I definitely didn't blog as much as I wish I would have during my first year at Carolina so I decided that it would be fun to share snapshots from my favorite moments on freshman year. This post will allow y'all to see what my first year in college entailed and it will also be a fun way for me to look back on freshman year!
Move-In Day
It feels like just last week that my sweet roommate Sophie and I were moving into room 312 and saying the dreaded goodbyes to our parents. Sophie and I met via the South Carolina class of 2021 Facebook page after she sent me a DM and we talked for about a month through Facebook Messenger and one night Sophie asked if I was looking for a roommate and the rest is history!
Sophie was my first friend at Carolina and in the 9 short months that I lived with her, she's grown to be one of my best friends and I'm so glad I got to go through freshman year with her by my side! I didn't expect to be so close with my roommate but I'm so glad that Soph and I did become best pals because it made going through homesickness, rough days & stressful weeks a heck of a lot easier.
Bid Day
By now I'm sure that it's no secret that I went through recruitment back in August and went Delta Zeta! Going Greek was one of the best decisions I've made because it opened so many doors for me, lead me to meet my best friends (& future bridesmaids one day!) and gave me so many memories. My mom was also a Delta Zeta so it's super cool to be sisters with her, too!
Weekend Road Trip to Asheville, North Carolina
Last September, Hurricane Irma was predicted to hit Columbia pretty bad so USC cancelled classes the following Monday and since one of my suitemates lived up in Asheville, North Carolina, we headed up there for the weekend to get off cmapus and out of the storms path. Hurricane Irma didn't end up hitting Columbia as hard as expected and all we got was some strong winds and lots of rain but it was still nice to get away for a weekend and since I had never been to Asheville before, it was fun to get to explore a new place! Our first day there we hiked up Frying Pan Tower on the Blue Ridge Parkway and even though I'm terrified of heights, the views were amazing & we snapped some fun pictures, too!
Delta Zeta Fall Band
Fall Band was DZ's first function of the year and it was my first ever function! The theme was 70's which was super fun to dress up for. I took my roommate Sophie as my date and got to snap a few pictures with Meghan, who ended up being my big!
Tailgating & Football Season
Saturday's in South Carolina and SEC football exceeded all expectations I had for them. I grew up in the shadowns of The Ohio State University so I was always a Big 10 kid but wow now that I've experienced a season of SEC football, I can easily say that SEC>Big 10 in my opinion. While the majority of our season was ridicously hot and humid, football Saturday's were so fun & I'm already super excited for our first game next season. You can read my post all about Saturday's in Sout Carolina HERE!
Big Little Reveal
Big Little Reveal was the day I found out Meg was my big & the day I met the girl who is now my best friend! My big took two littles so I'm a twin and wow Lynn and I couldn't be more alike. We're both from Ohio and only live 100 miles apart so you can bet there's going to be lots of roadtrips between Columbus and Cincinatti this summer.
Fall Break
Fall Break was towards the end of October and Soph & I flew home to Ohio for the long weekend. It was SO WEIRD being home for the first time since leaving but it was super nice and fun to get to show Soph around my hometown. We went to the outlet malls and then to a pumpkin patch one day which was fun and the rest of the weekend we spent just hanging out and eating because we loved having a full sized fridge as opposed to our mini fridge in our dorm. You can read my Fall Break recap post HERE.
19th Birthday
In January about two weeks after flying back to Carolina for second semester, I celebrated my 19th birthday! It was weird not being home for my birthday but my sweet friends helped me celebrate by taking me out to brunch! We snapped a bunch of cute photos, the one of Sophie, me, and Claire is one of my favorites and is currently framed and sitting on our kitchen counter because my mom loves it so much.
Delta Zeta Crush Party
Aside from Formal, our Crush Party function was one of my favorite functions of the year! I took Soph as my date and since I had finally started to find my group of friends in Delta Zeta, it was so fun to have a group to hang out with and showcase my super awkward dance moves all night long. Our theme for Crush Party was Mardi Gras because our function was the Friday following Mardi Gras and it was so fun to dress up for. Soph and I went all out with boas and gold head boppers that I am admittedly a little too obsessed with. I shared a separate post with more photos from the function, which you can read HERE.
Delta Zeta Spring New Member Retreat in Charleston, South Carolina
I'm on the New Member team for Delta Zeta which means that I'll work with the other girls on NMT to help our new member class in the fall adjust to life in DZ and help them with their transition into our chapter. DZ took a spring new member classs this year so NMT took the new members to Charleston, South Carolina for a weekend and it was so nice and fun to be able to get to know all the new girls and get to know the girls on NMT better, too. Lynn and I are co-partners for our position on the team which is so neat to be able to get to work alongside my twin and my best friend.
Dance Marathon
I shared a whole post about Dance Marathon which you can here HERE but Dance Marathon was another decision that I'm so glad I made this year! I will definitely be participating again next year because this event already holds a very special place in my heart.
Easter Weekend Road Trip to Savannah, Georgia
I shared a post with my Travel Guide to Savannah, Georgia & I also shared a post with my YouTube video I made while in Savannah! Soph and I both didn't go home for Easter weekend since we live 8 hours and 14 hours away from school so instead, we decided to head down to Savannah for the weekend since we both hadn't been in a while. Savannah is easily one of my new favorite cities and I will definitely be back in the future!
Saturday Mornings in Soda City
Soda City takes place on Main Street in downtown Columbia every Saturday morning and since it's such a short walk from campus, I was able to spend a couple Saturday mornings exploring Soda City with Sophie and Lynn!
Delta Zeta Bark-BQ Spring Philanthropy Event
Our Spring Philanthropy event was Delta Zeta's Bark-BQ which we held at a venue just off campus that allows dogs so people were allowed to bring their dogs and come enjoy live music and eat some yummy food and all proceeds went to our philanthropy. We couldn't have had better weather for this event, sunny & warm which made the turnout even better!
Delta Zeta Formal
I shared a post a few weeks ago with a ton more pictures from formal, which you can read HERE, but formal was hands down my favorite function of the year! It was super fun to get all dressed up and dance the night away with my friends. Our formal was the weekend before finals so it was a nice way to take our minds off of studying for a while and a great way to wrap up my first year in Delta Zeta.
Move-out Day
Move-out day was actually kind of sad because I had to say goodbye to all my friends and the room that I'd spent the last nine months living in. As much as I didn't care for the dorm life, a small part of me is going to miss all the fun memories that were made in room 312. You can read the post I wrote about my thoughts on the end of my freshman year HERE.
I hope you enjoyed seeing my favorite snapshots of my freshman year at Carolina!
xoxo,
