Charissa Profile

Bethany Thornburg

Dr. Cryer

ENGL 122-041

18 September 2018

Sorority Community with Emma Turner

Joining a sorority is a dream, and sometimes a family tradition, for many college women in the United States. Sororities are university/college societies created specifically for women, typically for social purposes. Thousands of girls join sororities every year to make new friendships and find mentors that can help them through their college years. Emma Turner had a similar desire.

Turner began her journey as a sorority sister at K-State University. This university in particular is close to home for her since her mom and brother both attended as well. However, she did not feel as though she had a large enough friendship group there, so she decided to join a sorority. K-State is comprised of thirteen sororities, all of which offer different types of girls, traditions, and activities, so deciding which one to join was a process in and of itself.

When joining a sorority, it isn’t as easy as simply saying “I want to join this sorority!” The girls get to pick which houses they want, but they also have to be chosen by the sorority. Therefore every girl wanting to join must go through what is called “Rush Week”, or recruitment week. Rush Week is generally comprised of a lot of interviews and meet and greets, and is the time for girls to get a feel for which sororities they like and don’t like, as well as make a good impression on the members of the houses they want to be in. “I went into it looking for people that were kind of like me,” Turner said, when asked what kinds of things she was looking for in a sorority house. As previously mentioned, each sorority house has different things that they’re known for, different philanthropies, and are classified on different “tiers”, but friendships and connections were what Turner wanted the most out of her house. She described this week as being very busy and tiring, sometimes spending 12 hours in and out of interviews. She had to wake up early, get dressed up, and talk to dozens of different girls while making sure to put her best foot forward to make a memorable first impression.

In the end, Turner decided to join Chi Omega, which is the same sorority her mom was in when she attended K-State. With sorority houses previous family members have been in, Turner said “It’s a legacy type deal. You automatically get to go back for a second interview.” This was a plus since getting a second interview is the first step to being accepted into a house. It didn’t check all the boxes of her dream sorority, but it seemed to be the one that worked best for her. She mentions that “[she] wanted to be in a house with people [she] didn’t know, but it didn’t work out that way.” This largely had to do with the fact that the people and the conversations in Chi Omega simply resonated with her more than other houses. So even though she knew some of the girls already, she felt like Chi Omega would have more to offer her.

Chi Omega offered many different activities and chances for Turner to spend time with her sorority sisters. Every wednesday, her house would have weekly meetings known as “chapter”. The girls would dress up, eat dinner together, and then afterwards the girls that had been initiated would discuss projects and dates that the house had coming up (if not initiated, the girls couldn’t stay for the discussion). There were also special days like bid day, where the members have a buddy to dress up in themed outfits and hang out with for the day, or mom/daughter day, where girls were paired with an older member to spend time with. “Days like those were always super fun,” she said, “and it was nice to have older girls that could mentor you.”

Each sorority also was a part of a philanthropy. For Chi Omega, the philanthropy was the Make a Wish Foundation. Turner and her sorority sisters organized various charity projects to support this foundation, such as Frats at Bats (a baseball game between fraternity houses). In between their planned activities, Turner and her sisters also hosted and attended numerous house parties, many of which were themed/dress up parties. It seems as if there was always something fun going on among this sorority community!

Now that Turner is attending Johnson County Community College, she is no longer considered an active member of Chi Omega. However, “once you’re a member, you’re a member for life.” Grades and tuition cost influenced her decision to leave K-State. “I would like to rejoin, but I don’t see myself going back unless [K-State] offers my major,” she replied when asked if she would ever return. Of all the experiences she had at K-State as a Chi Omega member, Turner was quick to say “The friends that I made are what I miss the most.”