Sorority Sisters Read Online Free PDF Page B

either way.”
    “Thank you, thank you, thank you! You’re the greatest Big Sister in the world. I’m so glad that I was matched with you.”
    Tiara never knew quite how to thank Rhonda enough for everything she had done for her since they were matched up through the Big Brothers Big Sisters program back in Gary, Indiana. She was instrumental in shaping Tiara’s young adult life, and it was because of Rhonda’s intervention that she was in college, and in her dorm room, and writing a letter to become a member of what Tiara considered the greatest sorority in the world—the same sorority of which her Big Sister, Rhonda, was a member. She looked up to her Big Sister, and wanted to follow in her footsteps and someday “be somebody.” She also planned to one day be a Big Sister to a little girl and positively influence her life the way Rhonda continued to influence hers.
    “I know I’m great, but I do expect you to keep your promise and visit me when you come home. I realize you are a big-time college sophomore now, and coming home to visit your Big Sister may cramp your image, but I’d better be the first person you visit,” Rhonda joked, her voice still groggy. “Now let me hear what you’ve written so far, and we’ll go from there.”
    Tiara read her letter to Rhonda. It did not sound bad. There were a few grammatical errors, and Rhonda helped her rephrase and rewrite important points so the letter flowed smoothly, but the core came from Tiara. Rhonda was proud.
    “I’m really impressed with your letter and your reasons for wanting to join the sorority. You’ve also nicely laid out your intentions to positively represent and help the sorority uplift the community. You have done a great job.”
    “You really think so?”
    “Of course I do. You’re really turning into a pretty great young lady, yourself,” Rhonda commented. It was true. Tiara Johnson had really matured from the sassy little girl she’d met during their first encounter. Tiara and her social worker met Rhonda at a restaurant so they could become acquainted for the first time on neutral ground, but their first meeting didn’t go so well. Tiara was a very bitter little girl and had expressed, without sugarcoating her feelings, that she was not a charity case and didn’t “need no Big Sister telling me what I need to do!”
    But Rhonda was determined to make the union work, although she wasn’t sure what she had gotten herself into by bringing this loudmouthed, uneasy, attention-starved child into her life. But somehow over the years Rhonda helped to transform a scared caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly. She exposed Tiara to nice restaurants, plays, museums, and the importance of pampering and loving herself. They went to church together on Sundays and read and discussed the Bible and other inspirational books and tapes, like Susan Taylor’s
In the Spirit
and Deepak Chopra’s
The Higher Self.
From her relationship with Rhonda, Tiara learned how to see herself where she wanted to be and not where she was.
    She learned how to dream, and with Rhonda’s help Tiara dreamed herself right out of the tiny three-bedroom apartment that housed her, her mother, and five brothers and sisters, and into the college of her dreams. Now Tiara was attempting to dream herself into Rhonda’s sorority, which was a big step for someone with her background.
    Tiara grew up in one of the roughest projects in Gary, Indiana. Victims of depressed urban life, only some of her classmates managed to graduate and attain blue-collar jobs, and even fewer went to college. However, she knew of many girls in her high school graduating class who were stripping or selling their bodies to make a quick dollar, or were on crack. Several of her male classmates were coerced into selling drugs or illegal firearms. Others were either dead or in jail.
    Her mother now dated a drug dealer, and her three youngest siblings all had different fathers. Unemployed, her mother barely kept