Lauren Murawski, a Syracuse University and Gamma Phi Beta alumna, shares her preference round speech from 2011 recruitment at SU. Lauren’s speech demonstrates how important  sisterhood is in college and in life. This is a must-read for all sorority girls.

803 Walnut Ave is a beautiful place. Two fireplaces, a piano, a giant red door, and 33 bedrooms… this is my “house”. I can tell you that none of these things are the reason that I am a sister of Gamma Phi Beta. But when I look around this room, I see all of those reasons resurface in my mind. Thinking back to when I was going through recruitment, I didn’t know exactly what I was looking for in a sorority. Many of the things I found at Gamma Phi were fulfilling dreams I didn’t even know I had. Mostly I wanted somewhere I could be myself and have new friends to hang out with. Shortly after joining Gamma Phi I realized that it would soon become something so much more.

Gamma Phi didn’t settle for just letting me be myself, but instead inspired me to become a better version of myself, a person that I could be proud of. I quickly became completely consumed by Greek life, and it was made clear to me that this is what I had been missing all along. My dad always says to me like, “you are living in a fantasy; this is the total college experience” and it forces me think about how my life would be without Gamma Phi Beta. Simply put, it wouldn’t be the complete college experience; I wouldn’t be complete without Gamma Phi Beta. My sisters are so genuine, and have so much kindness in their hearts, and I really don’t think I’m exaggerating when I tell you that they are some of the funniest people I have ever met. These girls won’t allow you to have bad days or let you shed tears over silly boys… they pick you up on your worst day, and before you know it you’ve got a smile from ear to ear, they help you realize that anything that could be bad or scary, really isn’t that scary when you have your sisters by your side. When you get a little you think about how excited you are to inspire her and show her the ropes… but if you really sit back and think about it, she’s the one reminding you to embrace every single moment and being there with you to have the most amazing time. My sisters know me on such a deeper level than any other friend I’ve made in college. There’s a reason they’re called sisters.

When I leave here, I won’t just have all of the amazing friends I’ve made, but I’ll also have all of the memories that we have made together. Even if all of your friends are across the country, our memories will always be there to pull out on a rainy day. And I’m scared to graduate. Not because I don’t want to grow up, even though I don’t, and not because I’m nervous about starting my career, but because I don’t want to leave my sisters… still, I can find comfort in knowing they’re not really going too far, and that they’ll always be just a quick drive, or maybe sometimes a long plane ride away. For sisterhood, it’s worth the trip. If you’re lucky, in college you’ll find someone you love and can spend the rest of your life with. If you’re a Gamma Phi, you’ll find at least 100.