You just don’t understand. Your sorority friends are freaking out and all you hear is: “Who will she be?”, “What if she doesn’t like me?”, “Oh my god, I’ve spent so much money my parents are going to kill me!”, and “Shoot, how am I going to get all this stuff to her room?” If you are hearing these phrases, the chances you are a non-greek life member caught in the middle of sorority sporting besties as they commence their annual “Big/Little” week are well….very high. They have tried to explain the process to you, but with each girl’s chapter doing Big/Little week a different way, it only causes more confusion. All you know is this week involves a lot of glitter, outrageous amounts of fattening snacks and if you live with soon to be “Bigs”, then an apartment covered in paint. For those who are lost in translation of “Big/Little” week then let this be your simple guide to grasp the slightest idea of this week stuffed full of screaming, smiling girls.
How One Gets A Little
Every sorority from chapter to chapter across the US of A has various ways in how the Big/Little selection is done and each process is usually kept confidential. Your friends may share how their own sororities do it but all you need to know is each chapter’s system works for them and proves successful!
Secret Stalking and Socializing
All of a sudden you have about twenty-five new Facebook friend requests with crazy names. It’s not some rando trying to creep on you, it’s most likely the new secret Facebook page a Big has created for her Little in order to stalk the little’s shameful middle school pictures she forgot to delete and resurface them for the public to enjoy, or make those hilarious face-in-hole pictures of the Little’s face inside a hot dog. The accounts created are so new Bigs can talk to their littles about things they like to eat, drink, and well….eat. They can also tell them when to be out of the room so Bigs can sneak in and begin decorations that will soon be displayed all over Instagram and Facebook.
Shopping and Snacking
It’s no lie that taking a little costs A LOT. Between endless amount of snacks, drinks and baked goods to the giant trips to the dollar store for balloons streamers and other random odds and ends that fill up all the random space. Not to mention all of the crafting supplies, paint, mason jars, canvases, glitter, and more glitter all adding to the grand total. As a non-sorority girl, be sensitive to your friends’ wallets during the weeks before Big/Little week. If they don’t want to order-in or travel to the North End for pasta, or even skip out on you for the LF sale, just remember…it’s Big/Little week.
It’s All About Presentation
Half-naked men delivering a little sushi courtesy of her big and Greek life men serenading the little in song. You may even be recruited as a co-decorator – consider yourself lucky to get in on the crafts without the added pressure of having to perfect it. All of their favorite snacks are in one place sprawled throughout the room surrounded by a bundle of free clothing, with an obnoxious amount of sorority letters and colors. The point of it all is to make the Little not only feel wanted by her Big but moreover welcomed to the love of the entire sorority.
The Reveal
The end has finally come. The common room turned to kids crafting room for the last few weeks can finally be cleared of glitter because Big/Little reveal day has come. Like selection, every sorority has their own way of revealing the identity of Bigs and Littles. The most important thing to know about reveal is there will be a LOT of social media posted within minutes of them and you should be warned that if you live with sorority girls receiving littles then you there will probably be a lot of chatting about the night and lots of smiling when they return home. All you have to think of is…it’s over! And now this little person (or people if you know someone with twins) will be a relevant person in your friend’s or roomie’s life and may or may not be a new member of the friend group. But if you are pleased with your besties, chances are their littles are similar to them.