So you’ve just accepted (or are about to accept) a bid to your brand new (but technically really old) sorority. Congratulations! You’re probably feeling a whole lot of things right now. Excitement, relief, maybe some nervousness. It’s all normal. You’ve just been inundated with follow requests and wall posts and spontaneous door decorations in your dorm room and it’s all been very overwhelming. But once the dust settles, you’ll have to confront the fact that you are miles away from all your friends and family and all these “sisters” you’ve found are actually perfect strangers. It can be scary. But trust me, what you’re feeling is normal. This is what you need to know about your first semester in a sorority.
Some girls make best friends right away, some don’t.
It’s an awful feeling when you look around and it seems like everyone in your pledge class has already found their bridesmaids when you’re constantly scrounging for someone to show up to an event with. But if you’re the latter, you’re probably in the majority. Best friendships don’t form overnight. The reason that clique of BFFs seems like they comprise the whole damn PC is because they are vocal, really excited, and go to everything. You need to go to everything, even if you walk in alone. That’s how you make those BFFs. Trust me, there are tons of girls in your pledge class who haven’t found their home within the chapter yet. You just need to find them, and the only way to find them is to show up.
You’re probably not going to be hazed…yet.
Hazing is more of a fraternity thing. Some sororities haze, and if you’re in a chapter that does, I don’t really know how to break down what’s real and what’s myth when it comes to your pre-initiation period, because my sorority didn’t. You will, however, undergo a form of “hazing” once you’re initiated. You’ll be responsible for going to all the shit no one wants to go to. If there are mandatory speakers or events that your chapter needs a certain amount of girls at, you will be expected to volunteer. You will be expected to volunteer to be a sober sister. And you will be expected to volunteer to go to extra service hours. It might seem like a drag to be solely responsible for the “boring” parts of sorority life, but honestly, it’s a good way to make friends in your pledge class. Plus, if you put in your time now, you won’t have to do shit senior year.
Big/Little Week will be incredible.
This is not an exaggeration, Big/Little Week was one of the most fun weeks of my life. There is very little that can make you truly feel like a kid on Christmas morning when you’re an adult, but this does. Every day you come home with surprises waiting for you. Every day comes with the possibility of boys serenading you or sisters kidnapping you, and there is SO. MUCH. SORORITY. MERCH. The only bad part about Big/Little is that you have so many new lettered shirts and you can’t wear them for several more weeks until you’re initiated.
Initiation will be weird.
You know how in the movies, they act like sororities have this weird cult-like aspect to them at night? With robes, and candles, and weird knocking, and the girls speak Latin and Old English? Yeah, well that’s actually true. You don’t have to like, swear you’re not going to make out with a Sigma Chi or anything, but it’s a spooky little process. But if you can get past the fact that some girl you saw taking shots of Fireball right now is currently speaking in strange tongues in a robe, it’s actually kind of cool that every single girl who’s initiated to your sorority has been a part of this ritual since the 1800s or early 1900s, and nobody else has experienced it. It’s kind of like a bonding experience to sisters near, far, past, and future. Or it’s just some creepy shit in robes that you have to deal with. Either way.
It really is the start of an incredible journey.
Everyone is welcoming you to the BEST FOUR YEARS OF YOUR LIFE, and it’s overwhelming. You are so confused right now and don’t really feel close to anyone yet, and you can’t quite imagine these being your best friends forever at this point. But they are. The reason everyone is so excited to have you is because they’re honestly just so excited about their own lives — about their own experiences with this sorority, and they are happy that more people are going to get to be a part of something so dear to them.
So buckle up. It really is going to be an amazing ride..
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Veronica Ruckh
Veronica (@VeronicaRuckh) is the Director of Total Sorority Move for Grandex, Inc. After having spent her undergraduate years drinking $4 double LITs on a patio and drunk texting away potential suitors, she managed to graduate with an impressive GPA and an unimpressive engagement ring -- so unimpressive, in fact, some might say it's not there at all. Veronica has since been fulfilling her duties as "America's big," a title she gave to herself with the help of her giant ego. She has recently switched from vodka to wine on weekdays. Email her at [email protected]
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