Alpha Omicron Pi Montana State Centennial

ALPHA OMICRON PI, ALPHA PHI CENTENNIAL

I have been anxiously awaiting this year since I very first initiated into Alpha Omicron Pi in the fall of 2006 during my freshman year at Montana State University. One of the parts of college that I was most looking forward to was joining the Greek system. Little did I know at the time, the 4 sororities on the MSU campus have a part of the university for nearly a century. On the night of house tours I first arrived at Chi Omega and was greeted by cheerful women whom I immediately enjoyed being with. Next up was the Pi Beta Phi house, I loved the two story architecture and remember learning about their philanthropy and bowling. I recall visiting the Alpha Gamma Delta home next, they had created a lifesize candyland board and we spent the time rolling giant dice and chatting. Lastly, the final house I visited was Alpha Omicron Pi.

The truth? I hardly remember anything from my first moments at the Big Brick House because the little things happening around me didn’t matter, I was in awe of these women and instantly felt a connection to them. I was inspired by their on campus involvement and the impressive majors that the ladies were studying. When I arrived at AOII I felt immediately at home. As I continued on through recruitment I was almost scared by how much I was loving spending time at the AOII house. With formal recruitment you put in for which houses you would gladly accept a bid from, meaning you could agree to all 4 houses or exclusively write one. During the final night, I had narrowed my decision down to 2 homes. I liked both, but one I couldn’t picture myself at daily and the other I couldn’t imagine that home and those girls not being a part of my college experience. So I went out on a limb and wrote down one house. Alpha Omicron Pi. I had faith and remember the moment I received my bid day shirt and saw those 3 Greek letters. I was overwhelmed with the exciting new adventure I was about to embark on and remember running to join the girls whom I had spent the last week getting to know & sharing so many details about myself with.

Pledging Alpha Omicron Pi

What was unexpected is how small the formal recruitment was that fall. I found myself with 4 other girls who were also pledging AOII. In 2006 Greek life wasn’t exactly soaring. Legacies were wanting to be independent and not join, America in general wasn’t exactly supporting students joining. Thankfully, that meant that the Greek houses were able to do informal recruitment during the rest of the semester with continuous open bids. That meant we were able to bring our other friends to the house and see if the girls decided to extend a bid. The first friend I made when arriving at college was the girl next door. Katy. I don’t know exactly why I didn’t convince her to join me during formal recruitment, but I can’t imagine if things had gone differently. After accepting my bid I spent nearly every moment at the AOII house. I wasn’t connecting with most of the people on my dorm floor and figured why spend time elsewhere when I had so much more fun across campus at my new home. Curiosity got the best of Katy & I convinced her to come to the big brick house with me one day, and then she came back with me again, and again, and– well, it didn’t take long for her to receive a bid from them. She never intended on joining a sorority, but I can’t imagine if she hadn’t. Now, our pledge class was 6. Danielle, Misee, Darcie, Ellie, Katy, and myself.

As much as I loved all of the girls in the house, our pledge class was particularly special. Even the initiated sisters found our pledge class a bit of a conundrum. We were a small pledge class but that just allowed us to bond in a way that most classes are unable to. The best part is that the connection we made together has extended well past our collegiate years. Recently we have begun to have yearly trips together & I have to admit, these are some of the things I most look forward to each year. We all knew that 2017 would be a particularly special reunion trip because it was our beloved Alpha Phi chapters Centennial. I had ultimately decided to leave MSU at the end of my sophomore year as the program I was studying did not have the specialty I was interested in pursuing. Which means the 6 of us had not been together at the AOII house since then. Wandering the hallways and visiting our rooms together was extra special, especially since only 2 of my pledge class are still in Bozeman. Reminiscing together was bittersweet and the time passed all too quickly but I tried to document as many moments as I was able so that during our next major reunion at the house we would have some new memories to think back on.