The beginning of sorority recruitment this year marked the beginning of my senior year in Phi Mu. I've been a part of this sorority for three years now. I've checked all the boxes for getting the most out of my time in Phi Mu. I've made it through initiation, I've participated in every year of recruitment, I took two littles my sophomore year, I've served in a leadership position, I've made my grades, and I've paid my dues. I've literally been there, done that, and gotten the t-shirt. However, at the beginning of my senior year, nothing could have truly prepared me for taking another little.
At the beginning of recruitment this year, I remember finding out there was a girl from my hometown coming through recruitment. Now, you have to know that my school is a good bit away from my hometown. No one ever comes from my hometown. So, when I found out this girl was coming, I knew I HAD to talk to her during recruitment. Recruitment started and it got pretty stressful. So, naturally I kinda forgot about wanting to talk to her. Then skit day rolled around and lo and behold, I end up talking to her. And oh boy, did I fall in love. She's amazing! She's funny, she's awesome, and she fit in perfectly with our chapter. I knew we had to have her.
Finally Bid Day is here, and I hear her name get called out. I start yelling my head off and waving my arms in the air. I HAD to be the one to welcome her home. I wouldn't let anyone else have her. After she ran out to me and the day went on, she just got better. Naturally, we started texting and snapchatting nonstop. I mean, she was amazing, and we are both incredibly awesome. Why wouldn't we talk constantly?
And then it happens. She tells me she wants me as her big.
Just like it was with my first two littles, I can remember exactly how it went when she told me. But this time it was different; I already had two littles I absolutely adore. I'm not prepared to take a little. I have nothing crafted, I have no t-shirts, and I haven't been planning all summer like the youngest pledge class. Did she really want me? Or was it just because I was the only one she knew really well so far? All of this ran through my head.
Nevertheless, I began planning to take another little, and it could not have been a better decision for me to make my senior year. As a senior, you kind of lose your wonder for your sorority. You've been around for a long time, you've seen just about everything, and you know just about everything there is to know. You love your sorority and would do anything for it, but it's lost its wonder as a new, exciting aspect of your life. But taking a little your senior year helps to bring that wonder back. You remember what it was like when you were a Phi and it was your big/little week, how excited you were to come home every day to find your room completely decorated and your bed covered in presents. You get to look back on your first year and remember just how special everything was for you, and what makes it even better is knowing that you're going to be a huge reason in why your little's first year is going to be so special for her.
After lying to my little for an entire week about me not taking her because I was a senior, I finally got to see her face when she found out I was her big. Although I lied to her all week and she cried thinking I wasn't her big, it was all worth it to see that look on her face when she found out it was me.
I say I wasn't prepared to take another little my senior year, and although I may not have been prepared when it comes to the presents she would be getting, my heart was prepared. It started preparing from the moment I met her. I didn't know it, but the moment I met her it meant my perfect little family couldn't be perfect anymore until it had her in it.
Now that she is a part of my family and I finally get to call her little, I can spend the rest of my senior year constantly thanking Phi Mu for bringing us two together. All three of my littles keep me feeling like it's still my first year in Phi Mu, and although it's my last, I can happily say that I know it's not just for four years, it's for a lifetime. Because honestly, who would want to have an amazing group of girls like my littles for only three years?
No...I'm way more blessed than that. They'll be in my life for the rest of my life.
