365 Days of Happy - Day 39

At pref dinner last night, some of the seniors who are graduating in May had letters they were going to read to all of us. We all huddled into the sitting room to listen to them. Jamie, my housemate, my pledge sister, and one of my best friends, wrote this piece. 

'As you may know, Delta Zeta Sorority was founded at Miami University in 1902. 1902 was also the first year Miami University allowed women to attend. I don't know what that means to you, but to me it means a whole lot. Just imagine being denied a college education just because you were a woman. But also imagine being one of those first women allowed to attend. Now imagine being Julia Bishop, Alfa Lloyd, Anna Keen, Mary Collins, Anne Simmons or Mabelle Minton; the founders of Delta Zeta. I don't think we will ever understand the courage those six women had when founding the first and surely the best, real sorority.

These women laid groundwork that has given me, along with 234,000 women the chance to feel what a true sisterhood is all about. Not only should we honor our founders, but I also think there is a lot to be learned from them. So now, on to the real advice.

Don't let anyone hold you back. At the career fair yesterday, one of the recruiters told me his company was 'male dominated.' I'm not sure if it was an attempt to turn me away, but it made me want to work there even more.

In 5th grade, my teacher wrote this quote on the board: 'If it is to be, it is up to me.' To this day it is still one of my favorite quotes. If you want something bad enough, you can make it happen. Don't rely on anyone else to make your life happen.

The last thing I want to say is take advantage of every opportunity that you can, simply because you can. The women that came before us made it possible for us to be here today, in this house, with the right to vote and be free. Understand that what we have here is magical. Embrace your college years by being the best Delta Zeta you can.'

This is my beautiful sister Jamie and I. 
Jamie, I am going to miss you so much when you graduate! We have been through it since the beginning. Through everything. We made it through 'freshman year' ;) through all the bad times filled with drama, and you were always there for me. One thing I appreciate so much was that you were one of the few people I Skyped with when I was studying abroad. We still had a great friendship even though I was thousands of miles away. I knew you were someone special when we slept on the same couch during our pledge class retreat! I love you so much!