Maintaining Friendships Outside of Your Sorority

For those of you freshmen, and upperclassmen as well, that have survived the marathon that is sorority rush,
 congratulations! You have been in a sorority for about a month now and have presumably had many fun and awesome experiences with your sisters so far (trust me, it gets better. HELLOOOO FORMAL). You all obviously made the right decision and picked the best sorority for you. The only problem now, is most of your best friends have all separated into different sororities or might have decided not to join one. You might be wondering, how do I keep these friendships as strong as they were pre-sorority social overload?
 
Pre-planned meals.
As tedious as it might sound, everyone has crazy college schedules, even with activities other than sorority ones.
 Planning a meal with your friends might seem silly, but you will appreciate it once you get to sit down with them and catch up on all the latest boy and sorority gossip.
 
Pregames.
If you are always getting ready for parties on the row with your new sorority sisters, your other friends might begin to feel neglected. Take a night to get ready together like old times in the first weeks of freshman year. It will be a welcome walk down memory lane.
 
Bring a girl friend to one of your own sorority events.
Who said you always have to bring a random frat bro as a date to a date party? Bringing your best friend outside of your sorority has so many benefits. One, the girl will get to meet and hang out with all your sisters and will feel more included. Two, you don’t have to worry about wearing your highest, hottest, most painful heels to impress a guy. You can relax and dance the night away and be silly with your bestie. Three, girl dates are much lower maintenance than dates with boys. Your girls will most likely know many other people at the party, and both of you can feel free to mingle and make moves all around.
 
Girls Night.
Spend a night in watching movies and hanging out with your girl friends. You know we can always use that one
night every once in awhile where we forgo our five-inch heels, tight dresses, and sparkly eye shadow to spend a night relaxing. This is one of those nights where you get to let your guard down around your closest girl friends, watch movies (romantic comedies, obvi, so you can cry on each other’s shoulders and no judgment will be passed), eat junk food, and just chill out. As superhuman as you might think you are, going hard three to four nights a week will catch up to you eventually.
 
Live together.
Nobody says you have to live in the lodge. Even though you are in different Greek organizations, you can still live together in suites in Woodruff or Clifton, or in off campus apartments! This way, you’re guaranteed to see them…at least while you’re sleeping.  
 
As long as you put in the effort, it is possible to maintain friendships outside of your sorority. As wonderful as sorority life is, beware not to get too wrapped up in it that you begin to forget about the other wonderful people in your life. Just remember to actively keep your friends updated on your life and spread the pan-Hellenic love!