Written by: Neale Madden

Three years ago I was arriving at a school where I knew no one and no one knew me. I had grown up a Clemson fan and was overwhelmed by the excitement of attending my dream school, but a little part of me was scared. What if Clemson wasn’t what I thought it would be? What if I didn’t end up with life long friends, and what if these weren't the best four years of my life?

Running down Bowman Field three years ago to Tri Delta was the end of my doubts and the beginning of the the best years of my life. Now, as I approach my last year at Clemson, I am realizing just how lucky I am. The friends I’ve made, experiences we've shared, tears we’ve shed, and never-ending laugher is all thanks to Tri Delta.

I’ll take you back to freshman year where it all started. Most of my favorite freshman year memories were spent in the dining hall, where the cereal dispenser quickly became our best friend. “Schilletter three course meals” became a nightly occurrence. Surrounded by my new friends, we would spend hours in the dining hall. Taking up multiple booths, we’d sit there until we’d gone over every facet of our lives or until the dining hall closed (whichever came first). Over the next year, we did things we regretted, stayed up too late, ate dessert at every meal, set up friends for functions, decided 8am's were not our friend, studied a lot, used the “emergency credit card” one too many times, spent hours in the car hoping that Tiger Transit would actually show up, received copious parking tickets, and most importantly, made iPhoto albums dedicated to embarrassing each other.

We are too quickly approaching senior year and although Schilleter is no longer our stomping ground, I am just as thankful for these girls as I was sitting in a Schilleter booth trying to learn their names. We still make mistakes, stay up too late, and avoid 8ams, but over the past three years I have built friendships that will last forever. In less than a year, we will all pack our bags, move out of The Orchard, and start a new life that, much to our chagrin, probably wont involve living 30 feet from each other. I will no longer be able to run from house to house trying to find something orange to wear on a game day (because who looks good in orange??!) or walk across the street for a bite of Aimee’s infamous McShane cake, but I will have lasting friendships. These Tri Delta girls have pushed me to work hard, challenge myself, think in different ways, and become a better version of myself. I wouldn't trade the last few years for anything and most importantly, I can’t think of a better group of girls to share the college experience with.