Friendships Found in XO
When I sit down and think about everything that Chi O has given me in the past two years, I can honestly say that the list is very long, but the most important thing to me is the friendships that have turned friends into true sisters.
When I ran to the XO house on bid day I was immediately greeted with open arms welcoming me in! It made me so excited about what was ahead. Was everyone going to like me? Would I make friends? Would I be accepted? I think back on how nervous I was and laugh because if only freshman year Gabbi could meet soon to be junior Gabbi.
One thing with Chi O is that you make friends anytime and anywhere. Whether it be in the lunch line waiting for the legendary southwest chicken wraps, working a philanthropy event such as Limelight, studying in the upstairs study room at the house, or sitting by someone new in chapter. My first memory of meeting a new person was my first day going for lunch at the XO house. On the first day of school, I went through the lunch line and I was holding my tray looking for a place to sit. I didn’t see anyone I knew so I went up to a girl with a seat beside her and asked if I could sit with her. I asked her if she was a freshman too and then……she said she was a senior, I was horrified. She laughed and thought it was so funny even though I was QUITE embarrassed. She was so welcoming and made me feel so comfortable. That is something that I will never be able to forget about because of how she made me feel on that first day when I was so nervous.
Quickly, after my first couple of weeks at Chi O, I knew that the women I met are the ones that were going to stick with me for a lifetime. They are the women who put God first in everything that they do and encourage me to do the same. The kind that wants the best for you, and are truly happy for you when you get it. The ones that are there to hold your hand and stand beside you when you need a shoulder to lead on. They are kind of women who are going to jump up and down and rejoice with you when you make an A on that test you studied so hard for.
I can’t thank God enough for placing me in a house that would be full of wonderful women who love me for who I am the way that the women of Chi O do. I could not have made it through my freshman year, COVID, and sophomore year without them. Lord willing, I’ll be lucky enough to do my junior and senior year with them too!
