The Homecoming Benefactor

1 | the card

I remember the day I opened the card.

It was a sweltering hot day in the South Carolina Lowcountry, and hundreds of girls were gathered in the football stadium at Great Oak University. I had spent years preparing for this day — I had bought new clothes, hired a rush coach, and collected recommendation letters. All that was left to do was open my bid envelope and run home to my new sorority.

I had wanted to be a Rho Kappa since my junior year of high school. My aunt was a Rho Kappa at GOU, and she had told me stories about her college days when I was a child. She still goes to the Rho Kappa alumnae meetings and wears her pin. When I asked her for a rec letter, she cried tears of joy. I figured that, if I made it to preference day with Rho Kappa still on my list, I had it in the bag.

There were three sororities that could have been inside of that envelope, as three of the eighteen invited me back for preference day. You start with eighteen at the beginning of the week and narrow it down to three by the last day; my pref day invitations were Rho Kappa, Tau Nu Omicron, and Eta Pi Epsilon. Tau Nu was alright, they were known for having good grades and were seen as middle of the road. Hardly anyone on GOU's campus even considered going Eta Pi.

Why? The girls were nice enough, but Eta Pi was considered the laughing stock of GOU's Greek Life. People didn't really choose it, they were just put there, and I was praying to not become one of those people. It sounds really mean, but I had heard horror stories of people being made fun of in public and not let in certain places because they were an Eta Pi.

"Welcome, Great Oak University Giants!" The loudspeakers cracked and eeked as our Greek Life director spoke in the press box. "Are you ready to open your bids?"

Cheers erupted throughout the stadium. A few blocks away, eighteen sororities waited to receive their new members, carrying gift bags and personalized signs on their front lawns. I thought about what was going to be in my bag at Rho Kappa. After all, the girl who talked to me during preference round told me that I was definitely getting a bid because of my aunt... which is actually not allowed, but I got excited about it anyway.

"Let's count down! 3, 2, 1... open them up!"

Shreds of manila envelope paper flew around the stadium like confetti as potential new members opened their bid cards. I stared at the commotion for a few seconds before tearing into my own envelope, almost accidentally ripping the card itself.

Welcome to Eta Pi Epsilon,
Beta Theta Chapter

"Oh, okay," I said to myself. "Everything happens for a reason?"

• 2 MONTHS LATER •

"So it sounds like getting into Eta Pi really hurt your self esteem," Heather said, writing on her clipboard.

Heather was the campus therapist I had been assigned to when I requested the free campus therapy. I didn't really like her so far, but I told myself that I needed to go to at least three sessions before quitting. This was the third.

"Yeah, I guess you could say so," I replied, avoiding eye contact. "Don't get me wrong, I love my friends, but it hurts having so many people look down on me before they even meet me. No one gives me a chance because of my letters."

"Have you tried exercising?"

I couldn't believe what had come out of Heather's mouth. "What?"

Heather hesitated before continuing. "You know, bigger girls usually have self esteem problems, and exercise really helps. It will make you feel better about your body."