Reasons for Giving

            This upcoming week is Sorority Recruitment Week here at Ohio Northern University. I will have to admit that I am excited to join a sorority, but I can say that I could have never imagined doing this in my entire life. Everyone can probably agree that based on movies and tv show depictions, sororities seem like they were made for the dumb blonde girls. They look like a popularity contest and very dramatic. If you want to be in a constant state of partying and boys, then join a sorority. Or at least that is what I used to think. However, I am now striving to join one of them for an entirely different reason: philanthropy.

            At Ohio Northern, there are four sororities: Kappa Alpha Theta, Delta Zeta, Alpha Xi Delta, and Zeta Tau Alpha. Each one has their own colors, symbols, philanthropies, and personalities. Kappa Alpha Theta deals with Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) For Children. They put on wonderful fundraisers that get to help out the foster kids and I think that it is a really good program to be a part of. Delta Zeta gets to work with speech and hearing groups. They raise money to help provide for things like hearing aids to people in need of them. Alpha Xi Delta’s philanthropy is Autism Speaks. They raise money for this organization with a lot of fun events. Zeta Tau Alpha works with Breast Cancer Education and Awareness. They hold a 5k and a lot of other fun events in order to raise money for this organization that touches so many people’s lives in one way or another.

            I think that each and every one of these is such a great cause that all of these sororities get to be apart of. That is one thing in the movies that you do not get to see about sororities. You do not know that they hold events and raise money to give to these organizations to help other people in need. I think that if I had to choose just one philanthropy to donate my time and passion too would be Breast Cancer Education and Awareness. I think that it has more of an impact in my personal life than any of the others. I also think that this is such a big organization and I feel like the goal they are trying to achieve could use as much help as possible. Everyone knows someone or is related to someone who has had to endure this horrible disease. I think that each and every one of these philanthropies has such an amazing group of people supporting them, especially here at Ohio Northern University.

            Last year as a freshman in college, I did not expect to join a sorority. I thought they were silly and there was no real point to them. You pay all this money to buy cute shirts and to say you had a wild college experience. This is not the case. You get to help a lot of real people who are in need and I think that that is a wonderful thing to be involved in. I hope that in whatever sorority I decide to join I make a difference in someone’s life.