From the moment I walked onto campus at the beginning of my freshman year, I wondered who I would be once I had this year's experience of college under my belt. My most terrifying thoughts were how fast I knew the year would fly by, and not knowing whom it would fly by with. Looking back now, I know for certain there is one thing that every once and a while made me stop and realize how lucky I have truly been. That one thing is my sorority and the girls who I get to call my sisters. These are the things they have taught me this year.
1. Sometimes, it is okay to make a complete fool of yourself. If I am being honest, I was pretty good at accomplishing this one on my own. But throw me together with some of the weirdest girls I know, and you will get one big hot mess. If there is one thing I learned right off the bat in my sorority, it's that I can easily be myself and not feel like I am being judged. We may act like complete freaks, sometimes, but at least we are happy and at least we are together.
2. Needing a support system does not make you weak. We often think that needing help or needing support is something reflective of losing our pride. This could not be further from the truth, as I have learned from experience from the sisters who constantly have my back. We all go through rough patches or challenges, especially in college. There is nothing wrong with falling back on the sisters who are there to catch you.
3. Telling the harsh truth is always better than ignoring reality. This one has been tough to learn, but when your sisters become your best friends, that's when you man up and tell them what they may not want to hear. If that boy is not into her, if those shoes are actually hideous, if she actually is being unreasonable, don't let her live in a fantasy world. When she needs advice, be nothing but honest. If she's being irrational, be the rationality she needs. She will thank you later for helping her become the happier version of herself, and you will thank her for doing the same for you.
4. Never take home for granted. Sororities are made up of girls from all over the country, and being in state, this has helped me realize how lucky I am to be able to go home when I want. Some of my best friends are always missing pieces of their hometowns, and the best I can do is to always be the family they need me to be. I am done taking Kansas for granted. While I have been so eager to get away, sometimes my sisters are longing for something they don't get enough of.
5. Throwing what you know will never get old. Not only does this make for better pictures, but throwing what we know in any situation connects us as a sorority. Before I knew it, I was throwing up my sign on campus, at sporting events, and even on the beach. It will simply never get old, and I will always be proud to show my letters because I am proud of the women I share them with.
6. This is a lasting kind of love. Spending as much time together as we do, I will admit, there are instances when we don't like each other very much. This is bound to happen when you find a group of girls you become inseparable with. There are and will be plenty of times when we disagree or we get annoyed with each other, but I've come to learn that these circumstances demonstrate love in the strangest ways. It has become clear to me that when you love a group of people this much, their passions and their battles become your own. No matter how many times we argue, the amount we care for each other never lessens, it only grows.
7. Girls' nights are completely necessary. For the sake of our sanity, we need those nights when we declare the “no boys" rule. Going out and enjoying the company of your sisters is the best cure for any long, stressful week.
8. We were brought together for a reason. It may seem cliché, but they were not lying when they told you to trust the system during recruitment. Once you have found where you belong, you just don't find it possible to imagine yourself anywhere else. These girls were meant to be in my life, and I was meant to be in theirs. I can already look back and see just how much my sorority sisters have changed me in the best of ways.
