When I joined Alpha Chi Omega, I knew I would make great friends, lasting memories and have a great big house to roam around in. What I never expected was that our house mom would become one of the strongest guiding forces in my life.
From the very beginning, I heard stories about how kind and loving June Wilson was and how close I would grow to her yet I never really fully understood it. Once I moved into my chapter house, that all changed.
In my sorority, our house mom serves as so much more than just some older woman who watches over our house and tries to keep us somewhat in line. She serves as a true mom away from home. I have watched Wilson patch up hemlines and hearts, and welcome a new batch of women into our house and her heart year after year.
She is the first person to scold me into going to the doctor, even after I assure her that really, it’s just a cold. She’s the sounding board on whether or not the skirt I just got makes me look like a mom. When I found out I got my dream internship, she was the first person I ran to tell,and when I found out I didn’t get a position that meant a lot to me, I cried on her shoulder. She takes each one of “her girls” in and makes us feel loved, welcome and at home.
While a sorority house can be loads of fun and a great place to live, it can also be noisy and a bit chaotic. Our house mom’s room serves as a refuge from the antics of our sisters. I’ve spent countless hours sitting on Wilson’s couch, talking through my life decisions, hearing about campus going-ons and sharing tons of laughter. I was warned freshmen year that her room was a black hole, because women would pop in to ask her a quick question and wind up staying and talking to her for hours, and I have to say that is incredibly true.
My house mom has become so much more than just an overseeing eye on our house in her years with us. She has become the heart of our home, the mom we all need when we are hours away from our own and one of the binding forces of our house. She supports us in a way I thought only a mom could, and loves each of us like her own.
Bridget Beran is a junior in mass communications.
