So basically, I have the best little sisters… pretty much ever.

As you learned about at the beginning of the year, big sis/little sis is one of the biggest and most loved traditions at Converse.  Recently, the freshman class celebrated their big sisters with what we call “Big Sis Little Sis Turnaround” wherein the little sisters do sweet things for their big sisters to show their appreciation.  This year, the class of 2012 planned a luau event for the two Pink Panther classes, which I was totally excited about.  However, what I did not expect was all the little surprises my little sisters planned for me!  Tuesday morning after a stressful and late night, I woke up to a door decorated with streamers, a good morning sign greeting me, and baskets of gifts outside my door!  It was definitely like Christmas… I sat out in the hallway and opened my gifts like a little kid, beaming from ear to ear.  It wasn’t even the gifts themselves that were so exciting – the thought that was put into them and the sweet notes I got from my littles filled my heart with joy!  The little sisters also decorated campus for their big sisters and filled back campus with balloons that had messages written on them for their big sisters.  It was such a fun day, and my little sisters definitely made me remember how much fun I had doing turnaround for MY big sister and how much I enjoyed BS/LS week at the beginning of this year!

I have loved so much being a big sister this year, and I’m so glad that I have formed a lifelong sisterhood with both my big sisters and my little sisters.  The memories I have with them are some of the greatest highlights of my college experience, and I know they will last for the rest of my life.  I wish I could fully convey the bond that I have with my Pink Panther family, but I think it is an emotion that is truly beyond the reach of words.  But I’ll try to explain the best way I know how.

I love being a big sister because each of my sisters represents a different part of me and adds a different component to my life.  Shannon and I are both going to be teachers and share a lot of the same love for crafts and creative things.  She was in my orientation group this past year and I’m excited to be an OL with her to welcome our new students with Orientation 2009!  Kala and I almost always share weekend brunches, and I enjoy talking with her over my morning coffee.  She gives great hugs – I call them Kala hugs – and I love seeing her during my multiple weekly stops into the Campus Life office.  Sami is the little sister who reminds me the most of my big sister, Nora.  She always knows how to make me laugh with her amazing sense of humor and is great at motivating me when I get stressed out by school.  I also have two amazing adopted little sisters who have a special place in my heart because of the special bond I have with my adopted big sis and because they add so much to my life as well.  As a group, they are all the best little sisters I could ever have hoped to have, and the bond we have is exactly what I hoped my BS/LS experience would be.  I love my little sisters! 

And finally, on the note of sisters, this past weekend was reunion weekend, and both my big sisters visited for their one year reunion.  It was amazing to spend time with them, even though it went by too fast!!  I was able to introduce my little sisters who had not yet met their grand-big sisters to Nora and Kristina (how cool to have THREE GENERATIONS of Pink Panthers in one place at one time!!).  We also spent a great deal of time catching up, looking through the yearbook, visiting some of their favorite Spartanburg destinations, and enjoying many of the events that were happening on campus.  Kristina was also initiated into the newly-established Tri-Beta Biological Honor Society chapter at Converse on Sunday, along with my roommate Lizzy.  Even though the visit was a short one and went by far too quickly, sisterhood is one of those things that transcends time and place.  I know that as time goes on and we all move forward from our time at Converse onto the dreams we have established for ourselves it will be more and more difficult to spend time with my sisters… but even then, we have formed a bond that ties our hearts together and no matter where we are in life, we will never be far apart from one another in thought or spirit.