As a current member of Canisius’s only social sorority, Phi Sigma Sigma, I have been ablate gain contacts with many sisters who are both active (meaning they are still in college) and alumna. Before joining the sorority I knew it was different at Canisius compared to other schools because the size our chapter was a lot smaller. The one thing that I knew made our chapter unique was the fact that we were smaller and we had a more personal connection with sisters even those who may have graduated. Phi Sig has a big alumna network and makes an effort to connect as many sisters as possible. There is a Facebook page that most join and I know there have been many success stories of people finding jobs, internships, roommates, etc. on it. A personal example of a “success story” is when I was studying abroad a girl posted asking if anyone was in Galway studying. I commented and as it turned out we were in a class together already. I would never have made this connection if it had not been for Phi Sig Within that page there is a lot of networking happening. The national organization as a whole throughout the pandemic has done a great job of offering various types of programming including networking events.

Phi Sigma Sigma recently held a networking event on Zoom that I participated in. There were a lot of alumna and active sisters that participated in it from all over the country. It was really nice to be able to interact with sisters from local chapters and chapters as far away as California. We were able to go into breakout rooms that had about 6 or 7 people in it and really get to know the alumna from what they did in the sorority, what they do now, and any advice they may have for soon-to-be graduates. The alumna that I think made a big impact on me worked for a pharmaceutical company. She told us to not be afraid to try something new, even when it comes to work. She said everything good lays on the other side of fear and to just trust our guts when it comes to life. Although I do not think I want to work in the industry I think her advice really rings true. I know I will try to push past the fears that I have about my future because I will never know what I am missing if I do not try.

Some of my sorority sisters here at Canisius