This past year, I lived in my sorority house with thirty other girls. When I joined my sorority in August of 2017, I had no interest in living in the house. Shoebox rooms, community bathrooms, another roommate – why would I? By November of that same year, I was signing a contract with our house mom for a year’s rent.
I was convinced by curiosity, that this is the only time I could experience this and whether good or bad, I could say I did it. I’ve been trying to live this way recently – saying “yes” just to see what life throws at me. Sure, it wasn’t the most luxurious living, but it might make a good story someday.
After a year, I can confidently say it is nothing like I would have imagined. The movies got it all wrong: girls bouncing on mattresses in their crop top pajamas hitting each other with silk pillows. Nope. Instead, I found a community of support, authenticity, silliness, and chiefly, a group of girls who are confidently and unapologetically themselves.
Anyone who’s had a college roommate can agree that when you live with someone, you can’t hide your true self. You are with them for hours on end during meals, studying, sleeping, and shenanigans, so you have to be completely yourself, take it or leave it. But what about having thirty roommates? Thirty people to constantly be with, eat with, study with, sleep with? It works the same way.
With a pledge class of about 110 (and a sorority of 330), we all knew of each other, but we didn’t know each other. Having a sorority this large has its ups and downs – you are bound to make friends, but it is also impossible to have a personal relationship with everyone. Because of how sorority recruitment works (placing members based on personalities and values), we all had bonding qualities from the beginning. It was easy to connect with people and find common interests because recruitment had already placed us with people we get along with. It was a quick turnover from thirty somewhat related strangers to actor obsessions and inside jokes.
I’m not going to be cliché and say that it’s like living with thirty best friends, because the truth is we weren’t all best friends. Someone will always slam the doors at 1 am, someone will leave their dishes everywhere, someone will always take the middle shower right before you, and it’s easy to get annoyed with each other. No matter how many times you ask, some things won’t change. However, I’ll be even more cliché and say it’s like living with thirty sisters. We may not all be best friends, we may sometimes want to kill each other, but no matter what we all come together at the end of the day. We forgive and forget because the bond that holds us together is more important than minor living issues.
Perks and pains of living in the house
Many of the benefits that come with living in the house also come with a huge disadvantage – the best parts are also the worst. There is a necessary balance when it comes to sharing a mansion.
1. Every night is a sleepover
Being constantly surrounded by friends means boredom is rare. No matter the hour (and I mean no matter the hour), people are awake. There is never a dull night, and there are always people ready for an adventure. On the flip side, you better be a heavy sleeper because many of the midnight adventures occur right outside your bedroom. After a few sleepless nights, the “every night sleepover” can get old fast.
2. Constant study buddies and study distractions
Our house is equipped with two study rooms which are occupied by house residents daily. We are all students with ridiculous amounts of work, and it is comforting to know you are surrounded by people who are also struggling. Since many girls have similar majors, there is always someone there to answer questions and study with. While I love the group study setting, there are nights where I’ve spent seven hours in the study room, but five of the hours goofing off and gossiping with other house girls. When no one is committed to studying, procrastination takes on a whole new level.
3. Food! All…the…time…
As per school rules, every member of a housed Greek organization must be on the Greek meal plan. This means that each house has a chef and kitchen staff, and all members eat at the house regularly. The best part about living in the house was never having to cook or wait for meals. I would come back from class, walk to the kitchen, and boom – a full lunch was waiting for me. Even after the chefs left for the day, there was never a shortage of leftovers and snacks. Even better, when the snacks ran out, they would magically refill within a day. The sorority also puts on many events at the house that include food, and when there are leftovers, they are carried upstairs and put on the table for house girls to fight over like savages. The con here is obvious – I ate WAY too many pop tarts and I am now in withdrawal.
What is a house mom?
While she is technically called a “property manager,” every member in the house calls her a “house mom” because it fits her role much better. A house mom is a magical fairy that works for the house board and lives in the house (in a downstairs apartment). She handles all maintenance, chefs, snacks, and house morale. The best thing about having a house mom is the fun events she puts on for house girls. When we first moved in, she made us all smoothie bowls one morning. We have also had Halloween cookie decorating parties, a pancake breakfast, and little gifts for St. Nick’s day. During exams, she bought us face masks, DIY essential oil rollers, and kinetic sand (which I played with more than I studied). She acts as our “mom away from mom,” keeping us in line but also spoiling us to no end.
The biggest issue we faced this year
Easy. The temperature. In a house with 30+ rooms, it was rare that they were all at the perfect 70°. Instead, half of the rooms would be in the fifties and the others in the eighties, so we were always either bundled or sweating. And worse, whenever someone asked for the thermostat to be changed (which was about five times per day – poor house mom), it wouldn’t even out, but it would flip. Those who were bundled would quickly shed their layers, and those who were sweating became eskimos. No matter how many times we held our doors open or cracked the windows, there was no perfect degree.
While we were by no means the “dumb sorority girl” stereotype, there were many things I heard during the year that I couldn’t help but laugh at knowing we sounded that way. Here are some things I’ve heard around the house (some every week), and granted, I’d be lying if I said that none came from me:
- Why is ABC not working again, the Bachelor is starting like now!
- Why can’t we get a house dog?
- Don’t sweat, you’ll melt off your self-tan
- Chipotle just isn’t the same without the Chipotle fork
- “OMG, I look orange” — “Just shower, it’ll get lighter”
- I only juul when I’m drunk
- Let’s get ice cream
- Who has a black envelope skirt?
- Whoever ordered food, it’s here
- Why can’t we get an ice cream machine?
- I wish my VSCO was my Instagram
- Everyone meet at Beta
- Who has my pink wig?
- Someone drive me to class
- Look, the cops are at KA tonight
- I just posted, everyone hype it up
And for my visual learners, some vines that perfectly reflect this lifestyle:
All in all, living in the house wasn’t perfect. Sure, there was a plate of mold on the porch for a few months. It was a cold war for who would clean the lint container in the dryers, and yes, no one did their weekend chores. It was messy and frustrating and loud. However, I wouldn’t have given it up for the world. I had the chance to live with thirty unique, funny, caring girls who showed themselves at face value and accepted me the same. I got close with people I never thought I would, I laughed until I cried, I cried with friends there to hug me, and I was surrounded by the best kind of people. My journey isn’t over yet – I’ll be living there next semester with a new group of girls, new personalities, and new memories to be made. It’ll be just as imperfect, exactly how I like it.
A gallery of my rooms:
First semester, I lived upstairs with a roommate and second semester, I moved downstairs to a single room because of my council position. I really got the best of both worlds! Here were my rooms:
