Share Your Stuff. I'll Go First. by Laura Tremaine

Author:Laura Tremaine
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 2020-12-12T00:00:00+00:00

I met Sam on the first day of sorority rush week during my sophomore year of college. Her reputation preceded her, however, as she was known then and forever as the freshman Theta who had egged the Pi Phi house, nearly getting her kicked out of Greek life. I couldn’t imagine what on God’s green earth would compel someone to drunkenly throw raw eggs at such a stately mansion. Nor did it make sense that Sam would become one of the most important figures of my college years.

For our first official rush week as members of Kappa Alpha Theta, tasked with recruiting potential new members, we were sorted into random groups to study the incoming rushees and to learn our various house songs and procedures. I’d spent most of my freshman year overwhelmed by my 200-plus sorority sisters, each of whom seemed more beautiful and poised than the last. I was out of my depth and spent a good deal of time just keeping my head down. In our cordoned-off rush group, though, Sam stood apart from the other ponytails of perfection. She was highly irreverent about the process and made me laugh out loud at her shrewd observations and self-deprecating humor. She could contribute meaningful analysis while in the same breath she made fun of the lengths we took to convince gaggles of eighteen-year-olds that we were the best sorority on campus.

Sam was an entertainer, and I was more than willing to be entertained. She recognized quickly that the nerdy girl in the corner caught her jokes and laughed every time. To my immense surprise, our cautious judgment of each other blossomed into a lasting, opposites-attract friendship. She was a leader; I was a follower. She was the star; I was the audience. She was the rebel; I was the good girl. We were an unexpected balance. Being friends with Sam loosened me up. She taught me how to relax. She taught me how to be fun.

In college, I was a little slow to find my footing. Being a part of the sorority was playing out my deepest belonging dreams, and it was a first for me to become friends with someone who didn’t need all of that in order to feel like she was exactly where she was supposed to be. The youngest of five and with four older brothers, Sam knew how to take a punch and how to give one, with her fists and with her words. She was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed powerhouse, and most of our pledge class was intimidated by her. I loved being friends with her.

When Sam took me under her wing, it felt like I had both protection and defense. She didn’t let her party-hard friends tease me, and she didn’t let my Pollyanna friends keep me from her. She said we were a team, and I took that as gospel. We had a third best friend, Jenny, and our trio felt complete. Together, they taught me over and over again not to take things so seriously, to laugh, to let myself be a little crazy.

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