The new excitement of receiving a bid from the sorority of your choice is beginning to die down and some new anxiety may be setting in. You are seem to be struggling to find that "at home" feeling that all of the sisters during recruitment were talking about. Fear not, this is a completely normal fear and I have some advice for you.
I remember feeling this exact way. I was wondering where all of these sisters were that I could call at two in the morning if I needed them or to have spontaneous girls nights with. I was confused as to why I still felt lonely and unsure if I had made the right decision of where I called "home." I sat around and spent a lot of time alone. I was discouraged and didn't see the point in getting involved if I didn't feel as if I was fitting in. Boy, was I wrong.
It turns out that I needed to do the opposite. I needed to immerse myself in the crowd and I couldn't expect it to just come to me. So, you shouldn't either. Most girls feel just like you and all it takes is just one experience that you didn't think you would enjoy, but you went anyway to find a long lasting friendship or make a forever memory.
This experience is just like when you moved into your dorm room or apartment. You had to make it your home. You had to decorate the walls and organize it to the way that fit you best. Your sorority is going to be the same way.
The best way to make this group of girls and these letters feel like home is to make it your home. Join the committees that interest you the most, go to the sisterhood event that seems 'lame,' attend the mixer with the fraternity you don't know much about. Take a risk. Do something different. Make this chapter your own.
I know this new chapter of your life is intimidating, and it's hard to approach without any form of anxiety that you may be rejected. The truth is there will be moments as you spend your next four years being a member of your sorority that you will feel rejected or let down. Don't let that scare you away from being involved. Take these moments of uneasiness and learn from them. Let them lead you to your strengths that you didn't know you had and make you aware of your weaknesses so that you may improve.
Home is where the heart is they say, and this is true. If you aren't putting your heart into your letters you can't expect it to become your home. Get involved. Take a chance. Talk to anyone and everyone you meet on this journey. And most importantly make every memory you possibly can and cherish it. Before you know it, you'll only have one year left and you'll wonder where it all went and wishing you had more time.
My last piece of advice is to be patient. This is the most important thing you can do because even after you have become involved and reached out to people you never thought you would it may still not feel 100 percent like you've found your place. You must be patient and keep moving and one day you'll be laughing with your sisters at that random sisterhood event, homecoming competition, or chapter and it will be time to go home, but you won't want to. It turns out you were already at home and you just didn't see it until now because you were too busy having fun.
