That's funny - most of my guy friends dislike Valentine's Day and would have welcomed a good excuse not to have to plan anything for it. lol (My husband is somewhere in the middle - we exchange cards, but that's about it. Neither of us cares too much about it.)

But...imagine some of the girls who do really make a big deal about Valentine's Day - some people get pretty depressed if they don't have a significant other around that time...imagine if a girl was already feeling glum about V-Day and got disastrous news on Bid Day. Would probably break the poor thing's heart. :(

I vaguley recall the whole v-day on bid day being a hassle for some girls, but my feeling was that I thought the Jon was trying to come more as a control thing rather than to spend it with me. Needless to say, Jon and I broke up about two weeks into my new member period. He got to be really mean and snippy towards me after I joined AZD! Like if I didn't answer the phone when he called right then and there or respond to one of his emails that day he freaked out on me. Now looking back on it, the guy had a TON of control issues!

I will now fast forward to Thursday's parties....

Again I had a late class so I had to rush home and get changed. Today I wore a black skirt and a red ribbed turtle neck with black tights and shoes. Sarah did my hair and make up again. Apparently Courtney asked her to help her and Sarah refused. The two of them should have never been put as roomates!

Traci and I's schedule both had Half-Moon first for skit round tonight so we walked over there and checked in with the Rho Chi. As soon as the Rho Chi looked at us she asked us where our name tags were. I could not believe that both of us forgot our name tags!!!! So we both ran back to the room, in the rain and ran back to Moseley and got there just in time for the doors to open up at Half-Moon!

The girls at Half Moon had created this bridge thing with their arms over our heads and were singing the theme from the Muppets which I thought was really cute. Then we were taken by the girl at the end of the line. A new girl named Heather too took me around and we met up with Jen again who handed me a sprite in an old fashioned soda bottle. I opened it and it exploded all over me and Jen. Heather started apologizing profusely and Jen and I just laughed. They gave me some paper towels to clean up and Heather kept taking me around to meet different sisters. Then the sorority had us sit down in chairs and the sisters did this skit for us on the stage where they did this whole Wizard of Oz, Dorothy in Recruitment Land skit. It was alright. I couldn't hear a lot of it though. Then the president gave us a talk about our financial responsibilities to the sorority if we were to join. It's not as expensive as a lot of girls have made it out to be and seems pretty flexible with payment plans and stuff. All and all I had a really good time at Half Moon -- even though I walked in all wet and walked out with sprite on me! Traci and I met up in the hall at the end of the party. She absolutely loves Half Moon! I still really like Half Moon and could see myself there.

Next I was a one of the lucky ones who got to stay inside Moseley to go see Lotus next. While we were lining up, I ran into Colleen and Torey who were both at my party too! We walked into Lotus and the sisters were dressed in black completely except for their "I Love Lotus" buttons (I think it's an Elon thing, but we all had I love buttons and wore them a lot!) and the room was all dark except for black light and they had created this stage area. The music in the background was this eerie pinkfloyd music that fit the mood. So we all sit down and they do this Lous Through Time musical montage. It was awesome!!! These girls were so talented to pull this whole thing off. The costumes and music were perfect! After the skit was over, the treasurer handed out sheets of paper with the finanial info on it and outlined the financial stuff. For a treasurer, she seemed really laid back! I was then picked up by Hope who I had met during the first round and she introduced me to more people. I noticed a lot of the girls in this sorority are from the north and don't seem like the typical sorority girl. I definetly liked this group a lot by the end of the party and could see myself here as well.

Next I went trekked all the way down to the greek courts in the rain to go see Shanti. By this point it was pouring out!!! So we all lined up outside Shanti and waited in line while we got soaked! Finally Shanti let us in. They were all dressed in their letters and khaki pants and were doing cheers like the day before. They had us all sit down and their skit was the Music Awards. I wasn't that impressed compared to Lotus' skit, but it was still pretty good. Then their president went over their financial stuff. By far, this is one of the most expensive groups so far. Then April came and got me and intoduced me to sooo many people my head was swiming. She kept telling me how happy she was to see me there and stuff like that and other sisters would be like "april has said so much great stuff about you." Which of course made me feel pretty good. By the end of this party, I was happy to be there and could possibly see myself in this group too.

My last visit was to Down Dog . It had stopped raining a little bit and we didn't have to stand outside very long. They let us and in and were all cheering and singing and all the sisters were wearing black pants and letters. They had us sit on the floor, which again was wet from everyone's shoes and they did a Greece skit. It was adorable! Then a girl that I had apparently met during first round came up to take me around. I of course introduced myself and she was like "We met last party" and looked kinda peeved that I didn't remember her. I felt pretty embarassed about that. She then took me around to a few people and they served shirley temple drinks to kinda fit with the whole Greece theme. I didn't feel as comfortable at Down Dog as I had the party before because I just felt like every girl was asking the same questions over and over again. I still really liked everyone I met though and could possibly see myself as a Down Dog.

I met up with Heather my Rho Chi at the end of the parties and she said our invites would be ready for pref at 2 so to meet her there again to get them. Also she said to start thinking about who we really like because we can only go back to 2 pref parties. By the time I got back to my room I had no idea who liked the most and who I liked the least. Plus all the stereo types that Courtney and Traci had been saying started to crawl into my head. I really didn't know where I would fit in!

Wow! I think it's awesome that you like all four of the groups you saw! Did you think that you would be happy to be invited to any two of the four or did you have some slight favorites?

I'm bored at work, so I'll speed this thread up...

Class took forever again! I just wanted to go get my invites! All the girls in my class were either exhausted from no sleep because they were so anxious or super jumpy. I couldn't concentrate on my lecture at all, partly because I was day dreaming and the other part was because I didn't sleep very well the night before because I was so anxious. I was finished with classes by 1 so I went back to my room and tried to sleep and couldn't, went to Harden to try to eat and all I could choke down was a bagel and some soft-serve. I hate anticipation!!!

Finally, I went to meet with Heather at 2 and again I had to wait for my turn. My group was somewhat smaller and rumor had it that the Rho Chis had called the girls who hadn't received any invites to tell them the bad news. I noticed Kristi from my group wasn't there and I felt really bad for her. And of course then the "What-ifs" entered my brain, like What if Heather forgot to call me and I didn't get any invites back, or what if Heather did call me and Traci didn't give me the message...! Finally Heather came out with another girl from my group who was beaming and called me in. And then she did it, she handed me 2 invites. 2! Out of 4 parties yesterday, I was only invited back to 2! Then I opened them. I had been cordially invited back to both Lotus and Shanti. I sat there in shock for a second and then started to tear up a little bit. Heather asked me if I was ok with my invites and I told her that I wasn't not happy to go back to Lotus and Shanti, but I was just upset that Half Moon and Down Dog didn't invite me back!!!!! Heather calmed me down and told me that these were two really good groups and that they must be excited to have me if they invited me to their preference round. She made me feel better, but I was still bitter that I hadn't been invited back to Half Moon and Down Dog.

After I felt better and left Moseley I went back to my room and napped for an hour or so. Only to wake up to Courtney slamming the bathroom door and Sarah watching TV on my futon. Apparently, Courtney had not gotten the pref invites she was expecting and was absolutely miserable to everyone about it. So Sarah was taking cover in my room. I asked Sarah who Courtney had gotten invited back to but she didn't know because Courtney wasn't telling anyone.

Traci came home during all the commotion and told me that she was prefing both Down Dog and Half Moon. Needless to say, I wanted to go back to sleep. But rather, it was time to get ready for Pref!

ha ha ha Courtney got dissed. Been waiting for that in this story. :D

Can we know who Courtney ended up getting invited back to?

:mad:AARRRGGHHH!!! I want to know more, more, more!!!! :mad:

Sorry I took so long, little issue here at the office this morning. Anyway, back to the important things like Recruitment Stories!!!

After my nap, Sarah, Traci and I got to talking about pref. and they got me to stop taking myself quite so seriously that I wasn't invited back to Down Dog and Half Moon. That I had liked Lotus a lot after second round and Shanti is a good organization, despite any stereotypes and that I should be greatful that I was invited back. So I decided to go to pref will a good attitude! The rain had finally stopped too and it was actually nice out! So I ended up wearing a black sheth dress I wore to my aunt's wedding in November with a little bolero jacket remember it was 1997!!! and black heels with the jewlery I wore to prom. Sarah did my hair again and Traci did my make-up, and I ended up taking half the make-up off that Traci put on!

Courtney eventually emerged from her room wearing her planned pref dress which was a floral print and her eyes were still puffy from crying and she really still wasn't talking to anyone.

So off we went down to the greek courts, Traci and I gave each other big hugs and she went over to Down Dog and I went to get check in with the Rho Chi at Shanti. and then Lo and behold, I watched Courtney check in at Shanti too! I couldn't freakin believe it! But then again, according to her stereotype they were know-it alls just like her!!! Courtney wouldn't even look at me and stood off with a few girls and she was telling all of them that if you are invited to pref that means that you are already on their bid list and will get a bid from that sorority one of the Rho Chis overheard Courtney and told her that that wasn't necessairly true.

I am going to describe pref as I had it written down, most likely, you will probably be able to figure out the sororities at this point

We finally go into Shanti and its very quiet and lit up with candels and all the sisters are dressed in red. April picks me up at the door and announces my arrival which I couldn't help but laugh to myself about. April and I talked for a little bit about what Shanti ment to her and how it had changed her life. We then stood in a semi circle with a big table at the end adorned with candels and other sorority stuff. There was a speeches made by different people and then they each handed us some straw which apparently is significant to Shanti. I know that it was supposed to be a big deal, but all I could think about it was that I was allergic to straw and was hoping that I didn't start sneezing uncontrollably. Then some seniors read letters about what Shanti ment to them. Lots of the sisters cried, some of the pnms cried, I teared up a little. It was nice to hear how important the sorority was to these girls. During this point I looked over at Courtney and she looked like she was a zombie. Then we were taken up to this fountain and asked to take a rose petal and make a wish before putting it in the fountain and then it was all over and April walked me out and gave me a big hug!

On my way up to Moseley for Lotus I ran into Colleen, she was on her way to Shanti and had just come out of Half Moon and was very excited. Courtney ran up to her when she heard that she had been to Half Moon and asked her how it was. That was where Courtney was going next!

I then got to Lotus and waited there. I saw one girl from my Elon 101 Class there and she said she was excited for Lotus. We then went in, this room was decorated with candels and all the sisters were in white and were singing this really pretty song. We then got in a semi circle and Ann, the girl I met during round one came up to me and started talking to me. She told me how much she loved Lotus and at first she wasn't sure if she would like it, but that she had met her best friends here and wouldn't change it for the world. Then we all had our attention to a little ceremony in the front of the room and then two seniors read letters about how much they loved Lotus and how they had been chapter founders and how proud they were to have watched the sorority grow. I started crying and Ann gave me a tissue. They then sang a song again and Ashely, the girl I had met during first round was standing next to Ann went off key and I could hear them try not to laugh. And then I realized that I wanted to be friends with these girls and I made my decision right then and there!

Once the ceremony was over we went downstairs to meet with our rho chi who handed us these sheets of paper and then the director of greek life came in and told us the inns and outs about what we were about to sign. I listed Lotus first and Shanti second. While I knew Lotus was my number one, I thought that I could fit in in Shanti too. I signed my papers quickly and met up with heather in the hall. She was surprised that I was done so quickly and wanted to make sure I didn't suicide or something. I told her that I was really happy with my decision.

Then I went back to my room and watched Pretty Woman and ordered pizza with Sarah and Karen. Traci came back really late and she looked really upset. Apparently she was one of the last people to sign her papers and was really confused about who she should put first. I never saw Courtney come in, but I am sure she probably suicided Half Moon or something like that.

I fell asleep early, happy with my decision and really thinking that I was going to get a bid from Lotus or Shanti.

OK - red dresses, pieces of straw and rose petals? Is there a reason that sounds familiar to me? :confused: I think I might know that one....

Even I thought those were pretty big hints.........:)

Smart Blonde - not sure if this was just a midwestern thing but if I said brown checked gingham dresses .... (this was the 70's) would that have rung a bell to you? :D

Nope but I pledged in 1987. Now I probably would have guessed us with color though.

I thought it was wheat?

ETA: Well we all know you definitely don't go Shanti...

Maybe she just wrote it in her notes as straw...I'm assuming it really was wheat? :confused:

I think we also have a pretty good idea of who Warrior was, considering that one of the chapters that was there when she rushed is no longer on campus. :(

I'm pretty darned confident that it was wheat, and if it wasn't, it certainly should have been! :)

I'll finish up my story here so other people can get to telling theirs.

Finally bid day arrives and if you didn't get a bid, the Rho Chi's would come and knock on your door to tell you. Of course, with a whole hall of girls we would knock on other pnm's doors just to freak them out. While running around I saw Heather my Rho Chi on my hall and started to panic and almost cry immediately. She came up and gave me a big hug and then told me she wasn't there to see me, she was there to see someone else with another Rho Chi and just wanted to say hi. I was a Rho Chi my senior year and it really really sucks to tell someone that they didn't get a bid face-to-face so we sometimes took another Rho Chi for moral support for ourselves.

Happy that Heather wasn't there to see me, a bunch of us attempted to eat some lunch, which none of us were hungry for and got ready for bid day!! Jon called me while I was getting ready and started giving me a hard time. I just told him I had to go. I am really starting not to like being with him anymore.

Finally we were ready to go, a bunch of us - Courtney included, walked up to Moseley and sat in our Rho Chi groups and I was so nervous!!! There was a big speech and then the Rho Chis revealed themselves and Heather was a Lotus!!! Then they handed out the bids and made us SIT ON THEM during another speech made by the head Rho Chi and then 1-2-3 we got to open our bids!!!! And I am now a proud new member to......ALPHA XI DELTA (Lotus-- shocker I know). I ran up and gave Heather a huge hug. The girl from my Elon 101 class was also a Lotus and we were so freaking happy!!!

As for my friends:

Traci went Half Moon
Karen went Om
Colleen went Shanti
Torey went Down Dog
and Courtney went Half Moon

Sarah ended up dropping out of Elon the end of first semester of her sophmore year. She never joined a sorority, but she was still with her boyfriend. Later I heard she had become a hair stylist.

Traci and I were really good friends and roomates until our junior year when Traci became really depressed after a bad break up and bad grades. She ended up transferring to Queens College in Charlotte.

Colleen ended up marrying Shanti's sweetheart after they graduated.

Torey was roomates with one of the girls in my new member classes and I saw her a lot. Even after Freshman year, we were always friendly with each other.

Courtney became obsessed with Half Moon and became the pincale of sisterhood. You would have never known that prior to recruitment that she thought were just "regular" girls. I didn't see much of Courtney after the end of Freshman year. Of course Traci did, but never really hung out with her.

As for me, Anne who preffed me became my Rose Sister and Ashley who couldn't sing at pref became my Big. My jiunior year I became the Recruitment Chair for AZD and my senior year I was a co-head Rho Chi.

So thats my story. If you want to know exactly which sorority was which, pm me as I am afraid if I list them here I will get blasted.

I love your remarks about the girl singing off key and the other sisters trying their best to hold in their laughter. That was totally my chapter. We could sing loud, and sound excited, but we were never the beautiful voices that some chapters had :)

I knew it was wheat, too. She just didn't say wheat! I suppose in her notes she thought it was straw?

I never even knew what a "sheath of wheat" was until I pledged!

Oops sorry, answered before I read on.

OK, now a post to the end! Glad to hear we were in it to the end. I don't read too many stores about AOII pledges, not sure why. We're so shy. :p

Loved your story! Especially all the bits about your rush buddies. Thanks for sharing!

The part about the sister singing off key hit me close to home too. During preference, the girl who was preffing me whispered in my ear that she was going to mouth the words because she didn't want to hurt my ears with her terrible voice! :p Then the next year when I was an active, the song chair nicely asked me if I wouldn't mind doing the same thing as I was ruining the harmony in one of our slow songs. But you better believe I was one of the loudest voices out there when we were doing our cheers! :D

I sang harmony for a quartet for Greek Sing - but had a habit of creeping up into my big sister's part.She'd elbow me to get me out of soprano and back into alto!

Yeah! So far, this has been my favorite retro-recruitment! I LOVED the other "characters" in the story!

I'm glad that everyone has enoyed it and hopefully it will deter PNMs not to act like Courtney or get caught up in the stereotypes!!!

I love that all of our retro threads teach such nice lessons. :)

Great job, MaggieXi!

Addendum to my story
 

I forgot to mention the following details:

My aunt Allison who ended up writing me a rec was a Half Moon.

The girl Kristi who was in my group and had dropped out of recruitment rushed the following year and became an AZD!!!