Big/Little Week!! It’s finally here! I have been waiting for this day ever since I joined my sorority, Delta Zeta. It is a right of passage as a sorority woman to take a ‘little sister’ to guide her through her years in college and beyond. She’s also a guaranteed addition to your wedding party. This week I was finally getting mine. After a month of sister dating, list making, and family conversations, I was going to have one for my own. Despite me over-analyzing since the beginning of the process, the experience of the week was not what I expected. For one thing, I realized I was not as prepared for all the stress as I anticipated I would be.
Follow me as I journal about my week and hopefully I can better help you ease into your Big/Little process.
Monday
7:00 pm: Tonight is the night I find out who my little sister (aka: little, lit, smol, baby) will be and I am beyond excited! My big sister (aka: big, biggie, mama) just came over with two pints of Halo Top ice cream to pass the time. In the other room I hear my roommate on the phone with the new member committee. It sounds like she just got her little, which means I should be getting mine anytime now. My heart is pounding, it’s started.
8:00 pm: I am currently freaking out and texting my friend and fellow DZ, Jess. We hate this waiting period. More and more people are hearing who they have and we still have not gotten our call! Me being me, I decided to make a spreadsheet with the list of all the Big/Little pairs. My hope is I can figure out my little by process of elimination. My big is next to me laughing because she too made a spreadsheet for this reason. Of course. This is why we’re perfect for each other.
9:00 pm: Still no call. My hands are now shaking.
10:00 pm: …. Courtesy of Tenor
11:00 pm: I still haven’t gotten called and now I’m worried I’m not going to get a little. That usually never happens, but you never know. It seems like everyone has gotten a little but me, and I am currently freaking out!
12:00 am: My big is sitting here talking me out of the mini panic attack I’m having. This whole system is cruel OMG! Why is it taking so long?! To make matters worse, all the Halo Top is gone and the mini mart is closed.
1:04 am: *Ring* OH MY GOODNESS IT’S THE CALL! IT’S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW! I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO! IM FREAKING OUT!! I answer, “Hello?” “Hi Abby, I was wondering if you would be willing to take Abby M. as your little” “YES YES YES THANK YOU!!” WOO I got my number one!! I have my little and I love her! I can’t wait until she knows who I am after reveal on Thursday! That day was a frickin’ whirlwind! Although my stress levels had me over the moon, I am so excited to see how the rest of the week goes!
Tuesday
Today I have to make clues to give to my little who won’t find out who I am until Thursday night. Sometimes people give really cute presents, some write letters, and some people even decorate their dorm rooms. I want to throw my little, Abby, off so she has no idea who I am. I want her to be completely surprised! So for my first clue I’m making a crossword puzzle about myself, however all the answers are false. Maybe that’s mean, but I think it’ll make reveal that much more exciting. For my second clue I’m giving her a cactus with a little note attached saying “Guess I’m stuck with you.” Also mean but again, don’t want her to try and guess who I am. My third clue is definitely the most off putting one of all. I’m making her a ‘guess who’ game board with pictures of girls who are taking littles. HOWEVER, I didn’t put a picture of me on the board. Ugh, this is going to be so.much.fun!!
Thursday
Wednesday went by like a blur. I tried my hardest not to think about reveal, but it was impossible. That continued into this morning as I was sitting in class. There was simply no way I could focus on my professor’s lectures. I was finally released from my Research Methods class and now I am racing back to my apartment to get ready for the night. I have so much to do! The costume I ordered for my family to wear just hadn’t been delivered by the time promised. I’ll tell ya, Amazon Prime can seriously let you down sometimes… but that’s besides the point. Now I have to figure out a way to re-create the costume in 4 hours. My family is going to be “the wolf pack” which just consists of a t-shirt with a giant wolf face plastered on the front. I’ve decided the easiest way to make this is to get some transfer paper and iron it onto some shirts. I’m hopping into an uber now and racing to Target, Staples, and Marshalls to pull this costume together.
5:00 pm: Okay, I’m finally back. I have all my materials, but I have two hours to print the sheets, iron on the wolf faces, get ready, and get my butt to Behrakis by 7pm, in time for the reveal. This is going to be tight. I have never worked with this transfer paper so this is going to be interesting. Hopefully it all works out okay.
6:45 pm: Well…. I have tried everything but this picture just doesn’t want to adhere to my shirts. I guess my only hope is to hot glue these babies on. This is going to be a tight squeeze. Wish me luck while I try to whip this all together.
7:05 pm: Right now I’m sprinting to Behrakis. My shirts are looking super ratchet but whatever, I tried my best. Let’s hope I can get to the room on time.
7:10 pm: I made it to the room, I have my shirts, I’m in line, and, now, I can finally breathe. I still can’t get over the fact that Abby is going to meet me as her big in a matter of minutes. I am stoked!!
How this reveal is going to work: all the bigs are going to be standing under a blanket in a line, their littles are going to be filed in in front of them until the new member educator, Kat, says “Okay you can take your blankets off.” Under my blanket I am freaking out. I can hear her right in front of me giggling. Kat says “okay” and I throw that blanket off so fast and I am grabbing Abby so hard! She is shaking, and so am I! This is one of the best moments I have ever experienced in my whole life, I’m not kidding. Little moments like these are what makes being part of a Greek organization so special. This moment right here is the start of a life long bond, and I cannot wait to see how our friendship will grow and progress in the coming years.
Me and Abby meeting each other as Big and Little for the first time; Courtesy of Abby Melton
Tonight as I walked home with Abby, we were talking about the experience and how happy we are to have found each other. Although we have only known each other for a month, I know we are going to become an extremely important part of each other’s lives, and that is one of the best feelings in the world. This experience is crazy and stressful and at times can seem superficial, and I am so unbelievably blessed to be a part of it.