GreekChat.com Forums - A (Not Quite) Retro Recruitment to help pass your day...

All right...here's the aftermath :)

So I went off and joined Howard and Marti became a Sheldon. I got over my sadness with surprising quickness once surrounded by my sisters. I attended every meeting and thoroughly enjoyed the New Member education I received. Initiation was one of the most breath-taking and beautiful experiences of my life (right after my wedding and the births of my children, of course). Marti had been exactly right about the stuff vs. sisterhood. While the Sheldons had (and continue to have) a great sisterhood, the Howards sisterhood is truly something to behold. It’s what we were (and are still) known for all over campus. The close bonds I formed with my sisters are something that literally bring me to tears, even now. And I’m incredibly thankful that someone was watching out for me when they allowed the bid-matching to give me a bid to Howard, and by Howard I mean…

Sigma Kappa!!!

As for Marti’s experience, she was almost immediately inundated with all sorts of the “stuff” we’d talked about, and I must say that I was initially jealous. It seemed like almost every day she wore a new Sheldon shirt that had been passed down by her Bid Day sis, while I only had one Bid Day shirt. I moved past that and sadly, Marti ended up dropping out of Sheldon before initiation. She confided in me that she wished she’d pledged Sigma Kappa with me. It was disappointing to watch, because I had known all along that Marti would go Sheldon because of the stuff (she’s like that, despite her other redeeming qualities) only to learn with her that “stuff” wasn’t a good reason to join a sorority. There were many times during college (and even now) when I wished Marti had pledged Sigma Kappa with me so she could share our sisterhood. In fact, I tried to get her to COB once the binding agreement with Sheldon was over. She thought really long and hard about it, but decided that she didn’t want to hurt Sarah Beth and Claire’s feelings by doing so.

Sarah Beth and Claire are still best friends and went on to hold many positions in Sheldon. Unfortunately Claire and I were never friends after recruitment. In fact, she seemed to go out of her way to avoid me. I never understood that. Sarah Beth and I are “stop and talk in the grocery store” friends now, but we were not friends during college. She seemed to avoid me too.

The smart and beautiful Raj from my class ended up becoming president of her chapter and later Panhellenic president. We never became friends, but I always admired her accomplishments from afar.

The Rajs and Leonards did go through a couple more tough seasons with low membership, but as the school’s Greek system grew and changed so did they. All of the sororities at the university now make quota and boast thriving chapters!

The three boisterous girls that had been in the vehicle on the way back from the Sigma Kappa Pref party became my sisters. One of them I never really got along with (and she ended up dropping during the spring semester), but I got to know the other two and grew to love them dearly though we were never super close.

Brooke became my big sis, and we’re still close to this day. I positively love that girl and can’t imagine being a Sigma Kappa without her! I went on to hold a few leadership positions (including Executive Council) in Sigma Kappa and took a great little sis the next year. My years in Sigma Kappa were some of the best of my life, though not always perfect (no “unicorns pooping cotton candy”, so to say ;)) and I am so thankful for them!

The endish…until one of my daughters makes it to college.