Senior and past Linfield Alpha Phi president, Sophia Rutz reflects on her four years a part of the Theta Alpha chapter along with the importance of sisterhood amidst a global pandemic.
Reflecting back on my 4 years at Linfield, the one thing that truly stands out to me the most is Alpha Phi. The eighteen year old that I was in my first year of college is not the same twenty two year old senior that I am now, months out from graduation.
I attribute much of that growth to the Theta Alpha Chapter at Linfield University.
As a freshman in college, I never would have imagined that I would have ended up as president of a sorority, or in a sorority at all.
I highly recommend going through recruitment as you meet so many amazing and powerful women just through the process of recruitment. You also are able to find your home in a sorority and meet many more women that share the same values and ideals as you do. Some of my very best friends that I will cherish all of my life, I met through recruitment or I met within the Alpha Phi chapter. If you have any reservations about recruitment, I suggest just going through the process and seeing how you like it!
The process is about you and finding your home in a sorority, so it never hurts to try! Being in a sorority filled my college experience with growth, friendships, and happiness. I got through some of the toughest times with my sisters, and also some of the best times.
From being VP of Recruitment and also serving as the former President, the one piece of advice I would give a PNM is to follow your heart, and once you find your home in your sorority, get involved in whatever you can! I am a firm believer that every experience is what you make of it.
The best thing I could have done is become more involved in leadership in my sorority, which helped me gain the skills to become a future educator, even in the trying times of COVID.
We all are still navigating through COVID, and although that has created some hardship in all sororities across the country, it is also an opportunity for Theta Alpha to begin new traditions and to continue to grow the chapter! Being a leader in the chapter gave me the skills to become a better communicator, public speaker, and make some difficult decisions on behalf of not just myself, but a whole organization. These skills will not only help me in my future occupation, but also just become a better person as a whole.
Every chance to spend time with your sisters, get involved in the community, become a leader, and so on, is a chance to better yourself and enrich your experience at Linfield (or wherever you are), and that is what the four years of college is all about!
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