Coming from a blended family, I ending up living in what I considered a “mad house". I couldn't have possibly prepared myself for what this past year has brought me: living in a totally different, and way more extreme version of a “mad house.".
This “mad house" was my sorority house. Through the ups and the downs, and trust me there are plenty of both, I will miss living in a big, beautiful brick house with 50 of my best friends and sisters. It's an opportunity you don't get to come by often, living with this many people who, if need be, would have your back in a second. There is always someone to cry to, to laugh with, to eat with, and to convince to go out, or to walk to class with. It really is an experience like none other, and it will completely ruin the idea of living alone.
I, like many people, enjoy my alone time and I like having the option to escape, and I worried that living in would make this difficult. As it happens, you find out quickly that you want to be alone less and less, and if you do need to be alone, it isn't hard to find ways to not feel 'trapped'. I figured that as a farewell to this school year and my time living in, I would share a collection of lessons that this experience has taught me. I dedicate this to my beautiful and amazing sisters who have helped through some great tragedies, and supported me through incredible victories.
"The most important thing in life is your family. There are days you love them, and others you don't, but in the end they're the people you always come home to. Sometimes it's the family you're born into, and sometimes it's the one you make for yourself." – Carrie Bradshaw.
1. Be nice to everyone. It is no secret that people will break off into smaller groups within the house, whether you are in different grades, roommate pairs, the same major, or from the same hometown, but that doesn't mean you should disrespect or be rude to anyone. Be a friend and a sister whenever you're needed, and to whomever needs you. It will pay off, this I can promise. “Your friend group may change, and that's okay" (Mackenzie Grout, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Michigan State), and “you'll become friends with girls you never expected" (Lisa White, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Michigan State).
“They say nothing lasts forever…dreams change, trends come and go, but friendships never go out of style." – Carrie Bradshaw.
2. Friendship is a two-way street. How can you expect your sisters to be sisterly to you if you are not sisterly to them? Invest in people's lives: ask them how their day is, how their exam went, if they are going out, or if they had fun last night. You can make someone's day by doing the littlest of things.
3. Be open-minded. When you live with so many people, you can learn an incredible amount of things about people in general. “You learn how and why people are the way they are, so you learn a lot about respect and understanding" (Andi Kalis, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Michigan State).
" No matter who broke your heart, or how long it takes to heal, you'll never get through it without your friends. " – Carrie Bradshaw
4. It is hard to keep secrets. It was hard to keep secrets in high school when you, and all of your friends lived in separate houses. Now imagine living with all of those people. It is incredibly difficult to keep your private affairs private. This can be a con of living in, depending on how you feel about your privacy, but it is just a fact that you need to accept.
5. You will fight. If you have sisters at home, you know what a “sister fight" is. You will have these. They all pass, just give people a chance to explain themselves.
"Maybe our girlfriends are our soul mates, and guys are just people to have fun with. " – Carrie Bradshaw
6. There is no better army than your sorority sisters, when your heart is broken. No matter how close you are to any given person in the house, when the going really gets tough, you can sit on the couch and cry, knowing that you have an army of support behind you, and no one judging you. These are the women who would kill for you.
7. You will pick up on your sisters' habits. Good or bad, you will notice that you will start saying the same slang phrases, stupid jokes, or even, that you're able to be perfectly imitate with 99% of your house.
8. Even if you label your food, people will eat it. We all know what it's like after a long night out when we're just dying for some pizza, but have no money and no patience to wait for the delivery. You must ultimately face the fact that your leftover pizza from the other night is now fair game after a few drinks, in the minds of your housemates.
9. You will find yourself in the strangest, most unexpected hangout spots in your house, just laughing for hours. One of the smallest, yet most magical parts of living in for me, was when it would start with two people just hanging out on the staircase, and within a matter of minutes, it would turn into a full-on gossip sesh with all your sisters blocking the stairs in every inconvenient spot, for those people who really did just want a cup of water.
10. There will always be someone to help take care of you. Whether it's your sober friend who didn't go out that night that hijacks their roommate's car to pick you up from a boy's house at 3 A.M., or your equally-as-drunk friend who holds your hair back while you're puking and, within seconds, goes into 'Mom-mode.'
It truly has been quite a ride this past year, living with so many incredible, strong, beautiful women, and I thank each and every one of them, for impacting my life in ways that they might never have realized.
