If you had told me, during my freshman year, that I would not only join but absolutely love a sorority, I would have laughed at you in the face. But here I am, and I have never been happier. So, internet, I'm going to let all my ooey-gooey feelings out and tell you what these girls mean to me.
This is me, through the ages. This has been my body for my whole life and I have fought against it for as long as I can remember.
There is a never ending list of things that I do not like about my body, from head-to-toe there has not been one time or another that I have wished some part of who I am was different.
But Then...
...A group of girls came into my life during my second semester of freshman year at college.
Joining my sorority was without a doubt the scariest decision I have ever made. My high school experience was okay, not great, but not the worst four years of my life -- but I had never felt like I had a group of friends that were going to be there for me when I needed them. And that was something that I desperately wanted.
In my head, the girls in my sorority were going to think that I was weird, or uncool, and I was especially worried that I wasn't going to be pretty enough to fit in with the girls who were going to become my sisters.
It was hard to let go of my insecurities, but as I got to know the girls in my pledge class, I knew that I was in a place where I belonged. Whether it was getting a message from an older girl in my sorority asking if I wanted to get coffee or the insanely active snapchat group with my pledge class, I have never felt like I don't belong.
I have struggled my whole life to feel happy about who I am. I want to feel like I am pretty and worthy, and I want to make my friends feel that way too. The girls in my sorority have surrounded me with so much love, it's overwhelming. We say "love you" and "hi gorgeous" just because we truly feel that way about each other.
I have never felt so loved by a group of people. The friendships I've made make me feel beautiful, prove to me that I'm worthy of good things, and show me that I'm enough just as I am. I truly cannot express my never ending love and gratitude to the group of women that have become my sisters.
And now, internet, you and anyone else who comes across this article knows how I feel about my sorority and my sisters. In ways that they might never know, every single one of them has changed my life in the best way possible.
LML always and forever,
Maya