But, Hey, Things Change

One of my best friends is someone I met my freshman year at TCU. She is a hilarious, loyal, forgiving, trustworthy, genius, quirky person with whom I instantly clicked with during the exasperating required Frogs First activities. We were practically inseparable all year, but then in January that year, she told me she would be transferring to a college that was closer to home, and I was devastated.

Who else would have Harry Potter marathons with me?

Who else could I laugh until I cried with?

Who else would accept how weird I was?

Then I didn't have the answers. But now I do.

As a freshman, you make a lot of poor bad interesting decisions. Going greek was not one of those.

(I truly hope this is not a cliche "my sorority changed my life post")

I came to TCU knowing I would go greek because my sister is greek here. I knew I would end up in her house, and was thrilled when I did.

Everyone always says a sorority is what you put into it, but I didn't realize that until I had to make friends. I realized I had done nothing freshman year to help myself become friends with these women who I apparently shared values with and could call sisters.

After my best friend told me she would be transferring, I started attending more sorority events and hanging out with girls I would see at chapter meetings. Then I realized, WOAH, these girls are amazing, quirky, talented, bright, spunky individuals who I can click with, too.

Now, don't get me wrong, my best friend cannot be replaced, and we are still best friends to this day, but I needed to be surrounded by people who could make me laugh and could fill a void I had.

And my sisters filled that void.

Here I am, a junior, living in the sorority house, and as involved as I can be with my academic load. I have learned from my freshman and sophomore years quite a bit.

Who else would have Harry Potter marathons with me?

Who else could I laugh until I cried with?

Who else would accept how weird I was?

My sisters.

I know this is probably all kinds of cheesy but, wait for it! I learned something.

I learned that relying on one person for all your friendship needs is like putting all your eggs in one basket.

I learned that I am not the hardest person to get along with and made friends much easier than I thought I would.

Sometimes you need things to fall out of place, so they can be put back into a new and meaningful place.

I am not someone who accepts change easily or happily. I react poorly to all forms of change. But change can be good. It forces you to look around and evaluate and see who you have in your corner. Maybe you need to rearrange, or in some cases start over completely.

Only one thing in life is certain: that change is a part of it. Whether it is a change of scenery or pace or people or work, change is bound to happen. For me to have been in denial that change is a possibility is naive, yes, but also part of growing up. I think, if you are lucky, you come from a place of stability with little to no change on a daily basis. Then one day, you are 18 and change happens all around you.

Everyone talks about how college is a new beginning, a period of transition from adolescence to adulthood, like no other time in your life. And maybe part of that is realizing that change is healthy and normal and something that is going to happen. Not most likely, but will happen.

One day your best friend, attached at the hip, is planning on living with you in the commons next year, and making plans for spring break, and the next she is transferring.

One day your sisters are these abstract faces you see in passing and refer to as a whole, and the next are people you couldn't live without.

But, hey, things change.

Water Wonderland

Over the very eventful weekend, I got sick.

I'm almost positive it is a simple cold, but it still sucks.

Anyway, while I have been sick I find myself doing a lot of things that use water. I wash my hands almost twice as much, I take long hot showers to help my congestion, and I drink hot tea.

This got me thinking about how much water and health go hand in hand. How healthy can anyone be if they don't have access to water, let alone clean water? How much water does a hospital use? Could a hospital, urgent care, or doctor's office survive one day without clean water?

Probably not.

This got me thinking about countries who don't have clean water. What are their surgical success rates like, and are they at all correlated to clean water resources? I can't imagine having surgery done by a surgeon who hadn't washed their hands all day, let alone scrubbed in less than a minute before. The thought scares me. What kind of bacteria could be lurking?

We have access to 24/7 clean water. And when the water gets shut off for a multitude of reasons; we freak out.

Case in point: I am a Floridian. As a born-and-raised Floridian, hurricane season is something you prepare for the worst, but hope for the best. In 2005, Hurricane Charlie hit. There were trees trapping people in their neighborhoods, power outages, and some water shortages. We were without power, (including AC in the sweltering heat) for days. We all could manage, until my mom turned on the sink and no water came out. We packed up the car and headed to a hotel with generators.

People don't know how to cope without something they have always had until they don't have it anymore. Humans have to have water to live.

As I have previously stated, I am from Florida. That being said, I had no idea that most of the country, and much of the world, was in significant drought. Where I am from, you can't have basements because underground is full of water. We have lakes galore and a working water reclamation program. We have actual "water parks" and giant rides that use thousands of gallons of water a day to push a boat down a river. There is a fountain at the beginning of every neighborhood and mall entrance. Droughts were a foreign concept to me before this class.

Now I understand that a drought is an international problem that affects everyone. We need to work together to understand and evaluate water resources and ensure that everyone has access to clean water.

This may seem like an impossible dream, getting everyone in the world on the same side of one issue, but dreaming big is where true successes stem from.