Sister Spotlight + Why ADPi #4

EMMA VENABLE (AC '16)

This summer, I had the opportunity to travel with a team of two professors and ten other
students, two of which are my ADPi sisters, with the Georgia Southern Biology Department to
Piora Switzerland. We got to stay at the Centro Biologia Alpina Piora in the Swiss Alps. While we
were here, we got to design and run our own research projects that looks deeper into the
arthropods and plants of the Piora Valley. For my research project, I was able to examine the
correlation between the presence of agricultural wastes and arthropods along the river that
runs through the Piora Valley. This experience has been an absolute dream! The scenery of
Switzerland is breathtaking and unreal and magical! The food is delicious! Getting to perform
research in the Alps gaining field research experience and earning credit towards my Biology
major is a once in a life opportunity I will forever be grateful to have been given. The best part
of all is that I have had two of my Alpha Delta Pi sisters here to experience this amazing country
and this once in a lifetime experience with me! That has made my time abroad in Switzerland
all the more special! We truly do live for each other, whether in the US or abroad!

I went through recruitment later in my college years. A few of my friends were already
members of sororities and they all encouraged me to go through recruitment! I wasn’t sure
Greek Life was for me at first, but after praying about it and talking with my mom about it a lot I
decided to go through. My very first house on my very first day of recruitment was Alpha Delta
Pi. I had no idea what to expect and I nervous about how this experience was going to go, but
the moment I was picked up by Anne Marie Fuller the first day of recruitment and we began to
talk and get to know each other, all of my fears and uncertainties faded away. We talked about
our hearts for mission trips, we laughed, and I felt so incredibly seen, known, and welcomed
here. The feeling I had in the ADPi house was unlike anything I had ever felt before. Through
every conversation I had with each ADPi sister I talked to, I felt more and more at home here in
this beautiful white house. At the end of each party, I found myself not wanting to leave ADPi.
These women embodied the characteristics and morals that are so important to me. The week
flew by quickly, and soon it was Preference Day. That day one of my friends from my hometown
who was already a member of ADPi, Connor Lumley, picked me up at the door. It was so special
having her Pref me and as we talked we both cried because it was so crazy how the Lord had
orchestrated the timing of me going through recruitment so perfectly. The president of Alpha
Delta Pi at the time, Hunter Dennard along with Lexi Swan who was the Formal Recruitment
and Marketing Chair came and talked with me too during the preference ceremony. When I left
ADPi that day, I knew without a shadow of a doubt I wanted to be a part of this special
sisterhood that had already left a huge mark on my heart! Opening my bid and invitation to join
Alpha Delta Pi the next morning was one of the most surreal experiences of my life! From the
very first day, this sisterhood has been such a huge blessing to me. These sisters are not for four
years, they are for life. These are the women who will be by my side for life’s biggest moments
to encourage me, to cheer me on, and to champion me through every season! I will forever be
in debt to Alpha Delta Pi for all that this sisterhood has given me, and I will forever be thankful
that these sisters saw in me two years ago the characteristics of an Alpha Delta Pi.

That's it for our fourth Sister Spotlight/Why ADPi! Make sure to keep up with us on Instagram, VSCO, Twitter and Facebook to see more of our sisterhood and to know when our next blog post is up!