Someone recently asked me, “What’s it like to live in a sorority house? ” I didn’t even know really where to begin. I have lived in the Arkansas Zeta Tau Alpha house for two years, and in two days those two years come to an end and I move out for the last time.
Honestly, the first thing that comes to mind is living in a sorority house is loud. Like unbelievably loud at the most random times. To most people dinner time is between 5 PM and 8 PM at night. For girls in the house the dinner doors open at 4:30 PM, yep you read that right, I call it the early bird special, and normally about 15-20 girls are already in the living room at 4:25 waiting for the doors to open. Dinner time at 4:30 PM is loud, and yes I eat dinner at 4:30 PM. I also eat lunch at 11:00 AM and breakfast at 8 AM. Eating every four hours is a must for me if I go past 4 hours prepare for me to be cranky.
The next thing that I think about is the feeling that y0u get when you’re the first one to take a shower after the cleaning ladies clean the bathroom. If you’re the lucky gal that has the privilege to shower later and have it spic and span trust me you soak up every second. I am a germaphob when it comes to bathrooms so the clean shower is my happy place. We have a cleaning staff that are the sweetest women ever and they always tell me I look pretty which is obviously a plus. But they come ever single day except for Saturday and Sunday, which is one of the biggest things that I will miss next year living in my own apartment.
Not only do you have cleaning ladies but you also have cooks. In our case, we have a cook that handles breakfast and the salad bar for lunch and then another cook that handles the main course for lunch and dinner, then we have the sweetest woman that takes care of all our snacks in the kitchenette, our breakfast pantry, and our drink bar. Kim, Alisha, and Amber have honestly made living in the house even better than I could have ever expected. They encourage me on test day, teach me about serving sizes, and remind me that water retention is a thing tell me I’m not fat when I really feel like I am. They also make amazing meals which are always a plus! Zeta pizza day will forever be my favorite day ever.
But the reality of living in the house is this: You are living with 68 of your closest friends.
In Zeta, I have never paid for a single one of my friends. Last year I was blessed to live with two of my best friends in a 3 girl room and we had the time of our lives! This year I live in a one girl room (I wanted my own closet. Honestly who is surprised?) but I have gotten just the same experience and made, even more, friends than I did last year. The neighbors that I have are always honest with me on which shoes to wear, the house manager (who is honestly the sweetest soul alive) leaves encouraging messages in your shower bin, and even posts a Wee Wee Weekly in the bathroom stalls, the girls in the basement are always up for Bachelor so that you never have to watch the reruns alone, and last week I witnessed an epic battle of Assassin that was a house-wide game.
Living in Zeta is pretty darn cool, and even though sometimes I resent my twin bed, and I want to take a bath instead of a shower after a long day, living in Zeta the past two years has been the best two years of my life.
