Across the nation, bid day is the equivalent to Christmas for sorority girls. Ranking which houses you want is like writing your wish list for Santa and waiting to open your bid is like waiting to see if you were on the nice list. My friends back home would probably think I am making dramatic comparisons but this is seriously how it works. Those few moments before you open your bid is something you never forget. Your hands shake, you sweat from the nerves (& the heat), and everything around you seems irrelevant. All that matters is the bid in your hand.
The common caption throughout social media is “bid day best day.” But what happens when bid day isn’t the best day for everyone? It is a sad but true reality that not everyone will get her #1 house. Between quota and rankings, girls aren’t guaranteed a spot in the house that felt most like home.
Imagine you are opening your bid and feeling so ready and confident that you will be running to your #1 house on bid day. Everyone around you starts screaming with excitement over their bids but suddenly you see that your bid isn’t the one you had imagined you’d receive. Many girls feel hurt and confused.
“How can they not want me?”
“I thought she was going to be my future big.”
“What did I do wrong?”
I recently had a younger freshman come to me and vent to me about how our house was her third choice. She was scared and confused because all she imagined was her running to the other houses. She did not want to ruin everyone else’s fun on bid day so she stuck it out and put a smile on her face when deep down she knew she didn’t have the feeling of excitement that she had dreamt about throughout rush week.
My mom always says that everything happens for a reason and I have surely learned that she is right. To all the girls that did not get their dream house, there is a reason you ended up on a different lawn on bid day. Maybe you were not going to fit in at your #1 house because sororities sadly only show you what they want you to see during recruitment. Maybe you will find your best friend and that never would have happened if you were given a different house. Maybe you never would have met your amazing big. You may not realize it now but eventually you will see why you ended up on the lawn of a different house.
Right now you may feel clustered and not know what to do but believe me everything truly does happen for a reason. The excitement you did not feel on bid day will be replaced by the good memories that you will collect throughout your time in your new unexpected home. The house you didn’t picture on bid day will become a home that you will never want to leave. That is my promise to you.