|
Summer 2008…
All summer the biggest reason I wanted to go back to school was because I really wanted to start White Sox’s recruitment! I had gotten a couple updates and newsletters over the summer, and reading them made me very excited for the potential opportunities I had in front of me. I also took the time to do a little bit of research about the White Sox on my own, and learn about what they stand for (that’s how I actually stumbled across this lovely site! J) Now OF COURSE, I didn’t assume that they would be like, “Oh yeah, sure, just because you’re a junior, and we need numbers, here’s a bid!” I knew that if they were going to invite me to pledge, they were going to do it because they thought I would be a great addition to the chapter. Still, I was very excited to learn more about the White Sox. Fall 2008… So White Sox’s recruitment was JUST about to start. I had been waiting for this for so long, I couldn’t wait to meet everyone and learn more about their recruitment process! Finally it was the night of their first meeting. (This technically wasn’t the first day of recruitment because formal recruitment was still going on). I’d say about 60 girls showed up, and what was most interesting to me was that all the girls seemed to be VERY different, which I liked. I also liked the fact that from the few girls I met, I met some who I could definitely see myself getting along with and being friends with. Two of the women from the White Sox who were going to be helping out with recruitment gave us the run down about how a colony works, what new members would be doing, etc. I know some of you are familiar with a colony recruitment process, but I don’t know if they differ depending on schools or chapters—so basically there were several open events in the next month where we would get to meet other White Sox’s from nearby schools, and learn about their philanthropy. Then the weekend before their own bid day there was going to be something similar to interviews, that you would have to be invited to. It’s during these interviews that they would decide if they want to extend a bid to you or not. After they gave us all the information and answered questions, we played a little icebreaker game before the meeting was over. When the game was over they told us they could answer any other questions we might have, but that they were done with the meeting so we could head home if we wanted. I thought I would stick around for a few minutes and introduce myself to the other White Sox who was running the meeting (I had already met the other one from the events last year. Since she is going to be the one staying on campus with the new White Sox and since I will be referring to her often, I will call her Ozzie—as in Ozzie Guillen, the manager of the White Sox hehe). So anyways, I introduced myself to the other White Sox, and on my way out I was going to say hi to Ozzie as well. She was like, oh hey, come her for a second and pulled me aside. She told me that since I had been coming to the events last year and I showed that I’m interested and enthusiastic about this that she already wanted to invite me to an interview! I was so excited!! So of course I said yes, and left for the night. I was still planning on going to the open events because I wanted to meet all the other PNM’s and White Sox who would be helping out. I could not wait for the next event!! I anxiously waited allllll week for the next recruitment event to come! As part of the recruitment efforts the White Sox had things like a Facebook group for everyone interested to join and they would sent out Facebook invites to their events. I was happy to see that interest was growing as 200+ women joined the group! So the day before the official recruitment starting event, I checked up on the invite to see if there was going to be anyone else I knew coming. I saw some familiar faces who I had seen at other events…and then I saw HER. It’s a very long story but basically she was a girl who was on my very bad side because of the smack she talked about my best friends, who was at one point good friends with her boyfriend. She was just very malicious and mean, and you do NOT do that to my best friend. My heart just sank. I had been so excited for this and the fact that she could potentially be my sister really upset me. And WHAT THE HELL!? Thanks to the Facebook news feed I had noticed that she had received a bid from Tigers the year before?! Well I guess she depledged…So I thought about it all it for a while. This was something I had really grown looking forward too. I knew it was something I wanted. So I decided that if I did see her I was just be civil. I could say hi, but I didn’t have to say much else. And if we were both extended bids, that didn’t mean we had to be best friends. I mean in such a LARGE group of girls, you’re not necessarily going to get along with everyone, right? I just hoped everything would turn out right… |
Just when you think you're sailing right along - along comes another twist! Very interested to hear the next installment!
|
Sorry for the delay! I've had a very crazy day... anyways.. here's some updates!!! I'll give you a few weeks worth of updates cause I really wanna finish my story... Also, I just want to let you know, the girl I had problems with in the past will now be known as Mean Girl...just so she's easy to identify lol
WHITE SOX RECRUITMENT WAS OFFICIALLY HERE!!!!! I was soooo excited! I couldn’t wait to meet the other PNM’s, but I was just NOT expecting that many girls!! I made my way to the building where the event was being held, and I turn the corner, and there is just a huge line going out the door. I was surprised but so happy to see just how much interested had grown. I waited in line, and when I got to the room, it was packed! There were no chairs left or anything—I’d estimate that there were 200+ girls! Now I did see Mean Girl there. I’m not sure if she saw me too, but if she did, I was prepared to be polite… I mean she’s obviously looking for the same thing I am…and I’m sure she was excited like me, what would be the point of continuing drama? But I did also run into someone I was not expecting—a friend who went to the same grade school and high school as me! We weren’t ever really close, but always friendly with each other, and she’s an awesome girl, so it was nice to see her there! I also saw some familiar faces from the last event, and even two of the girls who came to the first events last semester! I had thought they were no longer interested since I had not seen them at the last event, so it was a (good) surprise when I saw them. The event was basically the same as the little “unofficial” event they held the week before. They just gave us the run down on the process of recruitment and what the steps we would potentially go through during the colony period up to the installation of the chapter. At the end of the meeting they announced that if there was anyone who was already for sure interested that they wanted to do an interview at the end of recruitment they could sign up after. Well, girls just swarmed the tables! Lol! Since I already had signed out a time for an interview, I decided to just leave for tonight… There would be a lot more getting to know you with other girls at the next event, where we were going to learn about their philanthropy. At the philanthropy event, we got to watch a video about the sorority itself and also a video about their philanthropy. We then did a short project for this philanthropy. It was very simple but cute and creative. I liked the fact that it was easy enough to make, but it still gave us the opportunity to meet chat with other girls. Then they gave us a bit more information about the upcoming interviews, their preference ceremony, bid day and what not. Before I left I picked up a little reminder card for the interview I would be having that day and I then stuck around to talk with some of the girls I had been getting to know. It was a nice little event once again, but I just couldn’t WAIT for the weekend!!! The last event of White Sox’s colony recruitment was probably the most fun event of them all. We met all the wonderful women who work for White Sox who would be helping conduct interviews, decide who would be getting bids and everything. Then they gave us opportunities to split into groups a few times and just get to know all the girls who could be our potential sisters. It was a lot of fun! Again, it was just so interesting to meet all the different girls from different backgrounds—and there were definitely girls I would be happy to call my sister! It just made me soooo excited for the whole process. I just wanted it to be bid day! The suspense was killing me!!! By now there were some familiar faces in the crowed. WSPNM 1 and WSPNM 2 we still interested, along with another girl whom I had met last year (WSPNM 3), my friend from grade school, and Mean Girl. I mean, I guess I wasn’t so great to see Mean Girl, but whatever. It was really great that I was starting to get to know some of the girls. The next day was our formal interview session. It was a one on one with a member from the White Sox. I was getting myself soooo nervous, I was so afraid of letting my nerves take over and that I would just completely blow the whole thing. Well, I’m happy to say that I didn’t let my nerves get the best of me! I was very calm, and the whole interview was laid back and easy going. But I just left with a funny feeling that things did not go great. I mean, the woman who interviewed me asked me questions about what I could bring to the organization, why I wanted to join, how would my friends describe me, etc., but I just didn’t get a great vibe. Every answer I gave I got a feeling that it wasn’t good enough. So, I left not feeling as confident as I would have hoped. Now it was going to be even HARDER to wait for the invites. The next day we would be able to go pick up a letter that said if we would be invite to the preference round or if we had been released. I just wanted it to be the next day sooooo badly… |
Thanks for posting so much quick! I love this story :)
|
yeah I like this story
|
It was FINALLY the time when we were allowed to pick up our letter—either an invite or a “sorry”. I made my way to the student organization office to pick my letter. My heart was pounding and I was so shaky that I had to sit down before I opened it. So I turned it over and….
I was invited back to preference night that night!!! I was so happy I practically skipped my way home. I then had a few hours to relax, and get ready for the night. Before I knew it I was in a pretty lil black dress and on my way to the new house, which we would be seeing for the first time that night! As I approach the house I could see that they had candles laid out leading to the door way, it was so cute! Again, I started to get myself a little anxious and worked up, so I was hoping I could just calm down before their ceremony. When we arrived, we were allowed to mingle with other PNM’s and White Sox’s from another school. It was fun talking to them—the girl I spoke with for a while was so energetic, and very relatable. Soon it was time for the cemermony. It was so sweet and calm that I was immediately put at ease. It really was a pretty ceremony…but when I left something just did not feel right… I guess I had just always heard that when you go to preference you will KNOW that you belong there and you will be so emotional and all this other stuff. Now, don’t get my wrong, I was very happy to be there, and the ceremony was touching, but I just didn’t think I felt how I SHOULD be feeling. This left me very confused. I went home and called another cousin who was a part of ANOTHER sorority at another school that I haven’t mentioned—we’ll call them Cardinals. I told her how I was feeling and she told me not to worry, that what I was feeling was normal! She said that she wasn’t moved to tears by her pref or anything like that—instead she said, the ceremony means a lot more to her now that she is a sister. After talking to her about my concern, it made me realize that I shouldn’t be thrown off because of all the hype. Yes, there are girls who just LOVE their pref, and then there are girls like me who like it, but aren’t in complete awe over it. I decided that if I did receive a bid I would have an entire semester to see if my doubts were justified. And just for another update, WSPNMs 1, 2, & 3, Grade School Friend, and Mean Girl were all invited back to pref. my story will conclude in the next post!!!!!! ahh!! i cant wait to tell you all!!!!!!!!! |
Ohhhhh, I'm waiting to find out the ending........ ;)
|
I can't wait to find out!
|
and now for the moment of truth......
The next day was bid day. We could go pick up our bids as early as 8AM. Again, all girls had to go pick up something. There would be a letter—either a bid or a “sorry”, so walking to the student organization center didn’t mean I was guaranteed a bid. I woke up at 8:45 (a little later than I wanted to, but oh well), got dressed and made my way to the office. Knowing my personality, I was relatively calm on that walk there. I made my way up the stairs to the office where I could get my card. A few panhellenic reps were there waiting for the PNM’s… A woman asked me for my name, and soon handed me an envelope...Still calm as ever I turned around and started to walk down the stairs and open up my envelope… It read…. “With love and careful thought, we have chosen (my name) to join the Sisterhood of…. ALPHA XI DELTA I was so overwhlemed with happiness! I did tear up a little, I admit. It was just something that I was so excited for and couldnt wait for it to come and it was finally here. I kept wondering what it would be like if I finally got that bid, and to be holding it in my hand was just an amazing feeling! I went home, because we had a few hours before events would start. Later, we went back to the house for formal pledging, and bid day activities! I had such a great time meeting all the new girls. I realized that any doubts I had the night before were just nerves. I had finally found my home and it felt so good to be there! WSPNM 1, 2, & 3, Grade School Friend, and Mean girl all received bids as well. I haven’t officially talked to Mean Girl yet, but we have given each other polite waves and smiles whenever we’ve seen each other around so far. I really don’t know what will happen with that…but whatever happens I know it will be for the best!! Well that’s my story! I know it was long so thanks for bearing with me! But thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it! |
Congratulations on finding your home! This was a great story!
|
I had a feeling when I noticed the number of sororities at your school that this would be the ending! Congrats to you on becoming a founding sister :)
|
Woo Hoo!
Welcome to A X D! deadbear80, I had a feeling that that might be the ending too. |
Yep, I thought this too! I'm so happy that you found your home!
|
Congratulations to you and your colony of ALPHA XI DELTA! I'm happy you finally found a place to call home! So is this lovespink88 or red10?
|
Hehehe yeah, I knew you guys wouild figure it out, especially because of the colonizing thing. And violetpretty, this is lovespink88 :)
|
Congratulations to you and Alpha Xi Delta!!!! Good times ahead...enjoy!
:D |
Quote:
Congratulations on finding your home!! |
Congratulations!
Yeah! An A Xi D story!!!
Welcome! TFJ |
Really great story and I am so happy to see that you have found your home! I am a U of I alum and am so happy to see Alpha Xi Delta on campus again. Best wishes for a fantastic colonizing semester to you and your new sisters!
|
how wonderful!! congratulations.
just one more thing-i don't think many of us could say that we loved every single one of our chapter sisters. it's okay that you and mean girl aren't the best of friends-you can still respect each other as sorority sisters, and can also choose to hang out in different circles within the chapter. |
Congrats on sticking in there and finding your home and congrats to Alpha Xi Delta on the colonization. :) Best wishes!
|
I loved this story. It kinda reminds me of my pledge days.... I pledge a colony as well...
It is definately intimating to have an interview with a national officer.... ;) |
YAY!! As soon as I read there were 19 sororities at a large Midwest school, I knew it was UIUC :) my sister is a freshman there (who is now a DG)
I don't think I've read any AZD stories so this was exciting :) hooray |
Quote:
thanks for the advice :) |
bump!
|
| All times are GMT -4. The time now is 01:40 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, vBulletin Solutions Inc.