Sisterhood and Scholarship in ZTA

The ZTA Foundation provided scholarships to 294 students, totaling $858,070 in academic funding for the 2020-2021 school year. Haley Butina was one of those deserving Zetas! Read more about her experience in this blog, and learn more and apply for a scholarship here.

If someone said you had opportunities for leadership, personal growth and academic scholarships at your fingertips, would you take it? (Spoiler alert: You do, and you should.) I've had the pleasure of experiencing all this and more in my three and a half years in ZTA.

It’s so crazy to be a spring semester senior and realize that there are more ZTA memories to look back on rather than look forward to at the collegiate level. If I could go back in time and tell my past self how much ZTA has given me in just four short years, I would’ve never believed it. There are the aspects that are always advertised when you’re joining fraternity/sorority life that I am not surprised to have gotten: the everlasting friendships, the women who will be in my wedding, the leadership opportunities, the personal growth, and so much more. But what is so commonly left out when highlighting the benefits of the sorority experience are the opportunities for academic growth and success that sororities offer.

One of the first realizations I had as a new member was that I needed to elevate the expectations and standards I had previously set for myself . Surrounding myself with women who wanted to succeed, and more so, wanted to see me succeed, definitely prompted me to raise that bar.

As I was getting acclimated to sitting at the designated “ZTA Starbucks table” with my new sisters, it became clear that these were women who had success and academics at the forefront of their minds. My chapter never entertained the “skipping class is cool” or “college is for partying” culture. The environment in ZTA always encouraged studying and working hard.

In fact, one of my favorite parts of ZTA was constantly being surrounded by a group of women who inspired me to always give my best effort. The older members who I was able to learn under as a new member displayed the importance of academics in our sisterhood, and I was privileged to do the same for younger members when I served as President.

However, beyond the workshops and study sessions, ZTA continued to give me the tools to grow and succeed academically. I remember seeing older members of my chapter receive Foundation scholarships and thinking how cool they all were. I still think it’s incredible that my sorority gave out scholarships of its own. Seeing these examples really showed me that the value of academic achievement went all the way to the national level. I remember feeling so proud to be part of an organization that recognized sisters are also students, which is why I was so humbled when the ZTA Foundation awarded me a scholarship during my senior year.

After the past four years, I am proud to say that ZTA has taught me that success is found in the opportunities that are all around you; you only have to take advantage of them. My time in ZTA has shown me how simply utilizing available resources can boost my personal growth and academic development. And luckily for us, tools for success are abundant in ZTA, from our dedicated sisters and study sessions to workshops and most notably, academic scholarships. I am proud to say that my time in ZTA made me a better student and a better sister.

Everything you need to succeed is available to you here in ZTA. Take that risk and apply for a ZTA Foundation scholarship; you never know where that opportunity might lead you!