For those of you who don't know me personally, I work at the Commons front desk on the A&M campus. While it's an awesome job overall, one of the downsides is the required nightshift. After a day filled with nothing but class, I get to work from 12-4 on Wednesday. Morning, that is. You see some interesting things after midnight, but we have all heard the wise saying - nothing good happens after 2 am. Well after yesterday, I'm going to have to disagree.
At about 3:45, two students came to the desk and said there was a girl sleeping in the dining area and they were concerned about her. So I followed them to a girl who was slouched over herself in a small metal dining chair. After calling out, I gently tapped her and her head lolled up and to one side and she looked around confused. She reeked of vomit and her eyes were bloodshot. She was DRUNK.
I started asking her some questions to engage her a bit so she would stay conscious. When I asked for her name, all she said was the name of her sorority, XYZ (that's the fictitious Chi Upsilon Zeta). After trying to coax some more information out of her, she just waved me off and said she'd be fine. I thanked the concerned students and went back to my desk and pulled up some of the phone numbers I had for girls in her sorority who are Rho Gammas like myself, just in case I needed to make an emergency phone call.
When I replacement arrived, I casually walked around the common area to see if I could find her. No sign. As I approached the door to exit the building, there she was, lying on the ground. I don't care who you are, you can't just leave a drunk girl in a hallway. You just can't. So I proceeded to annoy her once again. "Can I drive you to the XYZ house? Can I call one of your sisters for you?" Obviously embarrassed by her current state, she begged me to leave her alone, but I couldn't. She was a fellow sorority woman like myself, and I needed to help her. Finally, she allowed me to give her a ride to the XYZ house...but then in her drunken state realized she actually lives at the Commons, so I walked her to her dorm. She hugged me before heading in and thanked me for helping her, and a tired Sydney headed for her car.
There are a few things that have really touched me about this strange encounter, a few positive and a few not. First, I really do love my job. I love helping students at 2 in the morning who are locked out of their rooms. I love answering questions for lost students. I love renting out ping pong and pool table equipment. And I love staring at a computer screen when I'm not doing those aforementioned things. I am so glad I was the one on that shift to help that drunk girl because I don't know what my coworkers would have done in my place. Take care of her? Leave her? Tell the cops? Who knows.
Second, I'm so glad I'm an Aggie. At any other school, that might be weird, but at mine, it's what you do. If you see someone who needs help, you help her as best you can. I'm so proud of those students who alerted me because it showed their true Aggie spirit and love for their fellow Ag. A&M is so amazing because our network links us in a unique way to every other student, both current and former.
Also, I really do love being in a sorority. Not just because of my own sisters, but because of every sister in every sorority on campus. I'm so excited to be a Rho Gamma because it means I get to help girls join A sorority, not necessarily MY sorority. I want girls to have what I have in whichever sorority is right for them. I want to strengthen Greek Life as a whole by treating all sorority women as an extension of my own sorority. I am passionate for Panhellenic community and was so thankful to have such an amazing opportunity to help one of my Panhellenic sisters.
But I was so disappointed, too. You see, that girl initially pushed me away because she was ashamed. She thought I would judge her because she had made a mistake (that literally everyone makes in college) and look down upon her and her sorority for it. She wouldn't even tell me her name, and kept referring to herself as XYZ. Has it really reached the point where there is so much disconnect between sororities that we feel we have to be ashamed to receive help from someone in a different sorority than ourselves? The sororities at A&M need to wake up and realize that we are a part of something bigger than our own chapter. We are united by a Panhellenic sisterhood and need to work together to strengthen Greek life on our end. Otherwise, we remain as we are - disconnected and with prejudice.
Even though I didn't have to, I wanted to help that poor girl because I wanted her to see that other Panhellenic sisters are there for you when your sisters aren't. I wanted her to take away a [small, fragmented] memory of another sorority woman helping her to her dorm so that the walls between our chapters would fall. The less we think of only our own sororities and more about the bigger picture of Panhellenic, the stronger we'll grow.
I encourage you, no matter who you are, to help someone. Whether you're an Aggie helping an Aggie or a sorority girl helping another sorority girl, take the time to show the compassion when they need it most.
And if you're in a sorority, I encourage you to think about us as Panhellenic more often. When you feel like judging another sorority or one of its members, reconsider. The less gossip we have, the better. And be sure to promote going Greek to future Aggies going through recruitment this summer. Let's all try to be the best we can be.
If you're the girl from last night and you happen to read this, just know that I'm glad I got to meet you and I'm glad you're ok. I may not know your name, but you still mean a lot to me.
Much love,
Sydney
No comments:
Post a Comment