So over the weekend, our invites trickled in.

Molly got invited back to Foxmoor, Ups & Downs, and Ormond.

I got invited back to...


Susie's Casuals
Reunion
Foxmoor
Ups & Downs and
County Seat.

Every group I'd gone to, except for Ormond where I knew I didn't have a snowball's chance anyway.

I couldn't believe it. I was in shock. In a good way. I hadn't had a great time socially in jr high & high school - was not successful at things that were tryouts or anything resembling popularity contests among my peers. I literally could not believe that all these girls wanted me to come back. No, this wasn't a huge recruitment. No, this isn't a super competitive school. But still - I was amazed that I really was not that awkward 13 year old any longer. I chose the school I went to largely on a gut decision, and this to me just solidified that it had been the right one.

Mush over.

lol

I heart this thread.

1. I believe the true question is why WEREN'T you wearing multiple Swatches?

ETA: Why did I number this? I guess I had a follow up question, but who knows what it was. LOL.

They still make Swatches. They are still awesome.

http://store.swatch.com/?utm_source=...FUc0aQodPCIAtA

Loving the names! I can remember when, as a punishment, I wasn't allowed to go to Foxmoor for a month!

We lived for Laura Ashley. The definition of chic.

Pref Party week! I actually do remember what I wore this week because I put skirts on LOL. Monday night I wore my HS graduation dress which was a lavendar and blue plaid. Not exactly seasonal but this wasn't the sort of place where people showed up with their rush wardrobes in separate garment bags for each day. ;)

The first party I went to on Monday was Susie's Casuals. This was held in the same dorm rec room where their theme party had been held. It had a more serious tone and I do remember that they sang Pass It On (that had to happen in at least one place). I still liked these girls a lot and was still kind of amazed that they had invited me back - they seemed so much more poised and polished than me.

The second party was at Reunion. They held it in the campus weekend dance space. They seemed a little unsure of what they were doing, which made sense since they were still a colony.

Tuesday night Ups & Downs and County Seat were holding their parties.

Ups & Downs was the first party of the night. This time the party was held in their dormitory suite. Sisters lived in a wing of the dorm and the study room at the end of the hall served as their chapter room. Once again Cindy and Kimberly made sure I was being showed around. Cindy took me on a suite tour and was pointing out different things that had to do with their philanthropy, sisterhood events etc...I liked it, but it just seemed like she was too gung ho - like EVERYTHING related back to Ups & Downs and there was no life outside of it. (That is way more dramatic than I wanted it to be.) Eventually it was time for the preference ceremony. Each rushee was holding a candle and flanked by a sister and Kimberly stood behind me. They sang a sorority song and then one of the sisters recited a poem about their sisterhood and most of the sisters were bawling by the end of it, along with some rushees. They then sang another song and started escorting us out. Kimberly gave me my favor and told me to make a wish and gave me a hug. It was very powerful and moving and I had tears in my eyes too.

It was also VERY VERY HOT. I was wearing a tank top dress with Molly's thick shaker knit sweater over the top. There were approximately 80-85 girls in a not very large suite, in fall clothing, WITH CANDLES. Bleah!!!! I desperately wished there was a way to take a shower or at least stand in a freezer before the County Seat pref, but no such luck!!!

I don't remember much about County Seat's pref either, except I think the sisters were all dressed in white. It was held in the same classroom they held their theme party in. They had a hard act to follow - the pref parties obviously only occurred once so if anyone was coming from Ups & Downs they probably couldn't help but compare the two.

Wednesday night Foxmoor and Ormond held their pref parties. Molly and I went over to the Foxmoor house together but I could tell she was already anticipating Ormond. I wore a pink and black rose print sweater (the other 80s girls will know exactly the kind of thing I am talking about) and my friend's black knit skirt. (This is another reason deferred rush is awesome. If I had had to completely wear my own clothes for rush I would have been up sh%^ creek.)

Foxmoor again held their party at their house. Everyone was in dressier clothes and the conversation was quieter but there was still that comfortable feeling. When it came time for the ceremony, all the rushees went downstairs while the sisters prepared the main room. We came upstairs to see candles and soft lighting - it looked beautiful. We were each given one of the sorority's jewels (a faux one of course) and told to take it up to the wishing well and make a wish. As we did so, they sang the sorority's hymn. I went up and placed it in the well - as in put my whole hand into the bowl so it didn't bounce. I didn't realize there was water in the bowl. Hahahaha. I don't think anyone noticed though. We were given roses and left the house quietly.

I wished Molly good luck at Ormond and went back to the dorm. Rush was over for me, party-wise anyway, since the only group holding pref the next day was Merry Go Round. Bid signing was on Friday morning. I had a whole day and then some to do nothing but think! Yay!

Indeed, I know the pink and black rose sweater, and "Pass It On" had been safely out of my mind for decades until now ... Please continue!

I still wear a Swatch, mostly for work, or out running errands.

33, I'm loving this thread!

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. :)