 Me and my New Member class, & New Member educators at retreat! Coming into college I told myself I would never join a sorority. For one they were too expensive, but I also didn’t care to put myself in that environment. Mainly because so many lose their faith while in college and I wanted to avoid putting myself in an environment that didn’t encourage my faith.
I came to the University of Arkansas from out of state and got exempt from living in a dorm my freshman year. I thought this would be great, but it made it very hard to get connected and meet people. I had friends from when I previously lived in Arkansas that were attending the University and I thought we would reconnect. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen, I got ignored instead and my first semester had no friends. I simply went to class and came home. Spring semester I met the girl who is now my best friend as well as a few others, but they either lived farther away or were always busy. I didn’t have that social aspect that I so desperately needed and began to feel extremely alone. Not having a social life made it very difficult for me. As well, my mom had passed away my senior year of high school and lots of family drama/issues have occurred since then. Since losing my mom it also felt like I was losing my family too. I began to feel like God wasn’t there for me, that he no longer cared. It felt like a never-ending cycle of terrible things being unleashed on me. With everything that was happening in my life I started to lose hope. Then the fall of my sophomore year a girl in my macroeconomics class asked if I was in a sorority. Once I told her I wasn’t and my reasons for it she immediately told me about Phi Lamb. At first, I was totally against it. No way was I joining a sorority. But God had different plans for me. I can remember one day I looked up the Arkansas Phi Lamb page on Instagram. I can remember instantly thinking that this was something I needed to be a part of. I wanted that community of Christian friends so desperately. Sadly, I had missed recruitment by a week and had to wait an entire semester. To my surprise, this semester ended up being one of my hardest. I felt like I had totally lost my faith. I didn’t feel a connection with God anymore and I was really struggling. So many things were tearing me apart and I didn’t know how to continue. I got to a point to where I didn’t care if I lost my faith, and if I’m being honest I was about to leave church. No matter how much I read my bible, prayed, or even screamed at God asking him why these things kept happening, nothing was changing. I was spiritually dead. Then came this spring. I was absolutely terrified to go to recruitment week. I was nervous that I would look dumb joining as a second semester sophomore. Little did I know that my life would change entirely. I have felt nothing but acceptance, love, encouragement, kindness, and Godliness from this group of girls. Being able to be in Phi Lamb has given me so much hope. My faith is starting to get back on the right track and I have a large community of Christian friends to keep me accountable. Phi Lamb has been a light in a very dark place for me. They have shown me how gracious Christ is, and how loving he is on a constant basis. Even if I don’t feel it right now he doesn’t give us a trial we cannot overcome. Phi Lamb has been such a great life change for me and I can’t imagine the rest of my college experience without it. God’s love is evident in this sorority and I’m so excited to see what he has in store for this amazing group of girls.
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 Me and a few of my sweet recruitment class sisters at All Chapter Retreat! It's weird to think about where I was just a few short months ago.
*** I never once considered myself a sorority girl - in fact, I explicitly told myself before I ever graduated high school, that I would never join a sorority. I made the same comment before I moved to Fayetteville. Nothing against any of the sororities - I just didn't want to commit the time and pressure that are involved. I’d done so much at my community college. I was exhausted and wanted time to enjoy being at school. I feel like I've mentioned before, the expectations that I had coming to Fayetteville. I assumed that by the time Christmas break rolled around - I'd have friends, we'd hang out all the time, study, do all these fun things, and I’d be having the time of my life. After spending two years at home, I was ready to experience what I'd seen and heard about from friends who'd gone off to various schools after high school. It's funny to think about what I expected. God has shown time, and time again, that everything I always expect to happen is not going to happen the way I imagined. Though, last semester I was irritated with Him. I found myself saying, "God, you paved the way for me to get here effortlessly. But now that I'm here, nothing is going right." There were points when I thought that coming to Fayetteville was a mistake. I'd been given the opportunity to go just about anywhere in Arkansas, and I'd chosen wrong. *** Before coming here, a friend from high school had told me about a Christian sorority. At the time, I wasn't interested. The school year started. Things being chalked on sidewalks, I learned quickly, was a common occurrence. I noticed several different locations, where recruitment for Sigma Phi Lambda was chalked. However, I was a few days late in noticing it. I felt a tug on my heart, but I ignored it. I'd missed the dates and that was it. Besides, I wasn’t joining a sorority, remember? Fall semester came and went, and I realized I had very little to show for it. I realized I'd prevented myself from joining, or doing, much that semester, which obviously hurt my chances of meeting new people. So, over Christmas break, Sigma Phi Lambda popped into my mind. I did some research. I looked up Sigma Phi Lambda’s National page and the UA chapter. I felt the tug again. I started praying about it then. I also thought about it a lot. Was this something I really wanted to commit to? Was it what God wanted me to do? I came back for the current semester and was given my biggest load yet; 15 hours of upper level classes and 20 hours a week at work. It almost seemed like joining a sorority was not the right choice, however, I still felt a tug in my heart. So, when recruitment came around, I told myself I'd go to one or two events and just see. I went to Open Chapter and the Movie Night. I remember who I spoke to those nights. I remember thinking that feeling so welcomed and included shouldn’t feel odd to me. I left movie night, which was the second event of the week, knowing I’d be at induction on Friday night. *** If I was being completely honest, someone once said that they were surprised that I'd made it all way to initiation. I'd say I'd have to agree with them. There were times I considered dropping, but I chalked those up to Satan just trying to mess with me. You see, when God wants you to do something, or be somewhere, Satan will try his hardest to convince you it’s not right. In the short semester that I’ve been involved, I’ve seen just why Satan tried to stop me. Phi Lamb is full of the most genuine, kind-hearted, Jesus-loving girls that I’ve ever met. It was refreshing to see that I’m not alone in whatever I might be going through. There is always someone there to listen, encourage, and love on you. As an active, now, I still have moments where I get those, "Is this the right choice? Or I don’t belong here" ’feelings. But if you ask any active, they’ll tell you they felt the same way. Phi Lamb is where I belong, and it’s been the best decision of my life. |
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