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Hello again, I am no longer reporting from Perth, Australia, but instead from Oxford, Mississippi. I know I haven't written anything in a VERY long time and that might be because my big adventure in Australia is over. But I woke up this morning and had a realization that I really missed doing this. Mainly because it really calms me down and gives me time to relax, and we all know college can be stressful. I'm sorry if you don't find these posts interesting anymore since I'm not doing the awesome, cool things I was doing in Australia, but I decided to start this up again and write from the perspective of a college girl. Hopefully you still enjoy.

My experience in Australia was absolutely incredible and I miss it every single day. I am beyond thankful for the people I spent my time there with and for all the things my eyes were opened to. I never really updated anyone on how my return home has been, but three months later and I have never been happier! I'm back at school at Ole Miss and I could not tell you how good it is to be back. I'm back to eating that southern fried food I missed so much, tailgating in the Grove before football games and long nights of cramming information for tests I waited till the last minute to study for (sorry Mom and Dad).

I'm not going to lie, it has been tough at times. Managing school work plus the new job I have plus my sorority can really pile on top of each other. And I'm starting to think time management is something I need to get really good at because I have found myself beyond stressed multiple times. And I know it sounds stupid because hey how much work can a sorority be? And I know everyone else in college is going through the exact same thing, and maybe I'm just complaining, but for me right now as a college student and sorority girl, this is what life's like. 

We finally just got done with rush week and Bid Day was on Sunday. We were at the house every day from 8 A.M. to 2 A.M. practicing, preparing, decorating, singing, dancing, yelling Kappa chants at the top of our lungs and doing it all over again the next day. Being on the other side of things this year, it is a lot of work. There is a ton of work that goes into rush and tonnnns of little details that need to be taken care of. It's extremely time consuming, stressful, overwhelming and exhausting. Rush demanded all my time and attention last week, and on top of that I had tons of school work I needed to get done. My dad called me one day before rush just to say hi and catch up and all of the sudden I just had a complete meltdown. You know when you're just so exhausted you just have to cry? Well that happened to me. After I got off the phone my dad texted me a much needed reminder, "Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" Matthew 11:28-29. I forget to include God in a lot of things, and after reading that verse I felt completely relaxed. And yes, God even wants to be included in sorority recruitment. There's no moment where He won't pull through for you.

I've decided I'm going to start learning something from every situation or experience I go through. As I've said, Rush week was exhausting, but I honestly really did take something away from it. Many people say rush is nothing but a judgmental experience because sororities talk to all these new girls to determine whether or not they would make a good fit for their sorority. And honestly, that basically is what happens, but not at all in such a harsh way. And not to terrify anyone, but I'll be brutally honest with you about rush---it is a very emotional process. It's a time when girls find out about all the good and bad stuff, and a time when girls can become very judgmental and critical. And with rush being finally over, I learned a lot about what a kind or mean word can do to someone. 

I think our generation lives totally without simplicity. We read so much into certain things, everything has to be or look a certain way and we pick people apart to the very core to decide if they fit in or not. And I think that's because we revolve around social media. We are so obsessed with image and reputation that just simply existing and doing normal day to day things becomes a competition. The things that social media, magazines, movies, TV shows, and commercials promote are not always uplifting and I'll give it to you straight it is not easy being a teenage girl in the world we live in right now. And college can be a tough place for that girl. And being a nineteen year old college student I understand that coming across some judgmental people is inevitable, but it is not our place to judge anyone nor is it our job to pick people apart. As I was sitting there talking to these girls trying to get a "feel" and quite frankly judging if they would make a good fit for Kappa, I just came to the realization that at the end of the day these girls are just like me. They're just trying to make it through. They all have the same feelings and insecurities and have all made mistakes just like me. The harsh reality is that people can be MEAN, and the way some people treat each other honestly dumbfounds me. And what's also heart breaking is these people hear all the demeaning and degrading things said about them and it does nothing but absolutely destroy a person. It's not easy watching your best friends cry over something someone said, it's not easy hearing rumors about your little sister or little brother, and it is not easy losing someone because they could not bare the cruelty of peoples words anymore. There is no reason to make this world harder to live in than it already is at times. It is so easy to lose sight of what's important in college, but one thing I have recently learned is how important it always should be to stay kind. Trust me, I understand that sometimes people make you mad, they make mistakes, they're mean back to you or they stab you in the back and sometimes it just seems easier to hate. I bet it would've been a lot easier for Jesus to hate those who mocked Him and beat Him too. But He LOVED them. It is disgusting and shameful for us to be so cruel to people who Jesus DIED for. People He gave His life up for because they are loved, and they are worthy!! And our intentions should always be for people to know that. We need to stop looking at people as if they were our own personal drawing boards, changing and judging them for whatever we do or don't like, and start looking and seeing them as just the PEOPLE they are. God already did that, and He designed each and every person perfectly exactly the way He wanted. College and the people our age should not be so intimidating. This place is our home away from home. And home is a place where people are supposed to feel comfortable, welcome, accepted and free to be whoever they want. Going back to the verse my dad sent me and re-reading it, it is extremely calming and reassuring to know that in a harsh world God is always going to be there. But we have got to stop making this world such a harsh place to live in at times. 

No matter what school you're at, how old you are, or what situation you find yourself in it is so crucial to remember to treat people kindly. You never know what someone's going through and I'm pretty sure everyone enjoys a compliment here and there. And I apologize because I am about to sound like a total sorority girl, but I owe a lot of what I learned from last week to my sweet friends here at Kappa Kappa Gamma. During rush you see girls at their absolute worst, and at their absolute best and it's a process where you find out a lotttt about the person you're sitting next to. I'm thankful to have learned that the girls I'll be sitting next to for the next couple years are a group of really fun-loving, tenderhearted, sincere, honest and down right genuine girls. I'm lucky that in this harsh world, I've got a place and I've got people who make living in it easy. And obviously, I owe it all to Jesus.

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do". Ephesians 2:8-10

**this post was not intended to discourage or scare anyone going through rush it is a fun and enjoyable experience I PROMISE and it will lead you to a lot of sweet best friends :)

HOTTY TODDY and Go Kappa.