One of the hallmarks of sorority life is becoming a big and getting a little. This time of year, now that recruitment has long since been over, and new member education is in full swing, anxious potential bigs experience something far more serious in some cases than finding a potential life partner–a little. Someone that is essentially your first practice child, little sister and best friend for life, all in one soul.
Getting the phone call that you will be receiving a little is a life changing moment. I’m not exaggerating. In that instant, you realize you’re basically becoming a mom and if you weren’t lowkey nesting before this moment, you are in overdrive after that call.
This means late night runs to the craft store, getting glitter on literally EVERYTHING (from your phone case to your chem notes) and trying to hold yourself back from tackling your future baby every time you see them. It’s hard work prepping for a new addition to the fam. But getting to work on elaborate canvases and shirts and paddles and seeing the look on their faces will be totally worth it.
If you’ve been through a semester in a sorority, then you know what the flip side of all of this is like. You’ve been on what feels like hundreds of meal dates, haven’t seen your non-Greek friends in weeks, and by the day the big/little list is due, you feel like you’ve been on this extended version of recruitment when it comes to girl-dating.
As you rank each sister, you find yourself realizing although you may have put down 15 names, your numbers 1, 2, and 3 are basically the only people you feel really strongly about. As you sit there and reminisce from that first meal date with #1, you can’t help but feel like this is going to be a 1 to 1 match. Yet you’re terrified in the week leading up to reveal, that they equally feel the same. As you fall asleep at night, you lay there in terror that they met someone they liked better… only of course to receive blatant lies during your week of hints so you know you were right all along.
There’s no one you end up feeling more connected to than your big sis. She’s been through it all so when she says don’t do something, at least you know when you go and mess up big time, she’s going to have your back no matter what. By the time the next year’s recruitment process comes around, you can’t help but wonder if that adorable PNM you spoke with during one of the rounds will be your little! At least in my fam, we’ve been doing this kinda thing for the last few generations.
Regardless of what side you happen to be on this season, enjoy it! You only get one chance to be a little and one chance to be a big!