My whole life I've loved traveling away from home. Don't get me wrong; I have the best family a girl could ask for and my friends are one of a kind but I've always been so comfortable being on my own for awhile. I imagined going to an out-of-state college as being a fresh, easy way start to a new chapter in my life but ohhh my was I wrong.
First semester freshman year was a breeze- joined a sorority, made Dean's list, had an impeccable roommate, conquered long-distance boyfriend drama- life seemed too good to be true...and it was. Winter break changed everything. Only being home for a couple weeks then coming to the realization that I had to spend another 5 months away from the people I was closest too...then do it again and again for the next 3 years. HA yeah I wasn't having it. Since I had already signed a lease to live in the Sorority house for my sophomore year, I was there for another year. I was okay with that since I did love the friends I made in the sorority and living in a house with 65 others girls was kind of a once in a life time experience.
The first night living in the house, I was utterly and soulfully depressed. I'm pretty sure I spent the night hiding from my 8 roommates (yes 8) and Facetiming my boyfriend. I was only good friends with one of my roommates at the time so I just felt so alone in that house filled with my apparent "sisters".
It took approximately 4 days for my emotions to make a complete 180. It was "spirit week" for sororities meaning it was the week we prepare for recruitment. 150 girls stuck practicing endless hours in a crowded house, pretty much not being able to see the light of day. Saying it out-loud makes me laugh because how the hell did this week alter my decision to leave? The reason isn't because I all of a sudden had an epiphany and loved everyone in the house or that I wasn't homesick anymore. The reason is my roommates. The girls I barely knew before moving in. The girls that after what felt like the longest days of our lives would come back to our room and shed their positivity as if it were a new day. The girls I stayed up with until 3 a.m laughing about god knows what because we were too tired to move to our beds. The girls that pulled the stupidest pranks on each other that probably no one else would have thought was funny. The girls that focused on today instead of dwelling on yesterday. That energy never gets old.
These girls became the reason I couldn't transfer. The reason I actually got sad when I spent a weekend at home because I couldn't stand to be away from them. Each day made it more and more clear that I was put in this sorority for a reason. Just living with those incredible girls for less than a week made me have so much more hope for myself as an individual. It was still painful to be away from home but they helped turned that house into a place of comfort and knowing I had them by my side made every homesick-day worth it. I know this is cliche but things become cliche's because they're too dang true.
It's truly quite impossible to explain how one week changed a whole semester's worth of planning to transfer because I can't even believe it myself. No amount of words can fulfill the genuine feeling of warmth I felt in that room. A sorority is so much more than a group of spunky girls that "just wanna have fun" if you know what I mean. The girls I know in this house are some of the purest, most radiant individuals that will undoubtably make their mark on this world. Thanks to them, I became a stronger, more independent woman that supposedly just needed some sorority therapy. Who knew?
