It sounds like this may have been the first year the campus used RFM and there were still some kinks to work out - for the sororities and for the Gamma Chis' understanding of them.

/swerve: am I the only GCer who went to the MAC website to look up the eyeshadow colors?

After a short break, I visited Digit's[COLOR=Plum][COLOR=Black] party, excited about their philanthropy from the beginning, since I had already done some work with it through my major. However, it was like stepping into a completely different world when I walked into this house. There were no decorations, only a banner that had the organization's name on it, and we stood in the chapter room and waited for someone to tell us what we were doing. A sister of this group stood in front of us, and to my surprise, she merely said that we were making bracelets for this organization, and that our assigned sister could take us back to their room, where we were going to make our craft. That was it. No, "this is what we do for our organization", or anything. I was taken back into a sister's room with another PNM and another sister, so there were two of each of us in there. We started to make beaded bracelets, and the sisters were chatting about what they liked to do outside of class time with the other PNM. Every time I tried to get a word in about the topic, or tried to ask a question about their philanthropy, I got a short, curt answer, and then they quickly went back to talking to the other PNM. I still loved this house as well, and just hoped that it was an off day, simply because I still could see myself joining their house.


What an odd way to conduct a party! (I hope that house was not Alpha Gam.)

Alright, I'm fairly eager to get this story finished, so there's this part, and then I will reveal what happened on Bid Day! Would anyone want me to reveal the house code after I'm finished with this story? I will say that I have no hard feelings toward any of the houses at all, and the reason why many of them were cut were simply because I was either too old for them, or I just didn't feel like that house was my home :)

So, after a sleepless night hoping that my phone didn't ring, I woke up the morning of preference round more nervous than I ever had been. I knew that I had been asked back to at least one house, so I was very excited to get to the union and find out which house I was heading back to.

When I arrived there, my gamma chi pulled me aside and let me know that my friend, the girl that had only gotten one bid back the day before, had been dropped by all houses. She told me that she wanted her to pass along her phone number to me, and to keep in touch. I felt horrible, but I added her number to my phone and made a reminder to call her later and make sure she was doing okay. Then, she handed me the little slip of paper that had that day's parties on it, and I was overjoyed to read:

1. Carbon
2. Digit

Even though I didn't have a great party at Digit the night before, I had been invited back, thankfully! I was just glad that I had another chance there, to be honest. While we waited outside my first party, I remember my gamma chi telling us that when we left our parties, we should immediately know which house was our home. Remembering that, I entered Carbon's house, thrilled to be invited back for their preference night.

I walked in there, and literally gasped. Everything was decorated beautifully in their colors, with tables covered in tablecloths and tulle, covered chairs, and it was dark and the only light in the room was from white Christmas lights hidden beneath tulle on the table. I was seated next to the girl who had rushed me the day before, and I was really excited to see her again, because we seemed to have a lot in common during the last party. Everything was perfect, down to the sparkling water with small slices of strawberry on the side of the glass. I could tell that they really put a lot of time and effort into their party, and it showed! The ceremony was absolutely beautiful, with girls talking about what their sisterhood meant to them, songs, and short passages about sisterhood being read as well. Several girls cried, and I had to admit that I teared up as well, just because I realized that I would love to be a part of such a strong sisterhood. My biggest fear at that point was that I would be cut from this house after tonight, just because I never thought that I would be invited back to this house from day one, but somehow, I had been, and I had fallen in love with it. I left the house practically glowing, feeling the exact same way I had felt when I left my former favorite house, Parfait Amour.

My last party of that day was at Digit, and I was still very excited to visit this house, simply because they had been one of my favorites all week, and I was still very much wanting to get a bid from them as well. Their chapter house wasn't decorated nearly as elaborately, aside from a couple of tables to stand at, and a fondue fountain on the counter that separated their kitchen from the chapter room. However, when they performed their open ritual, I felt very conflicted. I still loved this house, and the girls had all been very sweet for the most part, so I felt like it wasn't going to be as easy of a choice as I had thought. The ritual was beautiful, and I knew that I could see myself becoming a member of their sorority as well, so when it ended and we were left to eat with the girls that were rushing us, I had to take some time to think. The same girl that had rushed me the day before was rushing me on this day, and her friend, the one that had been in the room with us the day before as well was standing next to us with her PNM. I thought the conversation had been going well, and we had seemed to actually get along...until my rusher's friend walked away with her PNM. When that happened, I was in the middle of a sentence, and I quickly realized that the girl that had been rushing me was now following her friend and the other PNM, leaving me behind. I followed after her, only to get a dirty look that clearly meant that she was no longer interested in talking to me. From then on, I spent the last fifteen minutes of the party bouncing around from group to group, hoping to talk to someone. To say that it was awkward was an understatement. Thankfully, the party ended quickly, and I walked out of there still feeling conflicted for some odd reason.

When I got back to the union to rank my preferences, I sat there for the longest time, not even able to move. I loved both sororities, even though my experiences at Digit hadn't been the greatest, and I really believed that I would be happy with either house. However, taking all things into consideration, I really felt like I had to rank Carbon as my favorite, simply because of how much effort they put into their parties, and how much love they had for their sisters and their philanthropy. These girls had even visited their philanthropy's headquarters, just to see what their money goes toward! However, I felt awkward putting them number one on my bid card, simply because I had been told that so few girls get their number one choice. I didn't want to list them as my first choice, and then get my second choice, or vice versa. Finally, I had to take a deep breath, and just write my choices down where I felt they belonged. I handed in my final bid card with the sororities ranked:

1. Carbon
2. Digit

I hope you get Carbon!

Is it bid day yet??? :) I'm such a rush story addict lol

Me too, but I love your descriptions, and a great lesson for houses on Pref to pay attention to their PNM!

noo!! post more!! :]

I didn't even think about that! Be right back...


Seekrit...let's hear the end! And it wouldn't bother me to find out who's who.

Love these stories!

Nope :)

I'm so excited for Bid Day! What a wonderfully detailed and exciting recruitment story!!

Alright, I'm going to go ahead and finish this story up if you don't mind :) I will reveal which sorority was which as far as my code goes, as well!

So, the morning of Bid Day came, and to say that I was nervous was the understatement of the year. I checked my phone to see if I had gotten the dreaded phone call from my gamma chi literally every five minutes, and when noon passed, I figured that I was in the clear (and had succeeded in making all of my professors angry as well). So, I went about my day trying not to think about which bid I was going to get, or if there was some sort of mistake and I would be opening an envelope containing nothing in it.

Finally, I made it to our gymnasium, where the bids were to be handed out. They didn't let us inside automatically, and it was really difficult to talk to the other girls, just because we were all nervous and sort of short with each other. However, they let us inside the gym about fifteen minutes later, and we had to sit through presentations from various members of our Panhellenic Council and find out what which sororities our gamma chis belonged to. My gamma chi belonged to Black Tied, which I had actually guessed from the very first day that we met!


Finally, after what seemed to be a hundred years, we finally got our bid cards and were told not to open them. After a couple more minutes, on the count of three, we were told to open our bids. My hands were shaking as I carefully opened the envelope, not wanting to rip anything up. As I pulled the card out of the envelope, I looked down and saw the crest of...

















Carbon!

The one sorority that I never thought I would get a bid to actually gave me a bid. All I remember after that moment was that the girl sitting next to me, Katie, had also gotten her bid to Carbon, and we were both overjoyed, crying and hugging each other. In a blur, we both met up with the gamma chis from our new home, and headed off toward our bid day party.

That was a year ago, and I am now an initiated member of my sorority, and I could not be any more thrilled with my choice. During this past year, I have made so many friends, had so many fun nights, and even won my university's Greek Sing with my sisters. I would not trade any of this for the world :)

So, many of you are probably wondering what the actual name of this mythical Carbon actually is, and I am a proud member of...



































Delta Delta Delta!

And, I have decided not to reveal which house was which, due to the fact that some people will undoubtedly know where I go to school.

And, the house that had stuck with me through recruitment was...

Digit=Alpha Sigma Alpha

I have no hard feelings against any of these houses, and I do have some friends in these houses as well, so please don't think that I hate any of these houses based on what happened during my rush, because I don't :) Rush was definitely a learning experience, and I was just happy to make it through and accomplish my goal of finding my home.

/swerve: No. I love the theme and had to look up the colors too!

OK, back to the topic :)

Yay, a Tri Delta ending! I'm so glad you found a happy home. :)

What a wonderful story. I had a similar situation happen to me and I would have gladly joined either as well. Although I must admit I might have SIPped had the other group been so curt with me as they had with you. Congratulations on a great recruitment and keeping an open mind and finding a great home.