APO

I've written about this before, but I think I need to emphasize how much I love APO. I'm not a theater major, but I still actively participate in the arts at college because theater and music was a big chunk of what I did in high school. Tomorrow they're giving out bids. I think I'm more excited about this than I was for getting a bid for my sorority.
APO saved me from forgetting who I was. When I came to Gannon, I was completely lost. I was heartbroken, overwhelmed, and doomed to a college experience of monotony. Then, by some  miracle, I found myself in Schuster Theatre, huddled on the inside of a washing machine with fake blood running down my legs. Fright Night, Schuster Theatre's Halloween haunted house, was the first night I felt home at Gannon. It's not even because I was performing. It was because I found people scarily similar to myself. People who understood the significance of Sweet Tea and french fries, tumblr, John Green novels, and the phrase "The angels have the phone booth". People who hated people and loved cats. People who had felt lonely and worthless and lost before.  Without really knowing it, these people helped me heal.
I finished stage managing my first show a week ago.  We had a very close knit cast, and we would often tweet funny things that happened during rehearsal. I think these rehearsals, although I complained about them a lot, were one of my favorite memories of my freshmen year.  Being able to just act like a fool and not be judged is such a wonderful feeling.
Next year, I'm living with some APO members as well as Other Mary, a fellow APO pledge and my best friend on campus.  I'm so happy I met Other Mary. I wish I could express how similar we are.  Whenever we hang out we frequently say "Why are we the same person?" I'm excited to share a living space with her, pledge APO with her, and, most importantly, finally get her watching Doctor Who.
When I came to Gannon, I wasn't expecting a lot of things. I wasn't expecting to join a sorority, Phi Sigma Sigma. I wasn't expecting to meet Sean, someone who I could see myself spending the rest of my life with. And I especially wasn't expecting to meet extraordinary friends in APO.