Big/Little Reveal
As I walked through Rand last Wednesday, I made sure to grab multiple copies of The Hustler and The Slant, even though I’d already read both (and completed the crossword). I stocked up on scotch tape and bundled up for the cold as I waited for my Big to pick me up from Towers. We drove to the Terrace Place parking garage and met the rest of the sophomores, juniors, and seniors from my sorority. Why were we being sketchy and meeting at a parking garage? It was time for Big/Little Reveal 2013!
As I’ve mentioned before, when you join Greek life you get a Big, Grandbig, and even a Great-Grandbig (sometimes called a Huge). These are essentially linear families with a member from each grade that grows each year, so when you’re a sophomore you usually get a freshman Little. Families often have dinner together every week or just hang out on the weekends, because you’re matched to a family based on your personality.
My AOII fam has been perfect, because we’re all outgoing, organized, and easygoing. (We even recently discovered that we’re all ESFJs on the Myers-Briggs test!) When we heard who our Littlest was a few weeks ago (I’m a Grandbig now…so old!), we all proceeded to stalk her Facebook and fall in love because we could tell from her fun personality that she would fit right in. She matched so perfectly to another family too that we have merged families so we could share her as our Littlest, which makes family dinners even more fun because my best friend in the sorority happens to be in the family we just merged with.
Back to the parking garage…for the actual reveal last week, we taped newspapers to the windows of my Big’s car and all hid inside, just like the other AOII families did. The new members were taken on a weird route to the parking garage (it was a big surprise for them) and given the key to the car of their family. As they were running around trying the key on different cars, we all were inside honking our horns loudly and putting the hazards lights on, so it was awesome chaos. My Little and my best friend’s Little were sitting in the trunk as the Littlest opened the door to our car and they attacked her with hugs. After a few minutes of catching up and more hugging, we drove this cool restaurant in East Nashville called Silly Goose. We bonded over dinner and dessert as we walked next door to Jeni’s, a famous ice cream parlor.
Each sorority does Big/Little reveal differently but regardless of the Greek affiliation, the family system is one of the best parts of Greek Life. Having a member of every grade at Vanderbilt who you can count on or get advice from (or give advice to now that I’m a Grandbig) has really come in handy and enriched my Vanderbilt experience.
