Spring Brings Memories of Sisterhood

by: jessica xi, loyola university chicago

Every spring since I can remember, it feels like the busiest time of the year. Of course, summer and fall and winter all feel like that too when it’s their turn, but spring has the transition from the sedate pace of winter to the sunny skies, and I get jealous of the birds and flowers who get to live outside their entire lives while I send emails and go to meetings and have no time for anything at all, or so it seems.

And yet every spring brings back good memories that keep me going instead of just laying down on the grass and becoming a mushroom. Those hectic college years were the best of times, but they often came at a cost. On top of schoolwork was work, other extracurricular, social life, sports, and Sorority stuff, to name a few things. One night, all those years ago, my Line Sisters and I were exhausted from the shrieking we did after discovering that we had spelled ‘Lambda’ wrong on a huge poster. We laid on the floor of an older Sister’s apartment and she went out, just leaving us there to be confused and lonely in our despair. It felt like eternity passed and also no time at all, however, when she made a triumphant return with a box of macarons, a sweet treat that I still to this day have no idea where or how she found so late at night. That Sister’s kindness of bringing us midnight macarons gave us motivation to remember that we weren’t alone and we were striving to be part of something greater, and we were able to gather our energy, overcome our obstacles, and keep going.

If I don’t go on Facebook, don’t check my social media, or my email, or text messages, don’t type a simple URL, and close my ears and eyes to the Sorority around me, it’s very easy to ignore this bond that I spent so much of myself forging, that I valued so much at the time. It’s easy to think I’m alone again, just mentally laying on a random floor on a random night after doing random work. But around me, if I open my eyes, I can realize that there’s a Sister’s floor to catch me, Sisters around me, a Sister to bring me macarons, and the goal of the Sorority to work towards everything I do. No matter the mistakes or the weariness, my Sisters and I did succeed, and together we can be Sisters for others as well. That’s Everlasting Sisterhood to me.