As with any college student, leaving to go home for the summer is always bittersweet. You’re so enthused to go home, have a regular sized bed and be able to play with your dogs on a daily basis. However, for the girls who have just spent the last nine months living with a decent amount of their sorority sisters, and seeing the rest almost every day, there’s a little extra bitterness. It not only makes it harder to move out and stay home for the summer, but it adds a whole new type of twist.
1. It’s impossible to personally say goodbye to all of your sisters before you leave.
With finals in full swing and everyone leaving school in a staggered fashion, there is no way to hug and give a proper goodbye to all of your sisters. As you spend the summer stalking their social media, you will make sure to remind them how much you miss them.
2. The pain of saying goodbye to your seniors who are graduating.
Senior send-off is never enough. These are the girls that you fell in love with during recruitment, the ones who made sure you felt at home on Bid Day. The thought of coming back in the fall and not being able to grab lunch with them, or hang out on the lounge couches with these girls makes you tear up just thinking about it. Some of these girls have become your absolute best friends, and as happy for them as you are for them to be moving on to bigger and better things, you selfishly wish they never had to leave.
3. The realization you won’t be living with the same girls ever again.
Whether you’re in the sorority house or the on-campus housing provided solely for Greek life, it is very unlikely you will be living with all of the same sisters again. Those 2 a.m. pizza orders while crying about exams and stupid boys come to an end. Soon, it’ll all just be a memory. The events you all held together, when you would come back from recruitment and share your rush crushes with each other, or the day before Bid Day when you all stay up till the early hours of the morning to help the NME with crafts and door signs for the new pledge class you’ll be getting. You say goodbye to your roommate, your best friends down the hall and realize that you’ll never have 25 closets, 25 makeup collections or 25 snack sources ever again. Some of your sisters will be moving off campus, some to apartments on campus and a few will stay in sorority housing, but you will never be able to knock on any door at 2 p.m. in the afternoon and scream about getting an A on an exam you were sure you failed, and have them be just as excited as you are.
4. There’s not enough room in your parents car for all of your crafts, so you have to downsize.
So many canvases, so little room. You know you won’t be able to hang them in your room at home, or will you? Hmm... maybe you’ll just leave a shelf behind so you can make sure that all of your wooden letters, canvases and paddles make it back to your room at home.
5. That awkward moment when your craft supplies spill on the ground when you’re trying to move out.
I’m very sorry about the 300 rhinestones that just fell out of my bag onto the ground next to my car. Mostly sorry because that’s 300 rhinestones I won’t be able to use in future crafts.
6. Your room at home shortly becomes a shrine to your Greek organization of choice.
You love your high school friends and all, but nothing compares to the memories and bonds you have with your sisters, so pictures of your pledge class and older sisters soon replace the old ones on your wall. Those wooden letters you spent hours on cannot be put in storage, so you have to hang them up. Oh, and that paddle that your little made you clearly matches your room... so you have to hang it up too.
7. When having your picture taken, you think to yourself, "How can I make this cute enough for Tumblr?"
Letter tanks, Ray-Bans, flags—you name it. You will go out of your way to take cute pictures to represent your sorority.
8. You make plans to meet up with sisters multiple times throughout the summer.
Whether its driving two hours to have a slumber party or planning a beach trip, you know you won’t be able to go the entire break without seeing your soul mates. Therefore, you meet up and it's like no time has passed.
9. You can’t stop pinning ideas for next year’s sisterhood photo shoots.
Glitter, glitter, did I say glitter? Pinterest had the cutest sisterhood pictures, and even if you have to convince your sisters wearing tutus and nude heels is the new thing, you need it to happen.
10. Social media comments explode.
You feel it’s necessary to tell your sister how cute she looks with her ice cream cone, or in Disney World wearing Mickey Mouse ears... as do all of your other sisters. If a sister posts a cute beach picture, you bet at least 10 sisters are gonna comment with the heart eye emojis.
11. You realize how much your sisters and your sorority means to you.
When you're at the mall and you see girls in letters, you feel obligated to introduce yourself and fangirl about how incredible Panhellenic life has been for you. Your sisters, even if you don’t have a perfect relationship with all of them, help you grow. They’re your biggest cheerleaders, and your confidence has boomed throughout the year. Without them, you know who you are because you are a part of them, and you cannot wait to be reunited in the fall.
I have grown an incredible amount since joining my sorority, and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Happy summer, loves. I'll be waiting for your love in August.
