Category: Life Updates

This blog post is going to be a little bit different. This is my last required post for the semester, and as weird as this may sound, I am a very different person from when I originally started these posts. When I started this blog for this class, I was eighteen years old and brand new to college. I was scared and incredibly lonely and homesick. I was overwhelmed and actually convinced that I had made a mistake and that college wasn’t for me. I felt like I had been thrown out into an ocean and told to keep myself afloat. Now, as of writing this post, I am nineteen years old and still pretty new to college. The difference is though, I don’t feel so scared anymore. I don’t feel so homesick anymore either because somehow in some strange way in these past months, Norman has become my home. It’s bittersweet to say that because a part of me feels like I’m betraying the people in my hometown but then another part of me feels like maybe that’s a necessary part of the journey. Maybe growing means moving on despite it hurting a little bit. I’ve learned a lot about myself since August. I’ve learned to never put assignments off, but if you do get a dr.pepper and a bag of chips for the night you finally decide to start. I’ve learned to not take things too seriously because everyone is pretty much just making this up as we go along. I’ve learned that life has a funny way of working out and that the way God shows up in it is really incredible. I’ve learned the importance of community and having genuine people around you who want to see you grow and succeed. Most of all, I’ve learned how to wait. Wait on what I deserve and wait for good things because they take time. I’ve learned to wait on God which if we’re being completely honest here is challenging but worth it. If for some reason, anyone at all at any point in time is reading this, here is a nineteen year old college freshman’s life advice that she’ll probably look back in the future and cringe. My advice to you would be to live life. Laugh loud and often, go on late-night drives with good friends, listen to good music. Talk to Jesus, and cry to Him too. Be there for your friends but let them be there for you too. Be kind to others, but be kind to yourself too, kind enough to know when to walk away and kind enough to know when to let yourself stay.

My name is Alexia Elliott. I’m nineteen years old and a freshman in college. I’m a little less scared than when I started out and I’m going to be okay.

When I told people in High School that I was planning on going through recruitment when I got to college, it would shock them. I guess, for some reason, people did not associate me with the typical look of a future sorority girl. This made me a little bit nervous, what if the mixed reaction were a sign that this was a bad idea? Let me tell you, I have never been more grateful that I decided to go through with something.

The actual recruitment process was a whirlwind and honestly, I don’t remember a lot of it other than just being exhausted. What I do remember though is already meeting some really sweet girls that I’m still friends with now. That’s the main thing that stuck out to me while I was going through, just how nice the girls around me were. If you needed anything at all, there was a girl offering to help you. It was really sweet to see girls supporting girls in action and something that I think gets majorly glossed over when people talk about the recruitment process. What was even more fun was once Bid day rolled around, I was able to see where everyone ended up, and even got to see some of the girls that I had befriended end up in the same house as me!

Now that I’m done with recruitment and initiated, I can look back at my decision to rush and confidently say that it was the right choice. I think that sororities have a negative connotation associated with them due to the way they are portrayed in pop culture. No one ever talks about the real side of being in a sorority. The philanthropic events that you get to be a part of, the incredible people that you get the opportunity to connect with, and the best memories that make college life incredible. I’ve met some of the most amazing people because I joined a sorority, people that have changed my life and inspire me to be a better person. People who push me to grow, and check up on me when I fall. I love being involved in greek life because it has helped me grow as a person.

If you’re considering going through recruitment, do it. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I adore it.

All my love,

-Lexi

College is strange. I moved five hours away from the only town that I had ever known to move into a smaller room with girls that I had only ever met once before. I put myself through the traumatic experience that is recruitment and joined a sorority, where I’ve met some of the most incredible people on the whole planet. Those people have introduced me to others who I now can’t believe that I haven’t known for years. Me and my brother are closer than ever and yet we never see each other despite now living in the same state again. I can randomly decide to go to Whataburger at midnight on a Wednesday because I don’t have class until 10:30. I can just eat lunch whenever. That’s been a real strange one for me personally. I sobbed as I left my hometown that I hated because I knew that I had painstakingly found my best friends after years of feeling alone and now I had to leave them. I had no idea if I would find people in Norman Oklahoma that understood me the way that they did. Yet, here I sit in my dorm room typing a blog post that was inspired by me realizing how much love has entered my life because I had the courage to leave my hometown. I have people that have known me for less than 4 months and care whether or not I sleep well at night or if I have eaten anything that day. There are people here who inspire me to pursue my relationship with God and make me want to be a better person. I guess all of this to say, I was terrified of college. I never told anyone that. I only ever told people how excited I was to move away and get out of my hometown. The truth was that I was terrified. Now, on the other side of it, I realize that behind that fear, there was something incredible waiting for me and I’ll forever be grateful that I left my hometown.

To conclude, college is strange. There is love here. I’m going to be okay.

All my love,

-Lexi

I am emotionally, mentally, and physically exhausted.

Since I’m a freshmen, I had only ever heard stories of OU/TX weekend. I was told it was long and tiring but I thought, “its just another football game, how bad can it be?” Poor sweet Lexi from a week ago had no idea. The word for the weekend is “humbling”. I woke up at 6:00 in the morning to get ready to go to a football game where we were beat 49-0. After that, I kinda just wanted to go back to the hotel room and contemplate what had just happened. I did indeed go back to the hotel room, but promptly a nap (which is how you know something is wrong with me, because I can never take naps) because I was too drained to begin processing what we had all just been through. A moment of silence for Sooner Nation as we deal with these challenging times. On a serious note, this year is a rebuilding year for our team, and it’s our job as a fan base to stick with them through this, even if some of us (me) feel like banging our heads against a wall after game day. We feel that way because we care, and I’d rather have that feeling than not care about my team at all.

The weekend wasn’t all bad. In fact, it was actually kinda great besides from the actual game. I started the weekend off with two stepping which, in my opinion, is the best way to start any weekend. I got to go shopping with friends and walk through a giant mall, which is always fun, and I got to hang out with some of my new favorite people. They’re the kind of people that make the losses not hurt so bad and I count myself very lucky that I got to experience my first OU/TX weekend with them. <3

To conclude, the actual entirely of the weekend was a solid 9.2/7, the actual game we don’t talk about.

All my love,

-Lexi

At the time of writing this, I have officially been alive for 6,939.75 days. Yesterday, September 12th, 2022, I turned nineteen. Most people would say they look forward to their birthday, but this year the idea of the day terrified me. I’m in a completely new state with completely new people so I had no idea if I would even have anyone to celebrate with. That idea didn’t sneak up me or catch me by surprise by any means. In fact, it’s something that I’ve thought about since I got accepted to OU and realized that for the first time, I’d be spending my birthday somewhere other than Lubbock Texas. I thought I had maybe an idea of how it would go. I’d wake up, go to class, eat in the caf, and then meet my brother and maybe my mom for dinner if she came up to Norman. I had completely prepared myself to be alone for the majority of when I turned 19 and was at peace with that. Something important to know about me is that I don’t like being wrong (I don’t think anyone necessarily does) but in this case, I can say that I was very glad to be wrong. The overwhelming love and support I received yesterday still has me overwhelmed 24 hours later. My roommates insisted on staying up with me until midnight so they could be the firsts to wish me happy birthday. The girls across the hall got me flowers and organized a small get together to celebrate. My newfound sorority sisters went out of their way to make sure I felt loved by bringing me flowers, singing happy birthday at dinner, and screaming happy birthday durning our Monday night chapter. My friends from back home were also a huge part of making my day special. They called and texted me to let me know that even though I wasn’t there, they were still thinking of me. Coming to college, I was scared. It may not have seemed that way to others but I was. Yesterday showed me how good God is at making our fears that seem larger than life shrink until they are nothing more than a spec of a memory. I will forever thank Him for placing some of the sweetest people in my life to show His love to me through them on the day he brought me into this world. If you are one of those people and you’re reading this, just know that you made a terrified girl feel so loved and celebrated and that I will forever remember the kindness showed to me.

With that, Happy birthday to me and if you happen to be reading this on your birthday, happy birthday to you too. I hope that you always know how loved and celebrated you are. <3

All my love,

-Lexi