Claire Davison

In high school, I spent a lot of time volunteering with my community. I led various community service groups, volunteered with the bank I worked at, and represented my community at various conferences. When I was looking at colleges, I wanted to find somewhere that I could get involved in the community just like I had been in high school. Drake was the perfect fit for me with all the opportunities for reaching out into the community the University offered.
 
I decided to go through recruitment because I had heard of all the good that Fraternity and Sorority life community could do. I also was hoping to find a sisterhood that would be able to support me all throughout college. Theta was the perfect place for me; I could see the women valued service, sisterhood, and scholarship, which was exactly what I was looking for.
 
During the second night of recruitment, members of Theta told me all about CASA, or Court Appointed Special Advocates, their national philanthropy. They explained that CASAs are people appointed to real cases to help children in the court system. I am studying Law, Politics, and Society in hopes of going to law school, so this philanthropy seemed like the best fit for me.
 
During my first year in Theta I loved getting to know more about CASA. I got to work at our annual event, Cakes for CASA, volunteer with my pledge class, and find new ways to volunteer. Right before school started in my second year, we were fortunate enough to have a CASA come in and talk to us about what she does. I was so inspired by her story that I decided I would contact our local CASA Coordinator to see if being a CASA really would be the right fit for me. Before I could go through the training, they kept asking me if I had a support system that I could fall back on, and I was proud to tell them I knew I could rely on any of my sisters for anything I needed. I was able to go through our training with another Beta Kappa member and another Theta from Iowa State. It was great to see so many of us so passionate about helping kids in our own communities.
 
Today I am still working on my first case, and some days it has been a real struggle. There are days that I get very frustrated with the system or the laws, but I know that I can depend on any of my sisters to listen to me rant while understanding why I still want to be a CASA. Theta has given me more than I could have ever asked for and so much more than I ever expected; no matter what happens between school or friends I know I am making a difference in someone’s life, and I have the endless support of my sisters to help me through it.