When you think of your sorority experience, most of your memories probably revolve around your Kappa Delta “house.”  It’s the place where you first fell in love with Kappa Delta, where you were initiated and maybe even where you lived for a year or two. In our lodge, as we affectionately call our chapter space, you won’t find halls of rooms or hear the splish-splash of showers turning on and off. We may not have a place where we all live together, but our lodge certainly has a lot of life within it.

As fun as it would be to live in a huge house with my sisters only a knock away, we make our lodge a little piece of home in other ways. It is home to some of our most treasured and special moments. One of my favorite memories is the new-member retreat we held at the lodge. Those moments sealed Kappa Delta in my heart from then on and unified a group of 60 women into a sisterhood. We’ve shared lots of giggles and squeals during candle passes when we found out a sister was engaged, eyes peeled as she told us the story. We’ve held Christmas sisterhood parties, Girls Scout events and movie nights with national visitors.

Whether it’s studying or watching a movie together, the lodge is a place where we can go at any time. One of my sister’s favorite memories is of a night that was supposed to be a group study session; it ended with an impromptu relay race around the lodge and everyone on the ground laughing as hard as they could.

Spirit Week is always a blast because we somehow manage to fit everyone in our tiny lodge all at once. We cheer, dance and sing, but most importantly we grow closer to one another as we prepare to share with potential new members  what Kappa Delta means to each of us.

While going through recruitment, I remember being struck with the idea of wanting a “home away from home.” I knew each woman really meant it when she said it. Kappa Delta was their home. They may not have all lived together, but the bonds of Kappa Delta made it a home.

As a senior, I look forward to coming home to Kappa Delta after graduation. The walls and décor may change, but what I love most about KD – the memories of the women who changed my life – will forever be there. As the saying goes, “home is where the heart is.” Though I never lived there, I know that the little lodge that sits on Hestia Lane will forever be home to me because of all the hearts that loved me and challenged me to strive for that which is honorable, beautiful and highest.

Katherine Morris
Alpha Chi-Louisiana Tech