Three Years Later...
Jamie Schultz
I don't think it was until my Junior year of college that I truly understood and appreciated what it meant to be not only a member of AOII, but specifically, a member of Delta Rho. My sorority experience had been typical until then (in a good way). I made good friends. I had people to study with. I was elected to Leader's Council. My weekends were never dull. I was enjoying my time in AOII but hadn't really had my "ah ha" moment that would tie me emotionally to this organization that so many people have had before me. That was until July 15th, 2013. On that day, my life (and my family's) was turned upside down when my then fourteen year old brother was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. From that moment on, nothing in my life would be the same. I was fortunate to be able to spend that summer with my family but September finally reared it's ugly head and I had to return to school. I strongly considered transferring to a school in Southern Illinois (where I'm from) to stay close to home but at that point in my college career, transferring would have set me back two years and graduating in 2015 would no longer be possible.
So, I went back to Chicago. The first month was miserable. I cried every day worrying about my brother, the financial state of my family, and fearing my new found responsibilities as I was completely on my own for the very first time in my life. There were so many times that I just wanted to give up and move home as that seemed to be the easiest way to end all the stress I was feeling. When it starts to feel like you versus the entire world, it's pretty hard to keep going. That being said, I can honestly say without a shadow of a doubt that the only reason I was able to stay in Chicago, the one reason I was able to stay at DePaul, the only reason I don't go insane every single day that I spend away from my family is Alpha Omicron Pi. No, it's not the socials or the chapter meetings or the t-shirts that keep me here. It's the people. It's my best friends in the entire world. It's girls who will bring me Starbucks at work because they know I'm having a rough day. It's girls who will drag me out of my bed and to the beach even though they know I'm worried sick about my brother's in patient chemo stay that's experiencing complications. It's having people to rely on when your family is five hours away and you feel like you have no one else to turn to. It's having a family away from family and a place to call home whenever you need it.
Alpha Omicron Pi has grown to mean more to me than any single other group of people I've ever chosen to become a part of in my life. Though I'm not best friends with every single woman in my chapter, I am blessed to belong to a group of incredibly driven, incredibly intelligent, and incredibly funny women who make me want to be a better person for them every single day. The women I call my best friends in my chapter are people who I know will be there for me every day, no matter what kind of mood I'm in, and for that I am incredibly thankful. Delta Rho has evolved into this amazing team of people who push each other to succeed every single day but also to laugh at the silly mistakes we make as twenty-somethings in the city and have fun in college while it lasts. I feel confident saying that my time at DePaul would have been terrible without these women in my life.
As my time as a collegiate member comes to an end, I am constantly reflecting upon the time I've spent as a member of Delta Rho and the women I might leave behind when I move back home when my time as an undergraduate is over. The thought of saying goodbye to my girls makes me absolutely sick to my stomach. In fact, there are some times when I'm just sitting with my little Jill at Chipotle, or forcing Rachel to chauffeur me to Target, or obsessing over Lana Del Rey with Evie, or making fun of my roommate Ogechi (because she makes it too easy) that I get the sudden urge to just hug and thank them all for what they've given me over the past three years. AOII has made me a better person, and a better woman. I sincerely cannot wait to greet the women who will join us in September and show them exactly what I've found in AOII: a home.
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