Joining greek life as a sophomore
I didn’t have a lot of time to prepare for my recruitment experience.
It was July 2021, and I had just accepted my admission as a transfer student to The University of Tennessee. I had only decided to transfer a short two months earlier, and the whole process was a whirlwind of applications, campus visits, and big decisions with a tight timeline. When you’re looking at colleges, people always say that you’ll know when you’ve found where you’re supposed to be. I never really felt that the first time around, but when I visited UTK’s campus with my dad over the summer, I knew I was home.
My mom was actually the one who convinced me to go through the recruitment process. We had both just read “Live in Love,” Lauren Akins’ memoir, where she beamed about her experience at UTK as an ADPi (!!!!) and my mom told me to give recruitment a try, reminding me that there would be no harm done if the process wasn’t for me. So, I signed up and started my journey as PNM #976.
The entirety of the rush experience blew me away. As a sophomore from New Jersey, I was skeptical about finding my home in a sorority at an SEC school. I had so many questions, doubts, and fears. Would I be the only sophomore rushing? Do sororities even take sophomores? What if I get dropped by every house? But from the first day, the “Go Greek” round of recruitment, all of my fears faded away. Then, when I walked into Alpha Delta Pi, those fears were replaced by excitement.
I mean it when I say it, ADPi is a special place. I’ve felt seen, heard, and important. I’ve met some of the most amazing, live-giving, and intentional people that will be lifelong sisters and friends. I got to run home to a girl I had never met, but who would become my big and such a special person in my life (shoutout Hanna Cook!). I’ve made so many friends in my Alpha class, some who are even sophomores and transfers, just like me!!
Our motto in ADPi is WLFEO – “we live for each other” and the sisters of Alpha Kappa do just that. Alpha Kappa is a sisterhood through and through – it lives on campus, in the Pi Palace, at coffee shops and parks, in churches and in classes, all around Knoxville and across the U.S. It is friendship, scholarship, community, family, and FUN! ADPi has not only given me my best friends and contributed so much to my college experience, but it’s given me a home away from home. I am bettered every day by the girls I’m surrounded by, and I feel grateful, lucky, and BLESSED beyond measure to be a part of this one-of-a-kind sisterhood.
ADPi and the Panhellenic community are absolutely brimming with love and acceptance at UTK. Looking back, I am so thankful that my mom gave me the extra push I needed to find this sisterhood! The doubts I had were so short-lived and I know that I’ve found my place and my people when I’m reminded daily of the love that surrounds me and the AMAZING women that I get to call my sisters!
Loyally,
Hannah Patrignani
Alpha Kappa PC ‘21
@hannahpatrignani