We could list up to three groups at bid signing. So during my day of nothing but thinking (oh and attending class ha ha) I definitely ruled out two groups: County Seat and Reunion.

County Seat's members hadn't made enough of an impression on me that I wanted to do the extra work associated with finding a national. I was sure they would do well as more and more people were interested in going Greek, I just hadn't made any personal connections there.

While I'd been pleasantly surprised by the girls at Reunion, I hadn't liked them enough to put up with the amount of drama I knew it would cause with my current friends. Absolutely nothing against them personally, it was just the circumstances. Don't get me wrong, I think if I had really dug them, I would have gone through the fire, I just didn't feel that strongly about them.

That left me with three groups to think about.

We had between 9 and noon on Friday to go to the student center and sign our bids. After that we had to go and stay in our rooms until 4 PM and hope we didn't get a call telling us we had been released. (No cell phones back then, kids.)

I went to sign my bid sheet and already knew my number 3. Susie's Casuals went in this slot. While I really, really liked the girls and part of me wished so much I could be part of this group, I knew I would never feel truly comfortable - I would always be playing catch-up.

That left Foxmoor and Ups & Downs. I had been thinking about this for a long, long time. My heart was telling me one thing and my brain was telling me another. Well, actually, not really. I just knew I had made so many bad choices in my life prior to this moment, I probably should do the opposite (like George Costanza only several years prior).

I finally took a deep breath and filled out my sheet like so:

1. Foxmoor
2. Ups & Downs
3. Susie's Casuals

I'm not sure how Nancy filled out her sheet, but Molly suicided Ormond.

so chicken salad instead of tuna salad, huh?

So, this is another thing about deferred rush that is awesome. Everyone on our floor was supportive of us girls that were rushing and kept popping in and out of our rooms to keep us from going insane.

Around 2ish, one of my friends came to my door letting me know Molly had gotten a phone call letting her know she'd been released from rush and hadn't gotten a bid from Ormond. I immediately went over to her room without even thinking about my own fate. I felt so terrible for her and wished I could have done something to make her feel better. At the same time, I couldn't help feeling like she had set herself up for disappointment.

Finally the 4 PM mark passed and I hadn't gotten a phone call so I knew I had gotten a bid. I had NO idea what to wear and ran down to Nancy's room to ask her advice. She was all "ack! Ack!! Get back in your room!! They could be here any minute!!" I finally decided on a flashback sweater (so named because the cleavage was in the back instead of the front) in one of Merry Go Round's colors because I definitely wasn't going there. LOL.

While I was waiting, I started thinking that maybe I should have suicided and that putting down three groups might backfire on me. I remember thinking distinctly "oh crap! I don't want to be an Ups & Downs!! I want to be a Foxmoor!!"

Eventually I heard rustling outside my door. This is how our bid night worked - the sisters decorated your door while you were waiting (not knowing who was outside) and then knocked when they were done. This seems like the longest 5 or so minutes of your life while it's happening. Finally, I heard a knock on the door. I took a deep breath and went over and opened it to see sisters of....


















Foxmoor

which as you all know is

ALPHA SIGMA ALPHA!!!

I was absolutely delighted. While Ups & Downs had definitely given me something to think about, I knew I wanted to be in ASA the minute I put my pearl in the bowl. Part of the reason I chose them was because they were smaller than Ups & Downs (although they cross-rushed many of the same girls) and I was afraid of getting lost in the shuffle. I wanted a group where I could stand out and be valued for who I already was, not molded into someone else, and I was pretty sure I had found it.

As we were walking out I glanced into the TV room and saw Molly in there with one of our dormmates and she was crying. I felt horrible but I knew I couldn't run over or anything. I trusted our friendship was strong enough to get through it. (This kind of stuff is one of the reasons they discontinued having pickup this way. But to be fair, you had plenty of time to get the hell out of Dodge/the dorm and not have to see it.)

When we got downstairs the Ups & Downs chapter was there also waiting to go upstairs. Kimberly came over and gave me the biggest hug in the world and said "You made a good choice. Congratulations!!!" (I have chills while I'm typing this by the way, because it seems like yesterday.) I still don't know if that meant "thank God you went with them because you missed getting a bid with us and I would have felt like crap" or "we gave you a bid but I totally understand your going here instead and I know you'll be happy." :)

It turned out they were there to pick up Nancy, which really surprised me - not because I didn't think she would get a bid, I knew any group would love to have her, but because she didn't seem like their type. I had a lot to learn about things like that!!

We then went to the ASA house for bid festivities which included sisters only stuff and then we opened up the house for a party. Most of the other groups had a mixer with a fraternity but we did this which I liked - that way anyone who was important in your life could come over and share your special night with you. The two sisters I had connected with at theme were ecstatic to see me. They told me "we thought we had Molly, but we were really afraid we lost you." When the party wound down, Natalie walked me home and my Greek life began. :)

I have really enjoyed your story. Did Molly ever get a bid?

Hooray!!!

Postscript:

Molly did not ever get a bid. Here's where Stan Marsh would say "I learned something today." When she first went through rush with her roommate (who she was sometimes on good terms with, sometimes not), they both actually liked Ups & Downs the best. If Molly would have just listened to her heart and gone for it, she probably would have gotten a bid from them, and fit in perfectly and had a great time being Greek. Instead she listened to EVERYONE who was in her ear telling her what they could do for her or what she should do. Rushees: don't do this!!! Even if it's a family member or longtime friend and their advice is out of love, DON'T LISTEN TO THEM. Think about what you have learned in your experience. Go with your heart and your gut. She got involved in other things on campus outside of the Greek system. We did stay friends, but we weren't as close as we had been previously.

The pretty girl I'd seen in the business building became my big. And Blair was my 3 big!!

One night a few weeks later Nancy and I were both in the study room on our wing talking about how pledging was going. She said while she still liked the girls in Ups & Downs, they were kind of pressuring her to drink more than she felt comfortable with and giving her a hassle about her plans to live off-campus with a member of Merry Go Round the next semester. This just confirmed to me that I had absolutely made the right decision.

Tootie and I got to be better friends our senior year when we were both hanging out a lot at George Clooney. She is still a dear friend of mine and was one of the people who helped everyone in the Greek system reunite all these years later.

For a while I was a fan of Christopher Atkins and there was even the period of hanging out with Matt Dillon, but my ultimate faves are George Clooney. And like Clooney himself, they started out hot and have only amped up the hot as they aged. ;)

And a few weeks ago, I spent a weekend at the beach with members of Foxmoor, Susie's Casuals and Ormond. The letters we wore weren't as important as the shared experiences we had had at our college. I think it happens like this at most small schools - especially when everyone starts hanging out together at the same bars senior year. :) It really is true that "no matter the letter, we're all Greek together."

I enjoyed rush, fer shurrr. :D

Great story!!

Great story and very well written - thanks for sharing.

Fun story! Did Susie's ever go national? And can you identify where George Clooney pledged? And I am so glad that Matt Dillon made a cameo.

Mea culpa! Did County Seat go national? (Which sort of cracks me up since counties are local.)

Yes they did. :) I didn't even think about the county part, lol.

I will send you a PM identifying the fraternities.

Oh and does anyone know why when I google "Ups & Downs 1980s" I keep getting pictures of Rick Springfield?

I know someone who still wears her hair like that. I want to tell her to join the 21st century, but she's really nice.:p