They say you find your home away from home on Bid Day when you find out which sorority you are about to join, but for me, I did not find that home until a year later. Don't get me wrong, my freshman year in Sigma Kappa was one of the best years of my life. The older members were the type of people I aspired to be: fun, adventurous, and welcoming. I had a blast at the social events, I wanted to go to meeting to see everyone, I volunteered to help with philanthropy events. I loved Sigma Kappa but that feeling of home was never something I could honestly say I felt.

There is a saying that I have heard possibly 117 times in the past three years, and that saying is this; “From the outside looking in, you can never understand it. From the inside looking out, you can never explain it."

During my freshman year, I heard this over and over again from older members, and I would just nod my head in agreement, pretending like I knew what that actually meant. I had no clue what it meant. I thought this was the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard. What do you mean you can’t explain something from the inside? Why can’t you? Is everything a secret? It sounded like some inspirational quote I would find on Pinterest and scroll pass while rolling my eyes. At the time, if someone asked me about my sorority, I could have painted a pretty darn accurate picture of it, because I hadn’t experienced this feeling of a home away from home yet. But come my sophomore year, I was in for a revelation.

Work week is the best of times, and the worst of times. It means you get to sit in a room for 15 hours a day with the same people for five days straight, but it also means you get to know so many details about your fellow sorority sisters that you would have never known otherwise. Sometimes it takes going through the bad times with someone to make you grow closer. When looking at work week from the outside, it sounds like something that should be a punishment. Singing and bouncing and clapping all day? No thank you. But when looking at it from the inside, it is wonderful; getting to know so many new people, being able to hang out with your friends without distractions or places to be, and, most importantly, it is the beginning of what your future chapter will become.

Sigma Kappa has been there for me through the good times, the bad times, the fun times, and the really ugly times; and following the five days of work week, I felt at home and finally understood what it felt like to not be able to explain it from the inside.