“Roses To”. It is the favorite part of meeting for many sisters of Epsilon Kappa. It is a time we dedicate to recognize the sisters that have helped us personally, shown true sisterhood, or just shined brilliantly for any reason throughout the week. No matter how stressed out or tired we are from school or life, “Roses To” is always refreshing, full of smiles, laughter, love and appreciation. So I was very intrigued when Alli, our DOSA, announced that there would be a sisterhood event called “Roses To”!
It was amazing. It truly captured the essence of sisterhood and encompassed everything I love so much about Epsilon Kappa. Winter quarter was a particularly busy and chaotic quarter for us and this bonding event came at just the right time. As a chapter, we have always revered Ritual very sacredly and it was almost untouchable. But we discussed aspects of Ritual that move us and what it means to us and that was very powerful. We also honed our craft skills by making roses out of strips of shiny red fabric using fire and needles. It sounds dangerous and it most certainly was! Many hands were poked for the sake of the sisterhood but thankfully there were no accidental fires! Just the burning love for the bond! I have to admit that it was frustratingly difficult at times and my rose looked more like a ball of scraps than an elegant symbol of beauty. However with the encouragement of my sisters, I tried again and voila! A red rose eventually emerged out of the nearly hopeless mess. It now sits on my desk as a constant reminder of love and patience. As our final activity we passed our rose to the person on the right and we all said one thing that we appreciate about the person holding our work of art, literally “Roses to”. We kept passing the roses all throughout the circle until they made a full rotation back to the owners. It was so great to hear 10 different qualities that we admire about each sister. You always know that you love your sisters but it’s a whole new level of appreciation when you actually think about each person and articulate the influence they have on your life. It brought our close-knit chapter even closer and the love was permeating in every direction.
I may have overused the word “love” in this article but it is the foundation of our bond and there is no word that can replace it with the same depth or power. “Roses to” was that love at its finest. So, Roses to Epsilon Kappa!
- Becca Toda, Alpha Nu
