Getting a bid from a potential new member's top choice sorority is what every girl hopes for during rush week. Once this happens, however, the path to becoming an official initiated member can seem unclear. Many new members find themselves thinking after bid day, "what happens now?" I really did not know what to expect after bid day or what it was going to take to become an active member of my sorority. Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised by what happened during the six-week period between bid day and initiation.

My schedule filled up rapidly with new member classes, sorority-hosted charity events, socials, retreats, and lunch dates with active members who were going to become the bigs to us new members. I suddenly had a full social calendar that I had to keep up with in order to be initiated. It was a bit overwhelming at first but my sisters made every single event enjoyable and not feel like an obligation. It was also made clear that each and every one of us new members was offered a bid for a reason and that our sisters truly love who we are. Expectations were also crystal clear from day one: we are always wearing our letters so we must represent our sorority well at all times. This included a six-week dry period for us new members, and failure to comply with these expectations could jeopardize us getting initiated. Fortunately, everyone in my new member class got initiated!

Of course, being a new member in a sorority would not be complete if the excitement of big little reveal did not serve as a highlight of this time. In my sorority, the new members and potential bigs had a say in who we wanted our bigs and littles to be. This process was stressful at times and greatly anticipated but when big little reveal finally happened, it was amazing. I loved finally finding out who my big was and being so happy about getting to have such an amazing person be my big! I loved being so surprised by the amazingly thoughtful gifts she gave me and how I got to surprise her with gifts and crafts as well! The night of big little reveal was full of so much love that has continued into today. I could not have been happier to be a part of it.

As I look back on how much my life changed from bid day to initiation day, I am still amazed. I have met and become friends with so many outstanding women that I wouldn't have met if it was not for my sorority. I have made so many new friends who have made my life so much better. I am rarely bored anymore and I know that my sisters will always be there for me no matter what happens in my life. I know that whenever I want to celebrate or cry, I have sisters who are willing to do either with me and that is such a comforting feeling. Of course, none of this would have been possible without the wonderfully dedicated women who guided us new members through this six week process and successfully led us to initiation. I love them so much and appreciate the hours of work that they put into new member classes, big little reveal, and so much more. They are the unsung heroes of sororities everywhere and I am so grateful that they cared about every new member so much. I am so happy that I have made the choice to be a sorority woman and I encourage women across college campuses to look into Greek Life because it can truly change your life in ways you never thought were possible.