Dana Torres is to blame.

An over-40 Olympic swimmer at the Beijing summer games, Torres stroked her way into the hearts of every American woman approaching midlife. Watching her inspired me.  I decided that if Torres could stand next to a bunch of young adults and match them stroke for stroke, I most definitely could do the same academically – that’s what brings me to Saint Louis University as a freshman at age 41.

My whole life, I dreamed of going to college and living the college experience.  Due to circumstances in my life, however, I could not enroll when I graduated at 17.

If you take a look around, you’ll see that I am a minority here.  Most adults my age opt for going to school at night or taking classes online.  This was my route before I started SLU, but was never the experience I wanted as a child – and not the experience I want now.  I want to be a Billiken.

Welcome Week was daunting. For the first few days, people kept looking at me quizzically, asking, “Are you a student?” with that inflection of disbelief.  Did Torres have this problem?

My mother was a Civil Rights activist, and she once said to me, “Katerina, sometimes you have to put yourself in other people’s faces to let them know that you deserve the same chance as everyone else.” She said this to me as she sent me off to an all-white school; now I heard her voice telling me this because of my age.  I decided to attend sorority information night to see if I could qualify.

I learned that sororities place a high importance on academics, and that a high GPA improves your chances.  I had an average high school GPA, and an excellent college GPA.  Members should demonstrate leadership potential.

I was president of local and regional organizations.  I was poet laureate of my city, and I received several commendations from the mayor and one from the U.S. Congress.  There’s also a high importance placed on philanthropy.   I started a girls’ camp that ran for five years and I was the chair of my company’s community involvement committee for the Los Angeles region.  I thought I was covered.

I was worried about my age until I learned of the Potential Member’s Bill of Rights, which said that I had the right to “be treated as a capable and mature person without being patronized.”  With that little piece of information tucked into my mind, I decided to officially become a sorority recruit.

The sorority recruitment process involves up to six days or nights of introductions and eliminations.  First, you meet all the sororities, and they meet you.  Once everyone has met everyone, you select your top five, and they decide if they want to invite you back for a second night.  If you get invitations, you come back.  If not, your recruitment process is over.
First, I met brilliant women with excellent networking skills.

I was invited back to two sororities the second night, and got the chance to learn more about each sorority’s philanthropy.

Here, I worked with the girls to complete art projects for the respective sororities.

The only problem is, I have horrible arts and crafts skills. On the third night, I didn’t get invited back to any of the sororities, thus ending my recruitment process.  I’m guessing this had more to do with my arts and crafts abilities than my age.

I didn’t know what to expect when I started, but I came out of this experience with a lot of respect for sororities and their work.

Was I disqualified because of my age?  I can’t say yes or no for sure. But I can say that I was treated with respect, and sorority recruitment is very competitive.
While I did not become a member, I find myself honored to be considered, which is something I would not have said three weeks ago.

Katerina Canyon is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences.