The Observer, January 26, 2007
Volume XXXIX, Issue 14
Greek life brings out confidence in leaders
Ask my friends from high school to describe me and I doubt you'd hear the word leader come up. I bet you'd get a mix of nice, quiet, good listener, friendly – all great words, yes, but not truly encompassing. So why didn't they describe the real me? Simple – they didn't know the real me.
When you grow up with the same people from the time you're five until the time you graduate high school, it's hard to escape labels. For me, it meant that the shy girl I was in third grade became the shy girl that I could never escape. Though I grew out of my shy phase, my peers still kept me confined. They didn't know me as someone who would share opinions, disagree or take a stand so when I did they thought I was trying to be someone else. In fact, I was trying to be me.
I yearned to go away to college so I could finally escape the box that I had been walled into. Unfortunately, upon coming to Case, I found that I had become so accustomed to sinking into the background, to being a follower, and to letting my ideas be pushed aside that I didn't know how to break out. I couldn't do it alone – I needed someone or something to get me out of my box. Greek life opened all the doors.
Going Greek has been the push I needed to get me through the door that was holding me back. I look at where I am today and I know that I have the Greek community, my sorority, and my sisters to thank. When I speak up (and I do it a lot), I am met with respect.
Gone is the fear I once had of people thinking I was being someone that I'm not. Finally, I feel confident enough to share my ideas, to run for positions, and to reach out to people. I know that my opinions matter, that I can make a difference, and that I am so much more than the cookie-cutter nice, quiet girl. I am a leader and I am so very, very proud to be Greek.
Schaier is a junior biomedical engineering student who loves art, swimming, and triathlons.
