Writing Assignment 4

Adrianna Rodriguez                                                                                                                        

Jennifer Jones

English 1302

28 March 2015

The Gamma Phi Beta Sorority House

            Though it is not your typical sorority house. When you picture a sorority house, you probably expect some big house like mansion that can house up to 150 girls and where they have a house mom and their own chef. Here at A&M Commerce we don’t have that many members, a house mom, or our own chef (I wish though). In fact, none of the sororities here don’t have any of that in case you were wondering. If anything our sorority “house” looks more like a dormitory. We only have 39 girls in our chapter currently. Our house kind of looks like an apartment complex also, but I really shouldn’t be complaining when a couple of the fraternities here don’t even have a house to call their own. The thing though with having a small amount of girls is that you have a chance to get to know everyone. Still, in every group organization you are a part of, there will always be smaller groups within that huge organization. That’s just considered normal and expected.

With that being said, we’re still a fun group of girls to be around. There is so much diversity within our sorority because a lot of my sisters, including myself, that are involved in other extracurricular on campus. My big sis, Jennifer, is in SYE (Sophomore Year Experience), was currently elected to be a senator for SGA (Student Government Association), and will be a Rho Gamma for next year’s formal recruitment for the Panhellenic Conference. On top of all that, she has a leadership position in our sorority, PRVP (Public Relations Vice President). It can be pretty intimidating having a big that has accomplished so much, but it gives me the drive to do so much more with my life. Other sisters I have that are involved on campus is Kelly Fulton, who talks on the local radio station, 88.9 KETR and will also be a Rho Gamma for the second year in the row. Then there is Sonia, my grand-big, who is a part of Leadership without Limits and the Hispanic Student Association. I also have two other sisters, Haley and Joselyn, who will also be Rho Gammas with also holding leadership positions within our sorority. Haley is the AVP (Administrative Vice President) and Joselyn is the EVP (Education Vice President). The other people who have big leadership positons is Gina our Chapter President, Alex our Membership Vice President, Kelly our Financial Vice President and Zane our Panhellenic Affairs Vice President. I love having sisters involved in other things other than our sorority. It shows off our diversity and that we are willing to know other people outside of our sorority. It’s a way for us to show our social aspect of our sorority, by being involved on campus and getting to know tons of people.

Another way we show off our social side is by having mixers with other fraternities on campus. So far this semester we have had mixers with Kappa Sigma and Alpha Phi Alpha, then we have upcoming mixers with Phi Iota Alpha and Pi Kappa Alpha. Mixers are always fun to have because what girl would not want to meet a bunch of fraternity boys? For the shy folks out there, mixers can be a bit of nightmare, but after having a couple of them, they tend to be more fun and less awkward. It’s a way for everyone in the Greek Community to get to know each other and promote their sorority/fraternity.

A word all sororities and fraternities use is “philanthropy”. According to Google, the word philanthropy is defined as “the desire to promote the welfare of others, expressed especially by the generous donation of money to good causes”. In Gamma Phi Beta, our chapter has one philanthropy event each semester. We still haven’t had our event for this semester, but in the fall semester, we have a Chili Cook Off event during tailgate before the homecoming game. We sell tickets ahead of time, $1.00 for a bowl of chili, and have people enter their chili for $20.00. We ended up raising $700 for our philanthropy, Girls on The Run. Girls on the Run is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to creating a world where every girl knows and activates her limitless potential and is free to boldly pursue her dreams. They have an after school program for girls as well. It’s mainly a program for pre-teen girls to build them up to be strong, powerful women. In Gamma Phi Beta, we are all about building strong girls so of course we want to donate as much money as possible to an organization that supports that. Some of our other philanthropies is Camp Fire and Girls Guides of Canada, though are main philanthropy is Girls on the Run.

Now not all Gamma Phi Beta chapters are the same. The Gamma Zeta chapter here at A&M Commerce is very unique in its own way. I have 38 beautiful and unique chapters and numerous alumnae members who have been very successful after college. What I have learned about living in the sorority house this semester is that it has been the craziest, loud, fun and exciting atmosphere I have ever lived in. I already have two sisters who I know have the same shoe size as me and are willing to let me borrow anytime needed because that’s what sisters do for each other. We’re always willing to help each other out, if even if we may not like each other all that much. When you have a bond that is your sorority, you know that your sisters will always at least the same kind of values that you do and it only grows with time. Our sorority is more than just painted letters and mixers. It’s a sisterhood between me and the other 38 members who I know love it just as much as I do.