“She is the nicest and most amazing person,” interjected a sister as I sat with West Virginia Alpha Julia Piecka in the chapter living room. Humbled by the kind words, Julie could not help but smile. So what does one do to deserve such kind words from a sister? It is a thing like Julia’s current project: to tweet each of her sisters with a positive and happy message – not for a specific purpose, but just because.
Julia goes out of her way to do things for Pi Phi and her sisters. The whole idea of sisterhood is something that is so important to Julia. The Interfraternal and Panhellenic spirit is strong in Julia as she has family members in Gamma Phi Beta, Kappa Alpha Theta, Alpha Omicron Pi, Zeta Tau Alpha, Tau Kappa Epsilon and Phi Mu Alpha – she was raised knowing that Fraternity and Sorority Life is one of the best decisions she could make. She has spread her kindness outside of Pi Phi as well.
As a member of the Young Life Student Organization she began her own ministry: a Bible study for sorority women. She calls it “Bagels and Bibles with Julia” held at the local Panera Bread Company restaurant. Meeting weekly, she has been able to build relationships with women from other chapters within the West Virginia University community. Her faith is so important to Julia that she said it is amazing to watch women from other chapters get together and build another sisterhood through this shared passion!
While we were talking, Julia pointed down to the Alex and Ani bracelet she was wearing. The bracelet was for West Virginia University (WVU), with its three-word tagline, “Loyalty, Enthusiasm, Pride” inscribed on the metal. All three words perfectly describe Julia. Loyalty: She is loyal to her friends and family – as described by her bible study project. Enthusiasm: She came to WVU because of the enthusiasm of the fans of the school.. Pride: She believes “You will never find a group of people that miss Morgantown when they’re away from it like those who have pride for WVU.” In the short amount of time that I spent with her, I can confirm that Julia is all of the above.