Inside the walls...

Rush can be a weird thing, right? If you're from the North, you probably don't even know what it is like to be in the South during recruitment week. It's full of decorations, big colorful signs, lots of rush workshops and songs, skits, and even more when getting to know the potential new members. It may seem caddy. You want your house to have the best girls, you want your #1 best friend from high school to come running into your arms on bid day, and you certainly don't want another house to get your favorite girls. What we need to focus on, is that the Lord will put the girls in their right houses, not us.

Here at Ole Miss, we have recruitment week about six weeks into school, unlike most other colleges. At other schools, you go a week early before school starts, rush, and then begin the school year. Ole Miss is lucky to have those six weeks.

During those six weeks we become friends with the girls going through recruitment. The girls see how the sororities act on campus and the members of the sororities can truly create a friendship with the rushees (I know that's not "correct" to call them that, but I didn't know what else to say). Within these six weeks I just experienced, I have met so many new girls that are all incredible and any house would be lucky to have them.

And while all of this is going on six weeks into school, you're balancing your social life, your sorority life, your school work and your family, you become a little overwhelmed. That test might not have gone the way you wanted it to go or your paper might not have reached the full word limit. But I can guarantee you this.. Whatever you were doing that night instead of studying your flashcards for that Anatomy & Physiology test, you will remember. You won't remember that test. If you're painting canvases to give away on Bid Day or if you are having a heart-to-heart with your neighbor in the dorm or DDD House, these are the moments you will remember.

Recruitment brings out the best in everyone, which is hard to believe. Take a look around though. All the houses are about to embark on the one week they have been preparing for since the spring. The recruitment teams specifically chosen by each sorority will get their week to shine and their hard work will pay off.

Amidst the chaos and confusion of rush week, you find happiness, smiles, hugs and tears. Whether it's because your friend didn't go the sorority you thought, or maybe she went your same sorority and you finally get to be sisters, or you're just touched by one of the speeches given during the recruitment rounds, this week is full of so many emotions.

What I love so much about rush is how much it makes me realize how much I love my sorority. Yes, I love the date parties, I love the cute t-shirts we get after each event, and I love walking into the big doors of Tri Delta every day and calling this place home. I love the kitchen staff in the mornings wishing me a happy day and I love how Mr. Kenny bakes you cookies if he knows you are going home to visit your family. I love dance parties in the hallways and I love hearing "Roar" by Katy Perry blast through the house at any given moment.

What I love even more though is the girls inside these walls. The girls I've met here at Tri Delta encourage me to be better every day. To not take "no" for an answer, to encourage me in my walk with the Lord, and to be a shoulder for me to cry on when I come back after a long day.

What I love the most is how much this house has changed me. Looking back at who I was in high school in comparison to now, I am better. The girls in this house taught me how to love one another and be loved on by friends who care. Nothing against my high school friends, but these girls have helped me grow into the person I will become for the rest of my life.

Rush is hectic. I'm not here to tell you it isn't. Some girls get the house of their dreams, while others will be let free from recruitment because the Lord has a bigger & better plan for them. I can't promise you that everyone ends up exactly where they think they are supposed to be.

I can promise you this though. My sorority has impacted me in ways I will always remember and also in ways I probably haven't even seen or realized yet. Behind these walls my life has been rocked and because I know these girls and can call them family, I've been changed for the better.

Tri Delta at Ole Miss has strengthened my relationship with the Lord and led me to pour into other girls. It has taught me to be held accountable, to be there for my friends whenever they need me to be, and to love my friends every day. Walking through these halls I am uplifted by every girl I pass. Whether I am their best friend or just an acquaintance, if I needed anyone in this house, they would be there for me whenever I needed it.

I've always had a hard time explaining what it is like to be inside the walls of Tri Delta, and I still don't feel like I fully expressed what it is like to be a member in this chapter. My mom wasn't in a sorority and sometimes it may seem like my parents just pay the bills. What no one understands is the love inside these walls and you don't really get the full experience unless you're on the inside. It is the strangest, yet most incredible bond.

Tri Delta has changed my life for the better and I hope with these girls going through recruitment this week, they can find a place to call home, just as I did. Whether they come running down Sorority Row, swimming home to Tri Delta, or if they make any other turn to the other eight sorority houses on this campus, everyone ends up where they are supposed to be. The Lord knows where he can use you and make you grow.