By Hayley Eselevsky, Student at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

With fall semester long gone, it is time to start preparing for the spring semester.

Here are some fun ideas to pass along to your sorority’s social chair to kick start your event planning!

Barn Dance
Coming from the Midwest, I may be a little biased, but “Barn Dance” is my favorite social event that my sorority has each semester. In a nutshell, “barn dance” is a date event in which, essentially, the event takes place at a barn. This could be kind of hard to plan in the winter months if you are in a cold climate, but you can always plan the event for late April. The best barn dances include hay rides, campfires, s’mores and even a little dancing inside of the barn. Everyone dresses up in their best plaid shirt and cowboy boots and you can even top off the outfit with a bandana. You’ll catch yourself saying “howdy” all night long. 

Surprise Your Sister
Date events can get a little old and stressful if you don’t have a boyfriend or somebody that you want to ask, but “Surprise your Sister” can be the solution. At this event, your friends surprise you with a blind date. Your friends can set you up with that boy you have been crushing on or even a complete stranger. However, for this to work out, it is essential to keep your sisters' dates a secret so it's a surprise!

Cougars and Cradle Robbers
Yet again, typical date events can get overdone, but “Cougars and Cradle Robbers” is not your typical event. The basis of this event is that each sorority sister is not allowed to ask anybody her age. They have to either ask somebody younger than them or if you're a freshman, you have to go up in age and ask somebody older. Since many college students tend to hang out with people their age, this event allows for sorority sisters to branch out and meet new people that they typically don’t hang out with.

Basketball Games
With football season winding down, basketball season will soon be in full swing. What could be better than pairing up with a fraternity and going to a basketball game together? If your school is near a bigger city, you can even go to an NBA game. Nothing brings out the best in college students better than a competitive game!

Image: Simon Howden / FreeDigitalPhotos.net