musical heritage of Alpha Chi, I can liken Beta Sigma to a symphony. Each girl is her own instrument, unique from the others in sound and tone, but she is only made better by the accompaniment of the other instruments. Each one of us has her own talents and can certainly be successful individually - and there is a time and place for solo performances. But the real magic occurs in the harmonies, with each girl’s skills being accentuated by the others’. That is what I have found in this chapter: a place where I can flourish individually, but simultaneously celebrate and be apart of the accomplishments of my ever-talented sisters.
And although each girl is running after her own dream, a dream that may look vastly different from that of the girl to her right or her left, we share a crucial thing in common: the desire for the utmost good for one another. Love in its purest form radiates from 1064 S. Lumpkin Street. And it surely doesn’t stop there; every time I walk around campus, the smiling faces of my sisters greet me and brighten my day without fail. Beneath the ritual, the events, and the (really cute) t-shirts lies compassion, respect, loyalty, and most of all, love. When I was homesick my first semester, it was my sisters who both listened to me and helped me get out of my slump. When I have an important exam, it is my sisters who remember and send me encouraging texts. When I need a favor, advice, or prayers, my sisters come running to my aid, genuinely concerned and willing to help in any way they can. This love does not stay within the boundaries of AXO, either. I have been taught both the meaning and the importance of service from this group of women. Before joining Alpha Chi, community service was something I did to add to a resume. This chapter put faces and stories behind our philanthropies and helped me to understand just how significant and necessary our contributions are. The passion that radiates from Beta Sigma is palpable and contagious. This sorority is more than a social club – it is comprised of the most driven, selfless, and authentic women I know, and I am beyond proud to wear the letters of Alpha Chi Omega.
So I suppose the answer to the question Why Alpha Chi? is not as complex as I originally thought. The “why” is woven in the fabric of this chapter; patched together by the enthusiasm, benevolence, lightheartedness, and devotion of each member. Whether it be in the good times, the dancing, the singing, the laughing (and not to mention the occasional late-night snacking), or in the not-so-great, I-need-a-shoulder-to-cry-on times, I can count on these girls to be right by my side. The accumulation of these things and the hundreds of things not mentioned are why I chose Alpha Chi. Our song is special, and I am more than delighted to be a piece of this symphony.
- Jordan Talley, MC '14