Have you ever thought about all of the ways alumni volunteers have helped you or your chapter? Or why they sacrifice their time to be with you and help you with the things you need? I took it for granted at the time.
Before I even graduated, I knew that I was not ready to let go of my Greek experience. Especially having just received our charter, I had such a passion for the Greek system and wanted to fully immerse myself in it. But of course time flew by too fast and before I knew it, graduation had come and gone. I immediately began missing my sisters, going to meetings, recruitment events, and all of those things that seemed so chaotic at the time! I began to start thinking about how to adjust to the “alumni” phase of my life.
As this thought process developed, I looked back on my experience and recalled all of the sorority alumni who had influenced me and my chapter. We had consultants in from headquarters every couple of months who stayed in dorm rooms or on our couches. I had weekly calls to plan installation with my consultant. Volunteers from across the country came to our tiny little town just to help a group of strangers accomplish a goal. Alums from other Greek organizations had given us advice during our difficult times. And we had a wonderful advisory board that attended almost all of our meetings and continuously guided us. All of these people sacrificed something in order to give us a better experience. I came to the realization that without alumni, collegiate chapters would not be able to function.
It didn’t take me long to come to the conclusion that I wanted to be a volunteer. I submitted an application and had an interview for the advisory board just last night. When the interviewer asked me what I wanted to get out of being an advisor I told her that I wanted to help others have the life-changing experience that I had. I wanted to watch members blossom from the shy girl in the corner like I was, to the leaders of the chapter. I wanted to watch them develop their self esteem and believe in themselves and in each other. Not to mention its just fun to have an excuse to hang out with your sisters all the time :). I believe those are all reasons that alumni volunteers stay involved with their organizations. They recognize the gift that they had at your age and they want to give back and make sure the organization continues to thrive in the future.
I would encourage all of the collegiate members to reflect on how your organization’s volunteers and alumni have helped you through your college career and thank them for everything they have done. For those of you who are alums like me, I challenge you to stay involved! I know it gets hectic with jobs and families etc., but remember that you wouldn’t have had your great experience without volunteers, and future members may not be able to have the same experience without you!
