So I left. I quit my job, transferred schools, and packed my bags. I had a one way ticket to the lights and glimmer of New York. I was excited to finally begin a grand adventure, but it wasn’t until I was boarding the plane that I realized everything I was leaving behind: the sunshine of the Golden State, the lively spirit of LA, and the sisterhood that had engulfed my life. The question of why I left often arises, so let me explain.
I was a first year at the University of California, Los Angeles. LA’s the city of dreams, right? Hollywood, the beach, the sun, the celebrities, but it was too close to everything I’ve ever known - it was all too familiar. But I stayed. I rushed fall quarter and fell in love with a young women I repeatedly talked too. I must say their matching was impeccable! She was the biggest reason I eagerly accepted my bid to Kappa Delta. She was my bid day buddy and later became my big. Since then, Allison has become one of my best friends and current roommate. These things just made the good-bye that much harder.
The high pressure to do well at such a prestigious university, coupled with working nearly 30 hours a week, left me missing most events. I only saw my sisters between the hours of midnight and four in the morning when we cold be found building dioramas for a GE class, or watching sappy, romantic movies. I was so overly involved on campus and in the community that I wasn’t actually involved in any one thing completely. So I decided to switch gears and do something I’ve always wanted to do -- move to New York.
At 28-years old, my old boss was transferred to New York and after a year and a half, she invited me to come live with her. Less than twenty-four hours later, I was packing my bags and filing paperwork with UCLA. It was June. I had just finished my freshman year and was ready for something new. It all seemed to fall together too easily. Her lease was up and the two bedroom apartment upstairs was available; Syracuse University was the only university left with open admissions and it was a mile down the street from our loft; my job agreed to transfer me after I quit; and I was finally going to be somewhere I’d never been surrounded by people and things I didn’t know. I couldn’t have been more ecstatic! My previous boss/new roommate/soon-to-be best friend and I were going to take on New York, one adventure at a time! And we did, for awhile.
My roommate went out of town every Tuesday morning until Thursday night, leaving me with her dog and my friends and co-workers. On the weekends or days we both decided to play hooky, we’d go into the city, grab dinner and catch a broadway show. One Wednesday when she was gone, I was skyping with my best friend, the sister who sewed pieces of sponges together at three in the morning to build me a diorama. I was crying to her about how much I missed her and was going to miss out on date parties, spirit week, football games, and living in the house. She told me the only logical thing to do was eat some chocolate... and then come home. That night I got a call from my roommate telling me her boss was transferring her back to California. She encouraged me to go back now and not miss any of fall quarter. So I did.
I retreated back to the kind, open arms of my Kappa Delta sisters and the warm weather that LA provided. That fall quarter back was unexplainably amazing.
Kappa Delta is constantly being surrounded by your best friends; it’s walking into your room after a long day at school or a rough day at work and finding a note on your bed telling you they love you; it’s being able to find someone to watch a movie with at two in the morning when your trying to procrastinate writing a paper; it’s having someone there with you at 4am, post-movie, helping you write the paper that’s due at 10am. Kappa Delta is being able to walk into a classroom, a business office, or a grocery store and seeing a familiar face smile; it’s not having to say a single thing and everyone already knows what your thinking.
Because of Kappa Delta, I am confident. I pushed myself to run for VP-Public Relations and since have taken part in amazing things for our chapter. I would love to see Alpha Iota continue to grow as a chapter and a sisterhood. Kappa Delta has already given me more than I ever could have asked for. Not only do I have an amazing sisterhood here in LA, but I have sisters all over the country who are there to help without even knowing me. Since joining Kappa Delta, I’ve witnessed miracles. I wouldn’t trade that for the world.
Peace Love AOT,
Bailey Headrick
Alpha Iota VP-Public Relations
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