Dear incoming Pi Phi Palace ladies,
I can't stress how lucky you are.
Living in Pi Phi is one of the best experiences you will have. Living with 34 girls sounds like hell, I'll admit it. And sometimes it can be. Things will get lost (hopefully not stolen), it will get messy, you're going to get annoyed and you're going to want your own space.
But there are so many perks to living in-house.
You have a support system of 34 girls. You have one of the best house moms. Like ever. You have 34 closets. You have a chef and a cleaning lady. Sound like heaven? Just wait.
You have a little less than a week before you haul all of your stuff to the house. Move in is a process, but a really fun one. You'll walk around and look at everyone's room, catch up with them about their summer and make plans for work week. You're going to think this is the peak of living in the Pi Phi Palace. But it's not.
You're not going to get your beauty sleep. But you don't need it, you're already beautiful. You'll stay up late in your friends room talking and laughing until you can't breathe. You'll have dance parties until you realize you have class in four hours. You'll most definitely make necessary McDonald's/Dunkin' runs. You'll go to a fraternity or a sorority and hang out.
While you're laughing and having a good time, don't forget that our house is new and one of the nicest on campus. Don't mess it up. Yes, we have a cleaning lady, but it's not her job to clean up your mess. Don't forget to thank her and the chef for all they do. Even have a simple conversation with them. It's a lot of work to clean up and feed 34 girls who actually eat like grown men!
Also don't do anything you don't want to do. This is your time to grow a backbone. With so many girls around you, there might be times where you get pressured. Not in a bad way, but it could be hard to say no to 33 girls when you're the only one who doesn't want to do whatever they're doing. It's OK to say no. Pass up going out if you have school work. If you haven't talked to your mom in a week, call her instead of going to the mall.
My biggest piece of advice is to do things as a house. Go to school events as a house. Hang out together as a house. Watch sports or tv shows/movies together. Honestly, the possibilities are (almost) endless. If you know other people in the house have homework, make a Dr. Pepper run, grab some snacks and make a group trip to the library. You can still have fun with your sisters while you're at the library.
With that being said, make sure you do things with your sisters. This will be quality time with your pledge class to grow closer and make memories you can never get back. It's OK to procrastinate to be with your friends. That's college. Make memories with your friends. If you learn the hard way then you're doing college right. You don't want to look back and realize you missed out on fun adventures. Break out of your shell. Even if you have your "core" friend group, don't stop there. Talk to everyone. I can honestly say some of my best friends now are girls I didn't even speak to freshman year.
Take advantage of all that Pi Phi and the Palace have to offer. Sophomore year in the Palace goes by way to fast. Don't take this time with your pledge class for granted, you can't get it back.
In the wine and silver blue,
Alli Krone
