Wish Bear
Lining up at the door to Wish Bear, I remembered to look around at the other PNMs there because they would be my potential sisters! They all seemed easygoing, generally cute, and friendly. Of course we received a warm greeting from the polished-put-together recruitment chair who was by now like my idol/role model, and she handed us something that would be a part of a ceremony we would participate in later. I wasn’t sure who would meet me here, I was thinking maybe my twin girl, but I was pleasantly surprised to see it was someone I had also spoken to earlier who was the EASIEST person to talk to/get along with! We talked about so many things, and there seriously was not a dull moment. I loved this sister, “Allie.” We had a great animated conversation, talked about everything, from music to siblings/families and beyond. However, I was thinking that I really wanted to be convinced/persuaded to be in this house, and the conversation at this house wasn’t the traditional “preffy” (if you will) conversation. Nevertheless I had a great time talking to Allie. All the PNMs and sister congregated in the living room and the recruitment chair and 1-2 friends told a hilarious story about sisterhood and how a girl chipped/lost her tooth one night and the antics, wild hilarity, and sisterly support that ensued. I really enjoyed this part of the preference party. There actually was no official ceremony (I like a little formality!), but I liked the sentiment behind a few of the symbols of the sorority that they explained to us. Allie poured on a lot of the “Hope I see you tomorrow!” stuff, so that made me feel wanted…I left this chapter feeling very pleased that I preferenced there, loving the sister who had preffed me, admiring their lovely recruitment chair, but still a little unsure about my match with the chapter as a whole; I wished Allie had worked on convincing me that this chapter was a good fit. Anyhow, I felt really comfortable here and was sure I would find my niche if I ended up joining this chapter.
Funshine Bear
I was NOT surprised to see “Caroline” meet me at the door here! We had talked skit day for a long time, and I *think* maybe for a bit at house tours. I had a great flowing conversation with Caroline too! We talked about traveling, vacations, how we were raised, etc. This conversation wasn’t particularly “preffy” either, until Caroline asked flat out what other chapters I was preffing (!!!). This kind of shocked me at the time, but Funshine was my FAVE house of the 3 I was preffing, so I just flat out told her! Surprisingly, even though I did like this house better as a WHOLE, I liked the sister (as an individual) who preffed me at Wish more. This was in the back of my mind the whole time at Funshine: I had genuinely liked every girl I talked to here, loved their style, vibe, etc., but at Wish I really hit it off with Allie (and could see her as a big!) yet I wasn’t sure about the rest of the house. Anyway, Caroline was great too, a little sarcastic, laid back, and a mature, big sister/mature vibe. She was someone I could see myself looking up to (she was really friendly, but slightly intimidating b/c she was in a sorority and I wanted to be, and also partly because of asking me flat out where else I was going for parties that day). I was beaming during the entire ceremony here, it was beautiful and formal, and the speeches made me/the other PNMs feel really wanted. It was so within reach! I think Caroline actually gave me a hug when she walked me out the door, and was incessantly saying how she hoped to see me tomorrow/soon, and I obviously said with a big grin, “ME TOO!” I so hoped I played it cool enough for Caroline!
Nicole from PX group was at Funshine for Pref too, yet she was a little unsure about them, she felt like she couldn’t pinpoint the image of the chapter (I actually liked this because there were tons of different and interesting people to meet here!). She was driving to Good Luck Bear and gave me a ride to Laugh-a-Lot because they were near eachother.
On my way into Laugh-a-Lot I ran into Kristen who had just been there. She had preferenced there and at Tenderheart Bear. She asked where I was coming from and I told her Funshine, but then felt a little bad because she had not been invited back there and had had an irrational “thing” for that chapter since first semester. Amy and Lauren had dropped out of recruitment.
Laugh-a-Lot Bear
I wasn’t surprised that “Brittany” greeted me at this house! We had talked for extended periods of time at all rounds. She was a senior, and I remember being a tiny bit disappointed that I was going to talk to her again—I wanted to talk to sophomores/younger sisters and we had already talked SO OFTEN! However, she was a sweetheart. I remember a few lulls in the conversation, but this was the third round and we were probably both tired and ready for it to be over. Two sisters got up in the middle of the round and told a cute story about an adveture/sisterly love like the Wish Bears had done. This story actually made me like this chapter a little more—I think the problem here was that they hadn’t BLOWN ME AWAY at any of the other parties, and I hadn’t met a lot of different sisters. This story gave me a little more confidence in this house a whole, but I wish it hadn’t come at the ultimate end of recruitment! There was no formal ceremony here either, but we did participate in something on our way out (if I said it would give it away!) It was actually beautiful, but I wish it had been more formal/informative/special. I left this house thinking that I’d probably put them 3rd, but then again Kristen had gone there too…
After preference parties Panhel actually gave us time to go back to the dorms (I honestly don’t remember why, maybe for dinner??). It was only a quick break, and I remember finding Kristen and walking to our meeting places. She said she was thinking about suiciding, (excuse me, “single preferencing”) Laugh-a-Lot. I didn’t try to convince her one way or the other.
The snow was coming down hard on our walk, and we got to some shallow slate/flagstone steps that led down into an arcade/courtyard area of one of the dorms. These were COVERED in snow. I should have sledded down them. Seriously, there were non-PNMs all over campus lugging sleds behind them, either coming/going to go sledding! There was so much snow. These steps had not been shoveled or salted, and while Kristen was telling me about her day, I totally wiped out on one of the steps. There was no step to step on! It was just covered with snow! My lower back hit the edge of the step, and I felt shooting zinging pains down my left leg. I started bawling and seriously yelping in pain, trying to tell Kristen that I COULD NOT GET UP. But we had to make it to our PX meetings to fill out and sign our pref cards!! I tried to get up, but the pain was excruciating. GREAT. So Kristen calls her PX and calls Katie for me to let her know that I was injured and might be a little late.
So I found that with Kristen’s help, I could hobble to my meeting. When I got there (tear-streaked and upset), the other girls were already getting started. Katie was so kind and understanding. The other PNMs in my group were really sweet and concerned too, I remember hoping that some of them would become my sisters! I filled out my card quickly so that I could go to the campus medical facility to get my back checked out.
#1 Funshine
#2 Wish
#3 Laugh-a-Lot
I just wanted to get out of there. I remember hoping and praying that Funshine wanted me, but seriously distracted. I called my mom and I called the medical place, but apparently THEY WEREN’T OPEN BECAUSE OF THE “BLIZZARD CONDITIONS.” Are you kidding me?!!? I started bawling to the nurse on the phone, what was I supposed to do? She told me that the nurses and doctors couldn’t drive to the infirmary because of the awful weather conditions, and that she was just the 24-hour-on-call nurse. She suggested that I go to a nearby medical facility place (not exactly a hospital, but a smallish multipurpose facility). But seriously, if nurses and doctors couldn’t get to campus, how was I supposed to get THERE?! Oh lordy, this was a mess. Then the wonderful Mackenzie from my PX group offered to give me a ride to the place that was about 15 minutes away. Mackenzie, the angel.
Anyways, Kristen and I got there safe and sound, and after some X-rays and other prodding, the diagnosis was that I had broken my back and had deep tissue contusion. I was to take Vicodin for 2 weeks, and limit my activity. HA! I was supposed to start my new member period and classes started in 2 days! And during all this I was hoping and praying that Funshine would be on my bid card the next day. WHEW! What a day!
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