With your question(s) stated that way, they become much more timely and interesting...

I'm betting that if this had been part of your original post, things might have unfolded differently for you. ;)

Holy shit, no way. ME TOO!

My Ouija board told me to do it. It also told me that my dorm room was haunted.

I did it so I could have lots of dances to attend and at the same time never have to buy a dress because I'd just borrow one!

I wanted to meet new people.

You forgot the beer.......... ;)

I rushed because my boyfriend had just joined a fraternity and a lot of the brothers seemed to be dating girls in sororities. I stayed because I finally found some normal girls at our farmy school.

My cousin actually rushed a fraternity at his school for that reason. He dropped out when he realized that if he joined he'd actually have to pay for the beer.

Duh, what do you think the Frat Boys are for??;)

well, I wanted to, I thought it would be fun. Radford is kind of...I don't know, strange, if you've never been. And even if you have, but still, I digress.

I joined my fraternity because when I had pneumonia spring semester of Freshman year, out of all the "friends" I made, only like 4 or 5 came to visit, 4 who went to Radford, 2 girls 2 guys, they didn't come at the same time, but one of the guys was OX and went and talked to my prof. because he wasn't getting back to my emails and didn't know I was sick and he went and dropped off my papper and gave me my assignments, etc. Then the other guy and I became pledge brothers to the colony/ Founding Fathers of the IZ chapter.

I wanted real friend, not just people who only cared about me when I was getting f-ed up. Getting f-ed up is a big part of Radford, but not the only part. Some one has to care if you're hungover.

Honestly? I was curious. I ended up staying because I really liked the other girls and the social-ness.

H, ignore all of the snide and sarcastic posts and dig through the real ones.

Being a GDI, you are one person among many. Being a part of a Greek Organization, you become a member that is a branch of yourself.

As to true the story R U OX ALUM mentioned, your Brothers/Sisters are just that. You worry about them and they worry about you. I wanted to be a member of the whole, not just a member of the few that after graduation I would never see again.

I keep in contact with many of my Brothers as there were many bondings from the good old days.

Is parting part of it? Yes.

But the bonding of local chapter Brothers/Sisters is a huge part of it. The interaction among other like Brothers/Sisters can lead to many things in the after college life. It can also mean a bonding with fellow Greeks who know what you were part of in college by learning how to run and office, cope with many problems, be of social graces, having fun and learning about life while leaning how to study and graduate.

Remember all of the snide remarks, well, ask yourselves why you have Greek Letters in your signatures talk about your Brothers/Sisters and are even on GC?

Just thought I'd let you know, that you sound crazy like some of the AXD sisters in my chapter. It just made me laugh a little. :D

Anyway, I chose to go through recruitment mostly because I'd been hearing about Greek Life almost non-stop since my older cousin started college and pledged a fraternity there (and, at the time of my recruitment, that had been a little over four years ago). Then my other cousin pledged a fraternity, then my first cousin got a girlfriend who was in a sorority. So, basically, for four years I'd heard nothing at holidays other than stories about Greek life. Which I loved, don't get me wrong. My mom's side of the family...every person there has gone Greek (with the exception of my younger sister, but she's a freshman in high school, so she's got a few years)--both my grandparents, my aunt, my uncle, both my cousins, my cousin's fiance, my mom, and my dad. So I figured I'd check it out.

I was leaning toward AXD way in the beginning (but kept an open mind during recruitment, of course), mostly because I'm a double legacy. My grandmother is an Alpha Xi and so is my mom. During recruitment, I felt that was really the place I belonged--I got along with the sisters great, I knew a bunch of them through marching band, stuff like that. So, I pledged. I've loved it ever since. I love all my sisters, and it's so nice to have that eternal bond and support system. Each time we pledge a new class, I get excited all over again. There's just something about going through the ceremonies and stuff again from the other side that's just exciting. There are many, many times that my sisters have come to my aid, and I to theirs. I don't know what I'd do without my Big, or my Little, or even my Twin. I just love it.

Okay, so I talk too much. But that's okay too. :)

Hazelle:

I don't mind questions being asked several times. It just means you've asked a good question since so many people have asked it before and are curious about the answer.

Why did I join? Well, quite honestly, I wasn't meaning to!

I'm a yankee who knew absolutely NOBODY in a sorority or a fraternity. It just was non-existant in my area. Sororities and fraternities were never talked about in high school... ever.

I had a rather negative opinion of the Greek system because all I knew were the stereotypes that you saw on TV and in the movies. I had no interest in joining one.

When I moved down south and starting attending an SEC school, I was amazed at how big and how popular sororities and fraternities were! But, I had a gang of friends in the dorm, and could care less about joining one.

I knew NOTHING about them. I had never heard the terms "pledge" or "rush".. and I had no idea what the Greek letters meant.

Then.. my very good friend Kelly asked me if I would go through rush with her. I remember staring at her with a blank look and saying, "What is rush?"

She explained it to me, and I wasn't at all interested. I was too busy with my sport anyway. But, she pestered me and finally convinced me to go-- just to keep her company. (Kelly ended up pledging Kappa Alpha Theta).

As I went from house to house, I was amazed at what I was learning about these groups. I had expected a bunch of plastic, snotty girls. But I learned that every preconceived notion I had about sororities was wrong!

These were genuine girls who really cared about each other.. who had a special bond. That's what attracted me the most about the sororities I visited... these girls were so "into" their groups, so "into" their philanthropies, and proud of everything about their organization. They told me of mixers, date nights, woodsers, retreats, formal dances, and just "hanging out in the house." They described their fund raising activities, and helping the community. I began to get interested!

Sometimes, you just "know" something is right. That's the feeling I had the first time I stepped through the doors of the ZTA house. I knew I had found something really special. I knew I had found my home.

I wasn't at all disappointed when I pledged. The girls were amazing.... they made my pledge period a time I will always treasure. I was able to find my way back to Zeta years later, and am so happy I have. I've met wonderful new sisters through the alumnae chapter.

I don't have a problem with repetetious threads unless they're the typical "Which chapter has the biggest front steps and the most columns in the whole world" type of thing.

I had no intention of rushing.

A couple of guys I worked with at the university radio station when I was a freshman are Delts and invited me to dinner and a "smoker." They (the chapter) invited me back, give me a bid, and I accepted because I really liked the guys in the house.

If that hadn't happened, I'd probably be posting on GDIChat.com.