I have a September birthday, so I was always the youngest in my grade. My parents dropped me off on Lipscomb University’s campus in August of 1993. I was 17 years old.
All of my best friends from high school went to big state schools – Tennessee, Western Kentucky, or Alabama. Not one of my high school friends went to LU. In a way I was glad. I could make a fresh start, meet new people, and try to find out what God had planned for my future. I was hoping I could do that easier at a small Christian college than a big state school. My serious high school boyfriend was going to college far away in Indiana. Fresh break, fresh start. Nothing holding me back. I wasn’t one bit scared.
Well, it wasn’t all instantly sunshine and rainbows. I had been placed with a random roommate in Elam who was miserable and obviously did not want to be at LU. She hardly spoke at all. I avoided our dorm room. I was not feeling at home. I remember driving all around Green Hills that Fall semester in my little red Celica just to listen to music. I was only 30 minutes from home, but I didn’t want to go there either. Sure, I met the girls in Elam but I was still not finding my people. It was a slow process and by Christmas break I was wondering if Lipscomb was the right place for me or not.
I had heard talk of the Social Club scene and was very interested. I knew Freshman couldn’t pledge until Spring so I figured I would stick it out for the year. My mom had been a Chi Omega at Tennessee and I grew up knowing about the wonders and beauty of Sorority Sisterhood.
Thankfully, I met some other girls that I felt comfortable with and after Christmas break I moved dorm rooms to another floor. I moved in with a girl who would eventually be a pledge sister and we were next door to 2 other future pledge sisters. We were on a hall and around the corner from other KX girls and they started inviting us to Open Rush events. Ok! I found them! These were my people. I knew without any doubt these girls were my sisters, my people, my family.
On Bid Night, I only wrote down one club- KX. I was in the Spring 1994 pledge class. There were 10 of us. We were awesome. I went on to have the 6 best weeks of my life during pledging. I would re-live them in a heartbeat.
Kappa Chi is probably the real reason I stayed at LU and have an actual degree (from a now $43,000/yr university.) If I had not met those KX girls who invited me to Open Rush events, I don’t know that I would have stayed without the Greek system. I was craving the sisterhood that KX gave me. I am an only child. This in itself is an entire other article, but I think it is the main reason that I needed that Sisterhood so very badly. Not all girls do. Some girls are very happy with their college life without a sorority. I needed to feel like I was part of a family, with sisters, and a purpose, and an 8:30 meeting to be at every Tuesday night. I was vice-president for 2 of my 4 years and this also gave me a job and a purpose. I enjoyed the entire process of Rush and Bid night and planning events. KX is notoriously bad at rushing girls, but I loved it! I loved meeting the younger girls and trying to make them feel included because SOMEONE DID THAT FOR ME and it made all the difference.
I still talk to my KX sisters on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis. My sister in law is a KX sister and my mother in law is a charter member. KX has had a lasting impact on my life. I know KX has had its share of struggles over the years and recruiting and rushing girls has never been easy. This is almost an unspoken quality of a KX girl. We just can’t make you like us. You either do or you don’t. But, for me, KX kept me at LU and changed my life. And some of the best memories I will take with me to my deathbed include my KX sisters and really loud laughter.
PEACE AND LOVE.
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