It’s no secret that Bid Day is an emotional roller coaster. Everything seems to happen in a blur, one minute you’re opening your bid in the stadium and the next you’re running through streets of people to your new home-away-from-home. The difference for me was that among the hundreds of sisters welcoming me at the Delta Zeta house was the most familiar face in the world: my momma. During recruitment, I tried really hard to forget about my ties to Delta Zeta. I had just survived four years of having my dad as my high school principal; I wanted an experience that was mine, and only mine. Throughout the week, I was trying so hard to find a fit at other houses solely so that I could be different from my mom. At some point, it occurred to me how ridiculous I was acting. I was trying to find a sorority that I could be myself in by not being myself. During this entire internal debate, my mom was nothing but supportive. She kept reassuring me that I didn’t have to love DZ the way she did and that it was my life, my choice. On Bid Day, when I was hugging her in the library of the Delta Zeta Castle, I knew I made the right choice. I had no idea the impact that this moment would have on my life. On that day, in the chaos of pink and green, I didn’t realize the legacy I was continuing.
Her support helped Delta Zeta feel even more like home. You never realize how much you need your momma until she is 712 miles away. Our bond, through Delta Zeta, helps the distance feel a little less far. She sent me turtles, as I was now going to be starting my own turtle collection to rival hers. She shared more memories from her experience in a sorority, as it now pertained to my life. When the time came for me to be initiated, she was there. I remember being nonchalant about it. I kept saying it wasn’t that big of a deal if she couldn’t come; my big would be there, so it would be fine. She came, which was no surprise, as my mom has always shown up when I needed her. I never expected her attendance to matter as much as it did. To have her being the active member to officially welcome me into the sisterhood made the moment so special. Every year, as we initiate new women into Delta Zeta, I think of my mom being the one to place the Delta Zeta badge over my heart. As she shares in my experience, I get to share in her memories of college. This summer, she took me around her alma matter to show me what being a Delta Zeta meant for her. I got to drink milkshakes at The Poky Dot, her old hangout, as she told me stories about her sisters. She took me to paint the bell, a tradition on Fairmont State University, where clubs would sneak out at night and paint the school’s bell in their colors. And while painting the bell in pink and green, I couldn’t help but think this is what Delta Zeta sisterhood is. It’s a connection that spans over time, distance, and generations. On Bid Day, it became a running joke that she was my “Sister Momma.” As I bonded with more and more girls within the sorority, the joke spread. My mom isn’t “Morgan’s mom” or “Miss Jean”, she is Sister Momma Jean. To all my friends, she is a sister (that likes to send Facebook messages with cute turtle stickers). She’s always there. I can tell her everything that goes on and she gets it. She was the one I talked to when I was positive I found my little sister and the first one I texted when I was elected historian. Like all of my DZ sisters, no matter the distance or time, I get to have her for more than four years. This experience has only increased my excitement for the future. I know that when my time is up at Alabama I will always be a Delta Zeta. - Morgan LaRosa (PC' 15)
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Welcome!Official blog of the Alpha Gamma Chapter of Delta Zeta at the University of Alabama. Archives
July 2019
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