Officially Alumna

I am now officially an alumna. I graduated technically in August, received my diploma soon thereafter, and now have been initiated as an alumna of my sorority.

After a year as my sorority's president, I went way off the radar and had practically nothing to do with the sorority until now, when I had to ceremonially renew my vows in front of the active sisters. It was kind of weird--I was definitely the oldest sister present at the ceremony. There were some other alumnae who had been active while I was, and some actives as well. One sister from my candidate class was still active, the other two are alumnae now but only one was present. But most of the sisters I had never even seen before--nearly 60 of them.

When I was first initiated into the sorority, we had some of the lowest numbers in our chapter's history. One semester I served as membership educator, liaison between the actives and the candidates, and we practically doubled our membership. (I think from 11 to 21.) For the next two semesters as president, our numbers doubled again. (I think from 21 to 44.) So to see that they've only increased more since I've left is really exciting.

I would love to see this kind of growth from my da'wah. Of course it's not in my hands, but can you imagine if you had a few people giving da'wah, and those receiving the da'wah embrace Islam, only to start giving da'wah to more people, who also give da'wah to more people?

Looking back, I think that joining my sorority was one of the better decisions I made in college. It opened so many doors for me, helped me explore my personality and it exposed me to many different types of people. (Which is odd, considering that sororities tend to be comprised of only a few types of people.) But had I not joined my sorority, I would not have hung out with the people through whom I met Muslims for the first time. The sorority was an important part of my college experience, even though I only spent about 2-3 years really participating in it. It was nice to attend the ceremony, look back at all the faces, and finally bid farewell to a part of my life, a chapter drawing to a close.

And now I'm ready to move on, stronger and wiser for the experience.