Living in a sorority was the highlight of my life, and I miss my sisters every day. If I could, I’d go back and do it all over again in a heartbeat. If you’ve ever been part of a tight-knit group of besties, you’ll understand: Sometimes, all you want is to reminisce about an amazing time in your life with people who “get it”—say, through a collection of GIFs from the popular sitcom, Parks and Recreation.
So imagine the complete, soul-crushing disappointment when I realized that there just aren’t enough Parks and Rec gifs to describe my sorority. Not even close, in fact. I’ve used them all.
As kooky as Pawnee is, it turns out it’s no match for Alpha Delta Chi at Purdue. The antics of small-town government employees don’t hold a candle to the messes we got ourselves into! Not to mention Tanya! There just aren’t any Parks and Rec characters who can truly capture her wild, crazy vibe. In fact, as I scrolled through endless images of Donna exaggeratedly waggling an eyebrow and April’s death glare, I began to feel more homesick for my girls and their funny cheers that sadly aren’t reminiscent of any of the TV GIFs available.
Seriously, this is just depressing. How am I supposed to encapsulate my college experience if not in gifs from one of the decade’s most popular sitcoms? Those memories mean everything to me, and the idea of not being able to truly preserve and easily reference them is absolutely heartbreaking. Were all of those lakeside bonfires, laborious cookie decorating festivities, intricately themed PJ parties for nothing?
The worst part is, I can’t even turn to my sisters for help—I don’t even know what to send to the group chat now that I’ve realized how utterly inadequate all my options are. Plus, Heather switched to an Android last month, and we still haven’t forgiven her for fucking up all of our blue texts.
I’ve always loved Amy Poehler, but honestly, this has shown me her severely limited range (specifically in the number of GIFs made of her). Everyone likes to tout Leslie Knope as such a “relatable” female character, but come on. I mean, sure, I’ll still often use the GIF of her giving the thumbs up or the one where she says, “oh, this is bad,” But what value is that if her character can’t even justify a few measly GIFs representing the sorority experience?
What am I supposed to do now—resign myself to my fate, scrape together a few sassy Golden Girls clips and call it a day? Actually, that might not be such a bad idea. Blanche did always remind me a little of Britney. God, this is all so hopeless.
