Neeka

Unexpected

Neeka Stewart

When I first moved to Chicago I didn't know a single soul here. What's worse is I transferred from another school where I had an extremely tight knit group of friends who I loved more than anything. When I got here my roommate was already in a sorority (AOII coincidentally) and encouraged me to go through the recruitment process if anything just to meet people. I NEVER in a million years saw myself as a sorority type and fought her on it for a couple of weeks but when the time rolled around it figured "why not."
The recruitment process was exhausting, intense, and already a great place to meet people no matter where I ended up. I visited all of the other sororities but the one room where I felt like I had nothing to prove was AOII. For some reason I just knew from the start that these were my kind of women and boy was I right. At the end of the week, after a lot of blood, sweat and tears (just kidding), I ended up opening a bid from AOII and I couldn't have been happier. 
Since that moment I've found nothing but a loving home here. The women are some of my best friends, and I can always count on a sister when I need her no matter what it may be. These women inspire me academically, professionally, philanthropically, and in so many more ways that I am so grateful for. I had a really rough first year here, but the women of AOII were there to help me through the process and most of all push me to live up to my full potential. 
Flash forward a year from my arrival here in Chicago and it's already time to welcome a whole new class of baby pandas. I couldn't be more excited to welcome them into this unparalleled sisterhood.