AC Peery

My first semester in Chi O, I hated going anywhere without some kind of identification as a Chi Omega. Every single day, I wanted to wear a Chi O t-shirt or hat or jacket or something so that everywhere I went people knew I was associated with this great group of people. I look back now and laugh because it really didn’t matter what shirt I wore. As I begin to clean out my Chi O t-shirts and pass them on to my little and my grand little and prepare for a world where it is actually completely inappropriate to wear a Chi O shirt, I realize how things like that don’t actually matter. I got so much more from Chi O than the sticker on my car and the shirt on my back.

Looking back on my college experience, Chi O has been a place where I have been EMPOWERED by the women that surrounded me. There have been women placed in my life that have challenged me to see my weaknesses as potential strengths and to celebrate my strengths even when I can’t see them. I have been thrust into new situations and challenges I felt in no way qualified for but was pushed to succeed through the belief that these women had in me. I have been pushed to think about the “why” in all I do and strive after authenticity before achievement. I have grown from seeing myself as a goofy side character to a joyful and approachable leader. I have been continually surrounded with the support I needed at the times I needed it most. Chi O has not always been an Instagram perfect moment with laughter and sunsets. Chi O has been there in my completely undone moments, crying face down in the carpet. That’s why Chi O has made me better. I have been so deeply encouraged and seen for who I am here in Chi O. Because of my experiences in Chi O I am better equipped to go out into the world and love others for who they are, not what they can give me.

At the end of the day, Chi O is a club that I was part of in college. I went to events, made friends, and I wore t-shirts; what more can you expect? But the thing about my time in Chi O is that it has impacted the woman I have become and the woman I will grow to be more than I ever would have imagined as that eager freshman getting ready in her Collins dorm. I don’t get to take my Chi O hats and jackets and shirts and buttons with me to professional life but I do get to take the experience, wisdom and sweet relationships I got to build over the past 3 years.