New Member Retreat '12

Being a new member in the Kappa chapter of Zeta Tau Alpha has yet to provide me with a dull moment. As I anticipated, the new member retreat was filled with three very important "f's": friendship, fun, and most importantly, food.

Sophie Teffeteller (in the yellow, writer of this post) with a few of her
pledge sisters in human musical chairs

We got to the house early for donuts, snacked on the bus ride there, ate mass amounts of Mexican food, and continued to guiltily pick out food from our coolers all day. We talked, and talked, and talked, all the while trying to do the activities that were planned for us. Among all the things that we did that day, the human musical chairs sticks out as an obvious favorite.

I. am. competitive.

I got way too into the game, making alliances and strategies with my sisters. There is definitely something to be said about meeting your sisters, girls you already share a connection with, by spider-monkey jumping onto them.

PC '12! They are seriously the best!

But this retreat was more than just jumping around and having fun, there was an element to it that made you realize that you are part of something beautiful. I came to realize that I am a part of something that is hard to understand without experiencing it for yourself. It is so comforting to know that you have a support system and and a true friendship in each of these girls. You can compare what I see in these girls and our relationships to a family: these are the girls who have my best interest at heart, the ones who love me and accept me as who I am and not what I'm expected to be.

These girls are already my best friends, the ones that I know always will be by my side through whatever life burdens me with. They will be there to celebrate the good times, to overcome the bad, and fill in all the blah-nothing-is-happening times. These are the girls who I know I can be my crazy, emotional, weird self around and still feel loved and accepted. Because of these girls, I am already encouraged to be a better me for them.

It is so overwhelming to know that you are now a part of something that is to love and to be loved. I look at each of my sisters with love, and I hope that each of them knows that they will never be alone. It is only a few weeks into this, and I already can see a beautiful, strong bond in the works. No one tells you you have to feel this, but you do anyways, and that is a blessing.