Foster Willey (PC ‘17) tells us how she knew #WhyTriDelta…hint: trust your gut!

As I get ready for my junior year at Clemson, I look back on my past two years as a Tri Delta and continue to be blown away by all of the opportunities, memories, and friendships that Beta Theta has brought me. During recruitment, I wanted to be a Tri Delta right off the bat. Out of all of the parties I attended first round, my conversations in Tri Delta were the most authentic and meaningful. Each girl I spoke to was wholeheartedly interested in me and made me feel extremely special. I remember going through the rest of recruitment feeling a unique sense of excitement whenever I was in line to enter Tri Delta. The night before Bid Day, I could not sleep in anticipation and nervousness for what the next 24 hours would hold. All I wanted was to run down Bowman into the arms of all of the amazing girls I had spoken to in Tri Delta.

Two years later, I can honestly say that opening my bid on the Greek Quad and becoming a member of Tri Delta was one of the best things that could have possibly happened to me. On my first night as a member of PC ’17, I huddled up in nervousness with three girls, Ashlea, Audrey, and Hanna. Little did I know, these three would instantly become some of my best friends to this day. Like my friendships with these girls, most of my strongest friendships within Tri Delta happened so unexpectedly, and I am so thankful for that. Never in a million years did I think I would find the amount of love, kindness, strength, and support in a group of college women. Every single member of the Beta Theta chapter is unique in her own way, and that is what makes all of us mesh so well together. 99% of the time, we’re goofing around or laughing about something, but these girls will be there for you in a heartbeat if you need a late-night heart-to-heart, a drive around campus with the windows down blaring Soundcloud remixes, or an enormous meal at Blue Heron in your pajamas (oops).

As I sit on a train in the middle of Europe next to two of my Tri Delta sisters, I feel an enormous surge of gratefulness for this chapter and these girls. All of us have had so many memories together: from Avery getting food poisoning on our new member retreat freshman year, to spring break in Punta Cana, to losing terribly in the Viking Week boat race with Kathleen, to touring St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, to traveling to Santa Clara together to watch the Tigers kill the Tide, to forcing Audrey and Emma into skydiving with me over the Swiss Alps this morning... I could go on and on. All of the moments, both big and small, that I spend with these girls remind me why I chose to be a Tri Delta.

Being a PNM can be an extremely overwhelming, nerve-racking, and important time in your life. My advice to those of you going through recruitment this fall is to be open to every single opportunity that presents itself and choose the chapter that makes you feel the most comfortable and loved. Don’t choose a sorority because all of your friends from home are in it, because your sisters were in it, or because you think it’s “cool”. Choose a sorority based on the way YOU feel. I promise you it will be the best decision you will make in your 4 years at Clemson and you will find your people…..I know I sure did.

XOXO,

Foster