After the excitement of Welcome Week wore off and work and tests began to pile on, I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed and out of place. Although others were feeling the same way at first, my feelings intensified, and I found myself aching for home. I went to a private high school where my graduating class was 82 people. Most of my friends stayed at schools close to home, and I chose to go to Northwestern, which is a plane ride away.
I had never started as a “new kid” because I had gone to the same school since I was 5 years old and the same summer camp since I was 9. Coming to Northwestern, I couldn't help but feel as if everyone had an advantage over me and like I would never be able to make the same kinds of friends as I did at home. I eventually got better adjusted and made friends throughout Fall Quarter, but a part of me would never let my friends at home go. I was constantly video chatting, Facebooking and texting my high school friends. I put a lot of pressure on rush at the beginning of Winter Quarter, hoping that the bond of sisterhood (as cliché as that sounds) would force me to make that final push to calling Northwestern my home.
At the beginning of rush, I got nervous and thought I had focused too much on the process. I didn’t see myself becoming friends with anyone from my rush group, and I didn’t understand how just because I was in a sorority with someone I would soon feel as close to them as I did with my friends at home. However, throughout the process I noticed that the small things made a huge difference. I would run into people I knew from my rush group on Sheridan or out at a party, and I already started feeling more settled. I started feeling like an insider because I knew, recognized and talked to more people every day. Even walking into the Allison dining hall, I felt that I could sit down with numerous people, all who I had met through the rush process. I know that finishing Fall Quarter helped a lot with my transition, but the immediate bond I felt with my pledge class on bid day was the first moment where I could actually say that I loved school.
The excitement from every single girl in the house on bid night was overwhelming. I laughed at the random facts that each active said and was filled with anticipation of the cool stories I would soon have with my new pledge class. As I watched some of my new sisters fall off their chairs from a hypnotist at one event, I knew that these were the girls who would shape my college experience. I always imagined I’d “Go Greek,” but I never thought I would become the stereotypical sorority girl that is obsessed with her sisters.
Even after two weeks, I can really see what those girls are talking about. I have instantly made new friends and become closer with people I already knew. Overall, I feel a boost in my level of confidence. Fall Quarter I was a quiet, little freshman who would be too nervous to introduce herself to anyone. I can now be in a room with all upperclassmen and feel confident to walk up to any of my new sisters or their friends. Every night I will get an email about social events on campus, and I always know that someone from my sorority will tell me about any event happening that weekend. While my sorority has helped me socially, it has also helped me academically. I know that no matter what class I have, I will always find someone from my sorority to sit with, help me with a project or study with me for a test. Even when I am just procrastinating on Facebook, I find myself laughing hysterically from the posts and pictures in my sorority’s group. The pride and excitement I have for my new chapter is the reason I can finally move on from high school and 100 percent settle in. I am no longer worried about making amazing friends or being obsessed with my school, because I can already see it is happening.