A year is a long time in theory, but in reality it is over before you know it. Time has a strange way of slowing down and dragging on through hardship and rough patches, and speeding up through the moments you wish would last forever, just as you're getting a grip.
Sitting here, a typical day in April, my first year here is coming to an end. Looking back, it is easy to identify all that has changed since September, but I can't put my finger on when.
It's amazing how each individual day and week mirror each other, none in particular sticking out as a catalyst of change, yet collectively they add up to put me, a different person, with different goals and responsibilities in a different place than last year.
In less than twelve months I have met so many new people; people that I now spend the entirety of my days with, people that inspire me, and people that I can no longer picture my life without.
Even as so much in my personal life has changed with the transition from home to school, the important people that I have found this year have remained the same...these people are my sisters.
Believe me, I know how cheesy that might sound. But trust that when I talk about the sisterhood that my sorority has given me, I don't mean the pink and the pearls, the hand signs, and the monograms.
No, when I say "sisterhood" I'm referring to the consistency; the knowledge that there will always be someone there for me to cry to, talk to, or laugh with, the fact that being in a sorority isn't a "fun club" that you join for four years but a pact you make for life, and the comfort of having something remain constant even as everything else changes day to day, week to week, and year to year.
My sorority gave me a home away from home.
It gave me a 'family' that I aspire to be like and that I am beyond lucky to have.
Here's looking at you biggy and gbig.
Study buddies that make study sessions more fun and (less) productive.
Smiling faces and waves hello on my walks to class.
It's the little things in life.
It gave me eye-watering, stomach-tightening, ugly, loud laughter.
It gave me 2am Chinese food runs and 2pm aimless walks to whole foods.
It gave me something to be a part of, something that I am proud to be a part of.
So go ahead, label me as a 'sorority girl' because I wear my letters proudly and I am happy to be a member of, not only my sorority, but a larger Greek community of women that lifts and supports each other.
At the beginning of the year, I felt alone, like I had to keep all my struggles to myself in fear of burdening someone else. Now, I am surrounded by sisters, who, no matter how unique or different from myself, all have our chapter and sisterhood in common.
I don't feel alone, I feel supported and loved. I'm no longer bothered by what I may have lost in my transition from home to college, I am content with what I have gained. I don't fear the future, for I know that what's meant to last will.
As the years fly by and the power of time changes what's around us without our slightest realization, I am certain that my sisters will remain that constant. My sorority gave me that certainty, the assurance that I will never be alone.
