Kendal Bradley - Spring ‘20 Darlin, Fall ‘22 President

Hi everyone! I’m Kendal Bradley, a Spring ’20 Darlin and the Fall ’22 President! I’m a senior (which is scary to admit), and I’m double majoring in Sustainability and Communication and Leadership. I’m from a very small town in Southeast Texas that you usually have only heard of if you’re from that area (Port Neches, Texas, in case anyone else is familiar). When I came to UT my freshman year, I’m not kidding when I say I knew no one. Like most freshmen, I was full of excitement and nervousness as I began my college career. 

I had seen spirit groups on Instagram and had a vague idea of what they were when I arrived at UT. A girl from my hometown graciously extended a hand to me when I moved to Austin and told me about Darlins; I loved the idea of it and we recruited together. And then, she got in…and I didn’t. Obviously, I was very disappointed. However, I knew that I had gone through the recruitment process very timidly and my shyness didn’t make me stand out in the crowd of girls. 

I still enjoyed my first semester, despite not being involved in any organization. In the Spring of my freshman year, I knew that I wanted to try again. My friend who I had originally recruited with was having a great time, and I knew it was something I wanted to be a part of. This time, I put every ounce of myself into the recruitment process. I went to every event, spoke to every active I could, and even was bold enough to introduce myself to a girl in Darlins merch that sat next to me on the first day of class. 

And it worked out! And it has made the biggest possible impact on my college career. Campus is huge and it can be very overwhelming to find your place. Darlins is where I found the people that make Austin feel like home. They’re the girls I have the most fun with and the first ones I call when I need a shoulder to lean on. I met my “little” in a virtual speed dating event, early on in the pandemic, where I think we talked about expensive gifts from our ex-boyfriends and how funny it was that our names are Kendal and Kylie. A year and a half later, we’ve lived together, gotten matching tattoos, and seen each other at all the highs and lows in between. Darlins gave me her! And I can’t even begin to imagine what life would be like without her. 

I use my little as an example, but there are so many more amazing girls, experiences, and funny stories in my life because of Darlins. I’m not even being biased when I say this is a uniquely special group of girls. I am constantly inspired by everyone’s creativity, passion, and intellect about their individual interests, and I feel lucky everyday to know them and be a part of such a great group. 

As I head into my senior year, I’m so excited about everything coming up, as bittersweet as it is. Our last formal, basketball game, and sisterhood events are all on the horizon, but it’s honestly just the beginning of a lifetime of memories with this group. Darlins is my little corner to call home on campus, and I hope everyone finds something that means as much to them as Darlins does to me during their time at UT.

Allison Hendon - Fall ‘16 Darlin

Howdy ya’ll,

My name is Allison Hendon, and I’m a biology/pre-med senior from the good ol’ sunshine state (Miami, Florida). This semester, I have had both the honor and the privilege to serve as the President of Texas Darlins!

As an out-of-state student from Florida, I had never in my life heard of a ‘kolache’, let alone a ‘Spirit Group’. For most of my life, my closest circle of gal-pals consisted of girls I met through competitive soccer. So naturally, coming to UT Austin, I figured my best chance of fitting in would be to join the Club soccer team.

After only a semester of playing soccer, I quickly realized that life in college would be much different. Sure, soccer was great, but it was soon taking up too much of my time and I wasn’t creating those strong friendships that I had been looking for. This is when I turned to spirit groups.

Having no prior knowledge of what a spirit group was, I probably went to 5-6 different info sessions, intrigued on what these ‘Spirit’ groups had to offer. What I soon realized was not only were these girls cool as heck, but they were all so diverse and unique. Coming from Miami, all of my friends back home had such unique backgrounds and stories. It was almost as if I had found my home away from home.

Long story short, I narrowed down my choice in spirit group to Texas Darlins. I went to as many recruitment events as possible and felt welcomed by literally every girl I met. I knew pretty early on that this is where I wanted to belong, and these were the ‘gal-pals’ I had been looking for.

I poured many hours into my application and was anxious to hear back about my offer for a first round of interviews. However, the call never came. The Monday after I had turned in my application, I received an email saying that I was not going to be moving forward in the recruitment process.

To be completely honest, I was devastated.

What did I do wrong? Step-by-step, I went back through the entire recruitment process, analyzing every conversation I had. Did I accidentally offend someone? Was I not friendly enough? My confidence had dwindled. However, at some point during that semester, my mindset changed.

Sure, I didn’t get an interview for my #1 spirit group, but I learned so much along the way. During that semester, I focused on other aspects of my college life. I dedicated myself to school, IM soccer, and met a few more friends a long the way. Not only that, but I had also made some incredible friends during the recruitment process that I continued to hang out with throughout the semester.

After a semester of ‘self-discovery’, I decided to give it one last shot. The Darlins I met in the previous semester made such an impact on me; to a point where I knew that this was the only spirit group I wanted to try out for.

Recruitment the second time around was almost twice as easy as the first. I recognized a lot of the girls from the previous recruitment semester and a majority of them recognized me! At that point, I was determined on finding my place with Texas Darlins, and if it wasn’t meant to be, then that would be okay too.

Except this time around, I got in.

A few semesters later and I have made so many beautiful friendships within Texas Darlins. Sure, my first rejection was hard to swallow; but even still, I do not regret anything that happened, not even for a second. I absolutely adore my Baby Class of Fall 2016 (love ya Spring ‘16), and I was given a chance to learn more about myself, before finding my forever friends/future bridesmaids.

And to top it all off, this semester, I was given the wonderful opportunity to be elected as President for the Spring 2019 semester (my final semester at UT).

Moral of the story: Recruitment is difficult. With 150-200 incredible girls trying out for Darlins during any given semester, it may be a little tricky to try and make yourself stand out. However, no matter what the result is, you WILL find your place on this campus. Whether that be with Darlins, another org, sorority, sports team, whatever. Everything happens for a reason, and I truly believe that.

Elizabeth Martinez - Spring ‘18 Darlin

What’s up everyone! My name is Elizabeth Martinez and I’m a junior Sociology and Government double major from Dallas, TX. 

I’m not really the type to write blogs, but today is a really nice day out (74 with a slight breeze) to let the Darlins appreciation gush out onto this Word Doc. I want to dedicate this piece to my beginning with Texas Darlins. 

It was my fall sophomore semester and I was invited to my first OU weekend with a fraternity. A friend had asked me to be his date and I agreed despite the anxiety that I wouldn't know anyone else besides him. I meet up at their house and felt a little conflicted. Don’t get me wrong, I was super excited but pretty nervous that I would be traveling with a busload of strangers. Anyway, I took a seat and then watched my date get caught up in the fraternity bromance. Cute. 

I felt a tap on my shoulder and I turned to see a radiant smile greet me. She introduced herself and asked if I knew anyone else on the bus besides my date to which I said no. After getting to know each other a bit more, she kindly offered to stick together this weekend to have some fun. I was a little surprised that she readily welcomed my company even though we just met. Anyway, we were pretty much inseparable that weekend and kept in contact afterward. She was the first person to introduce me to Texas Darlins and encouraged me to check it out. 

I had spent my first two years of college avoiding anything that was "sisterhood" related because I figured it wasn't my type of crowd. Ironically enough, there were more Darlins in my life than I had realized. They were such amazing women whose company I enjoyed and they all happened to be Darlins. Maybe it was a sign? I decided to take a chance.

As soon as Spring 18 recruitment season took off, I attended almost every recruitment event. If I was going to commit to a sisterhood, I wanted to be sure I was getting the whole picture and not some movie perfect trailer for what might be a horror film. During an info session, I was given a piece of advice that made me realize Texas Darlins was a good match for me. An active had said,

“Don’t think of this recruitment process as a way for us to select who we want. This is a way for you to see if Darlins is what you want. Get to know us and if you like who we are and what we're about then we’d love to have you. Just be yourself!” 

A genius concept: real recognizes real. They weren’t trying to sell me their image because they didn’t need to. I saw women who were ready to welcome you with a warm smile while answering questions. Women who were excited to play tag for the 7th time at the Boys and Girls club. Women who would take you by the hand and spin you around when the DJ played “Suavamente” at the recruitment bar tab. Sweet, beautiful, goofy and confident women were all in Texas Darlins. In those few weeks of recruitment, I went from feeling on the edge about joining a spirit group to almost crying when I received my acceptance notification. 

I found my sisters and I really hope to make this experience even better for anyone else who is looking for people to call family. 

I’m not sure how to close out a blog so… XOXO, Elizabeth 

Jordan Toomey - Spring ‘18 Darlin

First, introductions: My name is Jordan Toomey. I am a third-year English major (as you will probably be able to tell due to the weirdly pretentious way I wrote this) from Allen, Texas. I’m a Spring ’18 Darlin and today’s post is going to be about the pure joy I found in the Darlin tradition of big/little.

            I never pegged myself as the type to join a spirit group, much less to write a disgustingly sappy excerpt about how much I love my little (or that I’d ever have something called a little) but that, it seems, is exactly what I’m doing.

            The funny thing is, by all accounts, I should have met the girl who is now my little years ago. We’re from the same hometown, have several mutual friends, have even heard stories about each other through those mutual friends; and yet, somehow, we never made contact. Both of us have concluded that fate, in fact, had something much better in store for us than a just ‘friend-of a friend’ relationship; and so, due to this, I did not meet my little until after she had joined Darlins.  

            We immediately connected, bonding by our shared hometown and past but also by the fact that we just…got along. She was one of the main reasons that I even signed up to be a big that semester; I had nearly talked myself out of it, sure I wouldn’t get along with any of the girls and besides, I didn’t have time for a little. But meeting her changed my mind, and I tacked my name onto the list at the last moment. This was probably the best decision I’ve made in all my time in Darlins.

            I have amazing friends, of course, whom I love in Darlins, but having a little is something different. It’s more like gaining a family member; you chose them, of course, but the general understanding is that you are something else, something more. My little frequently uses what I like to call her ‘little privileges’; signing me up to table early in the morning, asking me to come with her on tedious errands, and me always grudgingly saying yes when to anyone else I would say, unequivocally, hell no. We see each other several times a week, at the very least, and go out together often. We can often be found at a corner table in Pluckers spilling tea and devouring a disturbing amount of fried mac n’ cheese.

            Another thing I didn’t foresee – because I have alarmingly little foresight - she takes care of me, too. I, as a big, expected to provide sage wisdom, give advice, and be a rock-steady point of reason for my little. I did not expect to confide in her all my struggles and have them empathized with. I did not expect to express a problem I was having and get instant offers to come over, several solutions of how to fix it, and her asking if she could bring me anything. In short, I did not expect to obtain such a selfless and wonderful friend in getting a little, but I did.

            She was my biggest blessing that semester, and remains to be the biggest blessing I ever received in Darlins – which is a tall order, as my life has been improved a thousand times over by joining this organization. But my little remains top of the blessing pyramid, and when I reflect back to how reluctant I was to even be a big I laugh in past me’s face, because past me was an idiot and almost skimped out on really knowing one of my all-time favorite humans.

            This week I’m going to wake up at an ungodly hour and go sit next to my little at the Darlins table because she used her little privileges and signed me up for an extra hour of tabling against my will. But I will enjoy it, as I enjoy all my time spent with her, because she is one of the best people I’ve ever met. After years of barely missing each other in our hometown, UT and Darlins brought us together and I couldn’t be happier, or more thankful, that fate is so incredibly weird.

Abby Tirres - Historian, Spring ‘18 Darlin

To potential recruits & my fellow Darlins,

My name is Abby, and I’m the Spring ‘19 Historian and a Spring ’18 Darlin, so I guess you could say the spring tends to be the most wonderful time of the year for me. I’m the one who runs our social media accounts, our website, and put together the recruitment video. To give a little background about myself, my hometown is El Paso, Texas, I’m a third year Radio – Television – Film major, and I transferred to the University of Texas at Austin in the fall of 2017. When I first transferred, I only knew a few people that I went to high school with. In an effort to meet new people, I started joining organizations and made a few friends along the way, but I still didn’t feel quite at home on the 40 acres. Come winter break, I was scrolling through Instagram when I came across a post from a girl I had met at my old university; she was advertising for girls to join her spirit group. “What the heck is a spirit group?” I thought. After a few quick Google searches, I found myself intrigued and shamelessly stalking just about every female spirit group at UT. A few caught my attention, one of them being Texas Darlins. When the spring semester started, I went to several info sessions for different groups. Although they were all great, I often felt intimidated, nervous, and stressed, but the one group that made me feel at ease was Darlins. The first Darlins event I went to was a meet up at Dunkin’ Donuts. I only took a few steps in before I was greeted by someone who would become one of my favorite girls in the organization. We talked for about the entire time I was there, and I left with a newfound sense of anticipation and excitement for the recruitment process. However, I was a little skeptical at first and didn’t want to base my entire perception of the organization off of one interaction. I continued to attend events for various spirit groups but doing so only reaffirmed my initial gut feeling that Texas Darlins was the place for me. I stayed up the entire night before applications were due making sure that I was completely satisfied with what I was turning in. A few days later, I was called in for an “interview”. Now, I put quotations around the word interview, because it didn’t feel like one at all. It simply felt like I was getting to know some new friends. After asking me a few questions, one of the recruitment chairs thanked me for coming and, well, the rest is history.

Texas Darlins has given me so much: friends who love and support me unconditionally, the most amazing little and family, memories to last a lifetime, and a place to call home. I seriously cannot imagine what my life would be like without Darlins and the incredible girls it brought me to. It only felt right to give back to the organization that has impacted my life in such a positive way. So, I decided to run for Historian, and after being elected, I gave myself two goals: 1) To do my best to help capture and contribute to the amazing memories that Texas Darlins gives its members 2) To be active and engaging on social media in the hopes of capturing the attention of a girl just like me who was trying to find her place on campus.

If you’re a recruit reading this, trust me when I say you will not regret coming to an info session or recruitment event. Just know that we all were nervous at one point during recruitment and it can be a scary thing putting yourself out there. So, if you’re not sure who to talk to, and you see me at a recruitment event (I’m probably the one with the highlight that’s a little too extra for 6 PM on a weekday), please don’t hesitate to say hi! I absolutely love meeting you all! Also, if you have a chance be sure to check out our social media, because as cheesy as it sounds, all my posts are 100% made with love. And if you read this entire blog post, you my friend, are real one.

D – LOVE,

Abby