Sam Kirby's Senior Speech

When I received my bid from Alpha Chi three years ago, I shocked my recruitment counselor. She beamed as I opened the white envelope, knowing that I had preffed Alpha Chi the night before. I, on the other hand, burst into tears. I didn't cry because I had second thoughts about Alpha Chi. In fact, the opposite was true: I loved Alpha Chi, the actives I had met and the feeling I had when I walked in the door. I cried because now I was faced with a choice to venture into a realm I never pictured myself: sorority life.

I am not a sorority girl. Like my fellow Bay Area natives, I grew up ingesting only organic vegetables, rallying for causes and wearing practical shoes. I didn't know if Greek letters fit the profile of the movers and shakers I so admired. Thus, on Bid Night I was torn. For a split second I almost wished that I hadn't received an invitation to join Alpha Chi, because it was the one place at Northwestern that I felt truly at home. And it was in that second that I realized that my only choice was to join my new member class on the long walk down South from Tech.

Three years have passed, and I couldn't be happier with my decision that night in January. It was from taking a chance on a new experience that I learned people don't have to fit into boxes in order to be genuine. I can support social change and dance the night away at formals, and I can befriend and support my sisters who have different political and religious views and still be true to my beliefs.

I can't imagine my life at Northwestern without my chapter, not because I'm terribly uncreative, but because I can't see how I could have experienced all of the joys and struggles without these women around me. From traveling through Israel with my fiery partner in crime Molly, to baking excessively large cakes at unusual hours with my roommate Caroline, to being saved by Elizabeth with a much needed trip to New Jersey to escape rambunctious housemates in Brooklyn one summer, these women are the ones who have kept me both sane and insanely happy. They are the ones who laugh when I talk about my love of libraries, but will meet me in three South on occasion; they are the ones who mock my terrible puns but never my choices; they are the ones who take me dancing when I need a pick me up and don't know it.

Now as Seniors, I appreciate my sisters more and more, as every day that passes by is one less we get to spend in this town we call Hevanston. Always ready to make a scene, as is our duty, I love our nights in and our nights out together. And as job offers, fellowships and plans are set into place for next year, I am extraordinarily proud to be part of this group. I look around this room and I see plenty of movers and shakers; they are all wearing letters, letters that I proudly share.

Still though, I know at heart I'm not a sorority girl.

At heart I am an Alpha Chi.