So yesterday I attended another sorority alumni event.
It was held at the Allison Smith Gallery downtown.
It as a beautiful gallery with a great exhibit that I wish I had more time to peruse.
Our event was all about mentoring so it was a fabulous time talking and networking with other women.
It was such a great diverse crowd with people from their mid twenties all the way up until their early sixties.
There was a wonderful selection of wine, sparkling water, cheese, cracker and fruit.
So obviously I loved it.
Now I have a bit of a confession to make.
When I joined my sorority back in my undergraduate days it literally was a way to essentially do volunteer work once a month with girls my own age.
In Canada you can nix the idea of what a traditional sorority would be like.
My university is still without a house or a dedicated dorm.
My pledge class was a grand total of about 6 girls.
Our entire active group was maybe triple that number.
Some of that was good because it had a great focus on philanthopy.
But even without the expected or dare I say usual popular bitchy sorority girl issues.
It was a group of girls...which was even without the cookie cutter facade...a little bit like mean girls.
How did I solve this?
Well I sort of was a little bit of a back row student.
I came to all the events.
I did my bit but never felt that "sisterhood" with those girls.
I think I knew in my heart I didn't fit in there.
But I still loved the idea of my sorority and what it meant and the ideals to live by (which some girls did NOT abide by)...just saying.
I knew that likely I wouldn't keep in touch with any of them and I really didn't.
I do take some responsibility of that though.
I didn't mention this next thing in my post about the other event I went to (catch up here).
I met a girl who I reached out to shake hands and introduce myself.
AND she knew me...by name.
And that made me feel AWFUL.
And once she said hers I did recognize her.
She pledged my last semester at UW.
But I was embarrased that I didn't recognize her at first.
Anywho she was at the gallery event last night.
Here's the thing when I first moved to Dallas in 2005 I didn't immediately reach out to my sorority alumni group because I was kind of disappointed by my undergraduate experience.
That sounds terrible but it sort of felt like a halfa$$ed attempt at one.
Things weren't necessarily taken seriously and that bothered me.
So I just didn't know about reaching out again.
Boy am I lucky that I ran into the sweetest girl ever who invited me to an alumni event.
And the rest is history.
I will never forget she picked me up in her cute black convertible.
And she was EVERYthing I thought I sorority girl would be...very much like Elle Woods.
Blond, perfect makeup, a cute dress, pearls, and was super chatty and friendly.
That my friends is how Taylor and I bonded.
And I loved everything about the alumni group in Dallas.
I met another one of my best friends Melody there too who I miss so darn much.
The women involved were incredible.
The events, the entertaining, the friendships...I don't know how I would have survived without it all.
It made me fall completely in love with my sorority.
I learned traditions and other things that I had never come across during my undergrad.
And if you know me you know I LOVE tradition.
I miss all those ladies so much.
So when I first moved to Toronto I reached out here and I got nothing.
No response.
So when I tried a second time I did.
And the events have been good.
It is definitely a different case here versus the south.
But it has potential.
It just may be on the verge of something.
So the girl I mentioned earlier lets call her Sarah.
We get chatting at the end of the night.
And she has a little vent about people not getting involved.
So we chat more and I confess to her my feelings of undergrad and how it all was for me.
And that I was hoping for great things from the alumni side.
I also let her know that I would definitely like to get involved to try and make that happen.
So I will also be picking Taylor's brain on all things my sorority (she is my go to expert!).
Then as we were walking out the door Sarah said to me..."you know Teagan I really admired you when I pledged. You were part of the reason I felt strongly about our sorority. You made a big impact on how I felt about the sorority."
And my heart melted because I didn't think I made a difference or mattered there.
I also felt shame/guilt/embarrassment after in the Dallas alumni group because I didn't know or had the experiences/traditions they did during their undergrad.
So I felt like with my lack of experience/traditions there was no way I could have made an impact on anyone in my sorority.
But maybe I did.
And my heart was filled with hope.
That maybe just maybe...I could make a difference both in my university town active members and in the alumni sorority members.
Maybe I could get people excited about our sorority again.
Maybe we could work together and get a house for UW.
I know that is a HUGE goal and seems a rather impossible dream right now.
But who knows.
Maybe I can make that difference.
And hopefully I made a few more girlfriends who have Taylor/Melody friendship potential.
And that my dears would be worth every bit of effort.
