KANSAS CITY, Mo. — My daughter is going to college this fall.
As I wrote that statement above I felt the bridge of my nose sting with the emotion of it all.
Sometimes I’m just so excited for her. To be able to see her adult life clearly in the distance is incredible for a parent.
Then when I think of the silly little girl who was so critical of her imperfect letters when she was learning to write her own name, I get a little weepy.
As we prepare for college, there are two big issues on which we disagree.
1.) Should she room with a stranger or a friend?
2.) Should she join a sorority?
I cherish my experiences at college and the friends I met (and still have) because I roomed with strangers. Granted, there were a few that I could have passed on, but even those experiences helped me ‘grow up.’
I also didn’t ‘rush’. I had no interest in joining a sorority. And today, as I read about the sorority controversy brewing in Delta Gamma at the University of Maryland, I want to warn her of the ‘challenges’ and drawbacks to sorority life.
But, she’s not me. She may love it. She needs her own experiences, not mine.
The Delta Gamma email story is a good example of my sorority hesitancy. To me, sororities force you to pretend to have a sisterhood with women you may not otherwise choose to have in your life.
If you haven’t heard about it, basically it comes down to this: A sorority leader sent out an email (full of cursing) scolding her underling sorority sisters for their lack of participation.
The sorority sister who wrote the email has since resigned. She was extremely critical and emotional that her sisters weren’t living up to the sorority’s mission.
Her rant really can’t be posted in full here, but Gawker.com, which first discovered the story, published a lot of the curse-word laced email.
CLICK HERE FOR THE GAWKER STORY.
The story has become a hit on youtube, with a few “reenactments” and readings of the letter word-for-word…. one vulgar word after another. BE WARNED before you click here!
For every one terrible story about a sorority or roommate experience, I know there are hundreds of other positive ones.
But, it’s a mom’s job to worry a little (a lot).
Meanwhile, we seek your comments below!
