Sister Spotlight + Why ADPi

Now that it is July, recruitment feels like it’s just around the corner! We are SO excited to meet all of our Potential New Members next month and have been working hard to make sure recruitment week is the best that it can be. This week’s sister spotlight is written by two of our members who are interning together this summer in Chicago. Read below to learn about our Alumnae Relations Co-Chairs and why they went ADPi!

olivia robinson + Blaine Eads, alumnae relations co-chairs, Ac '15

From strangers to friends to sisters to roommates to co-chairs and finally to coworkers. It’s easy enough to say we owe ADPi a thank you for introducing us to one another. We became friends when we joined ADPi but we aren’t exactly sure when in time we upgraded to best friends. It may have been when living together we found ourselves up every night in each others’ rooms laughing for hours or maybe when we would walk into each others’ rooms without anything to say just because it became a habit of ours. We decided to take on the role of Alumnae Relations Chairs this year. This position allows us to not only bring together the chapter and alumnae, but also allows us to create memories for seniors and remind them of the never-ending support and connections that ADPi offers them and that they offer one another. Being the first co-chairs for this position, we love being able to combine our individual and unique talents together to give back to the chapter that gave us our friendship. Acting as a liaison between our chapter’s alumnae and the chapter, we love being able to help foster and strengthen ties between the two. It’s so rewarding to us to witness first hand that the bonds of sisterhood really aren’t just for four years. We are now living together, again, this summer as we intern for the same company, but in a place a little different than Clemson - Chicago!! We just couldn’t stay away from one another all summer! We made our summer bucket list as soon as we both got the job and might just eat our way through the city this summer.

“When you ask me “Why ADPi?” I could easily tell you about how I felt at home the moment I stepped through the doors during recruitment. I could tell you about how everyone I met was not only interested in meeting me, but also invested in making sure I felt welcome and comfortable with them. But to talk about why I love this organization and only focus on my recruitment experience would do a complete disservice to what I have actually gained from this sisterhood because the most important thing I have gained from ADPi has been the people I’ve met in the three years I’ve spent here. These people are the reason I continue to remain so involved in this organization through my senior year. Looking back on my time in this sisterhood, I literally cannot imagine my experience at Clemson any other way. ADPi has given me someone to run across campus with in the middle of a thunderstorm because we couldn’t go the night without chicken nuggets. It’s given me friends to form a game-day brunch tradition with every Saturday of football season. It gave me my roommates who keep walkie talkies next to their beds so we can bother each other day-in and day-out from the comfort of our own rooms. It gave me my very first friend at Clemson, who I get to see walk down the aisle this fall. In 2015, ADPi gave me a home on campus, but this summer my ADPi home has gone mobile as Blaine and I explore the city of Chicago together. Whether we’re wandering through the streets on the weekends or cooking together after a long day of work, having my best friend in the city with me is my favorite part of this adventure. The thought of graduating and leaving Clemson after this year is scary, but it’s this network of amazing women I have met through ADPi that I know I can lean on in the next chapters of my life. This is why ADPi has been and continues to be so important to me.” -Olivia

“People always ask me “Why’d you choose Clemson?” For me, the answer is almost too short, and that’s because it’s simply what I’ve always wanted. I grew up coming to Clemson games starting before I could even walk. The only other thing I was sure about was that I wanted to join a sorority. What drew me to ADPi was the foundations that it stood upon; however, I wanted to keep myself open to all opportunities during the recruitment process. Yet, I knew on the first day of recruitment that ADPi was where I wanted to be. Each round always flew by and I was excited each day to return to ADPi. What I loved most about ADPi was the way the girls supported each other and encouraged one another. I wanted to be surrounded by people who pushed me and held me to a higher standard, and that’s exactly what I got in ADPi. ADPi also gave me some amazing memories and great friendships, from traveling across the globe while studying abroad, to traveling across the country for football games to simply staying up in my dorm room until 2 AM laughing with other girls on the hall. My freshman roommate, Ashton, became my best friend and then my sister and then my roommate while living on the ADPi hall. Ashton and I made memories to last a lifetime. Even though she was the one to begin my Oreo addiction AND get me hooked on eating chocolate chips out of the bag, she also inspired me to push myself in every aspect of life. On bid day, I met my big diamond sister and haven’t gone a day without speaking to her since. Some people might think that big diamond sisters are for guiding you through the transition process, but that wasn’t the case for me. She’s a listening ear and a pick me up when needed. Our memories together are endless and even though she recently graduated, we don’t miss a day without talking. As Olivia and I explore the streets of Chicago, I think about how a day doesn’t go by where I’m not thankful for ADPi. Whether at Clemson or miles away in Chicago, I still always have a sister by my side to support me. I only have one year left as a student at Clemson, and I encourage girls to go through the recruitment process because I’m living proof that you find your bridesmaids in college because I found mine in ADPi.” -Blaine

Go ADPi and find your opposite, your supporter, your supplier of endless memories and laughs, and your best friend all in one - a vegetarian who supports your weekly visits to Chick-fil-a or a southerner who understands we don’t change the channel during the Stanley cup. Even though we come from two different worlds, we couldn’t imagine our world without one another.

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