Lipscomb social clubs just ended their 10 day new member orientation, just like other universities have been accepting new sorority and fraternity members in the last few weeks. College students know what pledging season means. It means that one minute, you can be studying in silence at Starbucks, and the next minute, a group of pledges can run by reppin' Greek letters and screaming about how their club is just the BEST there ever was. For some people, it's a surprise to find yourself rushing. For others, it's a careful process of visiting the different sorority houses at your university. Or maybe you’ve wanted to pledge since you were a freshman in high school and you knew exactly which sisterhood you wanted to join. Either way, you now know that the process of pledging is both difficult and rewarding. Here are five reasons that pledging a sorority is the best and worst experience of your college semester. (For our purposes, we’ll focus on sororities, but fraternities can certainly apply.)

You spend most of your time with your sisters.

If you aren’t sleeping or showering, you’re with the other actives and pledges. For some girls, this is perfectly fine. They love being with people as much as possible. But for the extreme introverts, who need their alone time in order tofunction, or for the insecure girls who don’t know as many people in the group, this process can be very, very stressful. Still, spending hours on end with new and old sisters is a great bonding experience you can't get anywhere else.

Everyone is on a time crunch.

What do you do when you need that two-hour break between Genetics and Microbiology to study, but you have to be in the student center helping your new pledges? Wait until midnight, of course. As soon as your pledges are dismissed in the evening, it’s time for homework. The obvious problem here is that you will want to go to sleep or watch Netflix instead. Plus, every element of your schedule has to be worked around events during the day. It’s all about finding those short 10- or 15-minute breaks to run back to the dorm and change.

You’ll be pushed out of your comfort zone.

This one is specifically for pledges. Your actives will likely have you do things that you aren’t necessarily comfortable with, like meeting people you don’t know or an embarrassing outfit. First of all, keep in mind that it doesn’t last forever. But more importantly, meeting new people and learning more about your new sisters definitely helps you to grow. You’ll be more connected with the Greek community on campus, and you’ll know more about your sisters once pledging is over.

You’ll learn how to act under extreme stress and pressure.

This one is difficult for active members and pledges alike. Being around multiple girls for days and hours on end will inevitably cause some frustration and tension. But remember, it’s how you respond to that frustration that counts. Pledging is a valuable opportunity to demonstrate that you love your sisters, even when you disagree with them or someone is being really annoying. Remember that everyone is tired, everyone has problems, and everyone has different personalities. This too shall pass.

You have a lot of sisters.

In the future there will be laughter, tears, drama, crafting, big/little reveals, clothing swaps, birthday celebrations, and movie nights. There may be some heartbreak along the way. But loving people, though painful at times, is one of the most rewarding experiences in the world. Share yourself and your heart with your sisters, and you might be surprised at how wonderful pledge week really was. And get used to it, because you’ll be doing it over and over again until you graduate.