Family is Everything!

Family is Everything

by Cindy White

Cindy and her Greek Family at Chi Omega's Dishes for Wishes

Moving away to college brings a mix of emotions. The independence is exciting, but leaving home is scary. Although I’m only two hours away from my hometown, it was hard leaving. I love the city of Louisville, I didn’t want to lose connections within my community, and I’m close to my family. Plus, moving away meant I would no longer have my goofy dad to crack jokes when I have a bad day or my mom around to jam out to TSwift with me. What was I going to do without my family at school?

Fortunately, I found a family in Chi Omega. Right after Bid Day, I began going on “Owl Pal” dates with potential Bigs. I got coffee, ate lunch, and went to fitness classes with many sisters. A sophomore at the time, Anne-Marie, reached out to me. We talked at Jazzman’s for an hour and after the coffee date, I knew I wanted her to be my big. I would have been happy to have any of the older girls as my mentor, but I just had a feeling about Anne-Marie.

At Big/Little Reveal last year, I found out I got Anne-Marie as my big sister! I was so pumped to get to know her better and meet the rest of my Greek family. I was immediately assimilated and welcomed into the family, which was appropriately dubbed “the Empire.” We are a linear family, with each of us only being separated by a year in age. We keep in touch with the two girls who have graduated through a group text, sending random messages every once in a while and updating each other on our lives. Over the past year, I’ve gotten to know the four other girls in my family so well.

This year, I was lucky enough to get my own little sister! My little, McKala, and I instantly hit it off when we met before recruitment. She says from the moment she met me, she knew we were going to be close. Now she’s one of my best friends and our Greek family adores her!

The relationships in my big family are so important to me. Alex, who graduated the year before I came to UE, is now one of my closest friends. I still keep in touch with Hayley, who graduated last year and is living back home in Texas. Rebecca is a busy senior this year, but we still keep up with each other. My big and I see each other at least once a week on campus. My little and I are already so close and I can’t wait to see our relationship grow over the next few years.

My Greek family constantly provides me with inspiration, support, and humor. While I miss my family in Louisville, my Greek family makes Evansville feel like home. The six quirky and unique personalities in my family come together to form “the Empire.” I don’t know what I’d do without these women.

Twice the Fun!

Twice the Fun

By: Kristen Buhrmann

Kristen and her Greek family

A tradition among sororities is the Big/ Little program and the life-long relationships forged from that particular bond. A Big (big sister) is someone to look out for you, guide you, love you, spoil you, and be there for you no matter what. Being a Little (little sister) is something that almost every woman joining a sorority looks forward to. Years later, Littles still get together with their big sisters to catch up. Every sister within a sorority is close, but this is an extra-special bond with someone to whom you can always go to for advice.

This semester, I was honored to get not one, but two Littles! In Phi Mu, we lovingly call these twins, because they have the same big sister. Because my Big also had two Littles, making me a twin, I was so excited that I would get the same opportunity as my Big.

Leading up to the reveal, Bigs had four days to leave out gifts for their Littles. The women in our chapter have a tendency to go a little overboard in the spoiling department to show how excited we are for our Littles to be joining our Greek families. Between t-shirts, lions, and random things they like, by the end of the week, our Littles are eager to finally find out who has been spoiling them!

Watching my Littles find out I was their big was one of the most exciting moments I’ve experienced in Phi Mu – even more exciting than finding out who my Big was (which is pretty hard to accomplish).

Since Big/Little reveal a little over a month ago, I’ve gotten the pleasure of seeing my Littles get initiated, taking them out to dinner at IHOP and Buffalo Wild Wings, and hanging out and talking to them. My Littles and I are very busy people, but we find time to eat dinner together and catch up.

Although Bigs love spoiling their Littles, it’s the little moments that remind you how important that bond is. I have a tendency to always get lost or make stupid mistakes whenever I’m driving my Littles, and although it can be embarrassing, they make for wonderful memories to look back upon and laugh. I also have a minor obsession with bows and during Big/Little week, I gave my Littles about 14 bows each. I’m still surprised they weren’t able to piece those clues together since I am always wearing a bow! Whenever one of us spots the other wearing a bow, it’s always fun to giggle about how we have the same one.

I’ve loved every second I’ve spent with my wonderful Littles, Maggie and Payton, and I’m even more excited for all the future memories we’ll make, too. One of the reasons I was so eager to get Littles was that I wanted to be a mentor for someone else. Over the past year, I’ve learned so much about Phi Mu, our sisterhood, and what it means to be part of such a wonderful organization that encourages the bettering of oneself. I’m very enthusiastic to share all that I’ve learned with my Littles.

A Big is there to celebrate the high points with her Little, but also to help her through the low points. Although neither of my Littles has come to a low point yet, I know they are grateful to have me there for support. I can’t even describe how much I look forward to continuing and strengthening this bond with my two amazing Littles!