In September of 2015, I walked into the courtyard of Saguaro Hall, surrounded by other young women that seemed to be as nervous as I was. I couldn’t help but wonder if going through this process for a second time was a smart idea. I had already voluntarily left social sorority recruitment. Why did I think a professional sorority would be any different? I straightened my belt buckle, worried it was too flashy for this casual event. I reminded myself that I wore it because I wanted to show I was from an agricultural background, even though I was not in a major housed in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Other girls I was walking in with were wearing outfits similar to mine: western boots, “bling” jeans, and slightly fancy tops. I…show more content… From December 2015 through April 2016, I attended as a member, scared to speak in fear that what I would say was wrong. In March of 2016, I attended an Industry Tour with Sigma Alpha. We went down to the Mexican-American border; we toured two different cattle operations; and we spent way too much time shoved into fifteen passenger vans. During my time in these vans, I started as incredibly quiet. I did not join the conversation. What caused me to join in the conversation, to feel comfortable enough to join the conversation, was when the girl sitting shotgun started playing Disney music. I was singing along, and was suddenly put at ease. I joined in when the others girls talked about a movie that was coming out later in the month. I joined in when they talked about how much they loved the mini donkeys we saw at one of the cattle farms. It was during that trip that I had my first realization about Sigma Alpha: agriculture was not the only thing that connected us, it was merely the foundation of our community. In The Social Anatomy of an Agricultural Community, Charles Gaplin notes this same phenomenon in agricultural communities in Wisconsin. The majority of communities were incredibly small, but they were all based around agricultural, particularly dairy cattle operations. However, the community did much more than agricultural related events.
Sure, we speak about agriculture and related industries all the time. Every Monday we have an “Ag Fact of the Day”. They are at the beginning of each meeting, like a reminder of why our sisterhood was founded. One of my favorites, from March of 2017, was when we discussed the difference between grass and grain fed
