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A Stormy Recruitment: UCF Fall '08
So I have decided to share my recruitment story from Fall 2008 at UCF a.k.a the week Hurricane Fay hit! :eek:
A little background about myself, I’m freshman from a small beachy town in Florida. I went to a private school and a lot of my friends including myself deciding on rushing when we went to college. My parents really encouraged me to rush as well. My dad was an ATO when he was in college and my mom didn’t go to a 4-year school but she always said she would have rushed if she had the chance to go to a school with Greek life. I chose to go to UCF because it was my favorite school in Florida. It was a hard decision to make at first; I visited many different schools in and out of state (UF, FSU, USF, Rollins, College of Charleston, South Carolina). Ultimately, it came down to FSU vs. UCF in state. FSU had many plusses for me, it was your typical “college town” and had an amazing Greek life. I felt its negatives for me outweighed the positives though Tallahassee seemed like sort of a dead town to me and I didn’t like how the campus was layed out at all. Not to mention it was a good 6 hour drive from home and is absolutely FREEZING in the winter (I’m from south Florida and anything below 70 degrees is cold for me!). I then received a very nice scholarship from South Carolina and I was now torn between South Carolina and UCF. After a few visits though, South Carolina’s negatives were beginning to match up with FSU’s so I chose UCF! It’s the perfect school for me, I absolutely love Orlando and everything it has to offer, the campus is new and so beautiful, and its only an hour and a half from home…I couldn’t be happier! :D Over the summer I had attained recommendations for all the sororities at UCF with the help of my high school’s guidance counselor who was also Greek and has amazing connections! I heard about some of the sororities at UCF, some good things some bad things, but I was definitely going into rush with an open mind and I did not have any favorites to start off. So I went off to college and left home in mid August, I couldn’t wait to start my new life as a college girl! For those of you who aren’t familiar with UCF recruitment, it takes place the week before school starts which I loved because it didn’t interfere with the first few weeks of school, which I knew were going to be hectic enough! At UCF, rush kicks off on a Monday night with an informational meeting called “Greek Forum”. This is where we get to meet our Rho Gamma’s and the rest of the girls in our group. I remember stressing over my outfit even though I knew it didn’t matter at all. I decided on white shorts with a yellow top and my white wedges. I remember I was a few minutes late so I was running from my car to the building and it had begun to rain (the first signs of FAY!) and one of the girls (who I’m guessing was a Rho Gamma) was holding the door open for me and she flashed me the biggest smile and seemed so happy that I was there so that really began to calm my nerves down. I walked into this gym and went up to the registration table to get my Rho Gamma’s “name”. There were SO many girls in the gym already sitting in their Rho Gamma groups so I had to walk through all of them to try and find mine, which I finally did. At first glance she seemed really nice and pretty and so were all the other girls in my group. We went through introductions and some of the girls I could tell were not into the whole recruitment process as the rest of us were, they were even asking our Rho Gamma how they would “drop out” because they already felt it wasn’t for them. The Greek Life President then got up to speak and she informed us that 1000 girls were going through rush which shocked me because I heard that UCF wasn’t as competitive as FSU or UF. Overall, Greek Forum was very informative and I couldn’t wait to get the week started! The next morning would be UCF Day, which was the most informal day of recruitment. Wow so that was a lot longer then I had expected! I will post all about UCF day next time and the “names” I’ll be giving each sorority! I hope you guys like it so far…stay tuned! :) |
omg I can't imagine going through rush during that bad of weather! can't wait to read your story! :)
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I'm reading! :D
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Me,too!
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OMG FAAAY!! I remember that week! I was a Pi Chi and our recruitment was the week after UCFs but us Pi Chis had our retreat that week. I was sad that we had to cut it short :(
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Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hurricane shall keep us from reading your recruitment story!
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This sounds like it's going to be a great story! Can't wait to hear the rest of it!!! :) |
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I'm one of those,too. LOVE Chicago, but not in the winter.:D |
I cannot wait for more posts!! I love hearing Alma mater stories!!
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Alright, so now for the fun part!
There are 10 sororities at UCF: Alpha Delta Pi Alpha Epsilon Phi Alpha Xi Delta Chi Omega Delta Delta Delta Kappa Alpha Theta Kappa Delta Kappa Kappa Gamma Pi Beta Phi Zeta Tau Alpha The nicknames I will be giving them will be different islands around the world! So in no specific order… Bermuda Maui Barbados St. Lucia Sicily Bali Oahu Kiawah Capri Nantucket Now to continue on with the story! I woke up the next morning so excited to get the day started. I couldn’t wait to see what rush was all about. Since UCF day is the least casual of all the days, I decided on a pink top with a jean skirt and black flip-flops. So I finished getting ready and I went and picked up my friend, I’ll call her Courtney, who was also rushing. Courtney and I had met through Facebook over the summer and she was the only other girl I knew that was rushing so I was happy to know at least one person already. My Rho Gamma told us that we would be meeting at the tent out front Barbados to get the day started. So I arrived there, checked in with my Rho Gamma, and went and sat down. After everyone arrived at the tent we took we took roll call and then learned the “chant” for Barbados. Soon enough the Rho Gammas told us to all line up out front of the house, which was GORGEOUS might I add! I had heard some rumors about Barbados, about how the girls are “easy” and “slutty” but I was so excited to go into my first house and to hopefully see that the rumors were wrong. The Rho Gammas then told us to start the chant which would “let us in” to the house. I figured we would just say the chant once and then the doors would open, but NO! After we said it once it came SCREAMING back at us from inside the house! I was totally NOT expecting it and it scared me for a second! So after we exchanged the chant a few times the doors opened and music started playing and the girls started singing, I was SO overwhelmed! This was not what I was expecting at all! I figured we would quietly be led into the house and everything would be very prim and proper, was I ever wrong! It had started to sprinkle a little bit outside when we were waiting so I was happy to get into the house. One of the Barbados girls then led me over to a different room and started talking to me. The conversation went really well we just discussed different activities we were into, what TV shows we watched, and different things to do in Orlando. I talked to a couple other girls after her as well and both the conversations went well too. All the girls seemed really nice and pretty and I definitely had a good feeling about Barbados by the time we had to leave. The next house we went to was Kiawah! We sat down again and learned the chant and this time when we were at the door I knew what to expect! So we walked into Kiawah and I started talking to a girl. Our conversation went well enough but I wasn’t really getting good vibes from her. She seemed sort of “fake” and so did a couple of the other girls I talked to. I felt like looks wise though the girls looked more like me, tall and brunette! But this wasn’t an audition for a fashion show I wanted nice, sincere sisters! The next house was Sicily! I hadn’t heard anything about this sorority before so I was eager to see what they were all about. I had a lot in common with the first girl I started talking to and it was definitely one of my best rush conversations so far, but all the other girls I talked to just seemed so awkward and weird! It really turned me off, so I was eager to get to my next house. The next house was Capri and one of the girls I went to high school with who was 3 years older then me was in this sorority. I was Facebook friends with her so I had already seen some of her albums with Capri and they all seemed like really cute and fun girls so I was eager to meet them. We walked into the house and the first girl I talked to was SO hilarious! She was so entertaining and funny I couldn’t stop laughing! The next girl I talked to was equally as funny and I felt really good about this sorority by the end. Not to mention that it seemed like quite a diverse sorority. Everyone had a different look to them which I liked. The next house was Bali! I had only heard good things about this sorority so I was excited to meet them. When we walked in they had such a cute opening song, I’ll definitely never forget it! The first girl I talked to was absolutely WONDERFUL! She was so sweet and the conversation never stopped once. The other girls I talked to were equally as welcoming. They were definitely going to be my top house by the end of the day. Ok so I decided I’m going to split my UCF day post up into 2 posts since its going to be so long! So stay tuned for the rest of the sororities! |
staying tuned!
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*taps radio tuner to see if it's working*
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Seems like we're all very excited to hear!
Oh and Go Knights! |
*whistles while she waits* ;)
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Sorry for the long delay! I’ve been quite busy! Ok so on with my story…
After Bali, I went to Oahu! This is where the rain REALLY started to come down. All the girls were huddled underneath the side of the house trying to stay dry. It was not pleasant! Finally we were let inside the house and an Oahu girl took me and another girl into this room to talk to us. Within the first 10 seconds of talking I found out that the other girl was a legacy to this sorority (her sister is still an active in the chapter) so the Oahu focused all of her attention on this girl and all they talked about was her sister. I seriously think the Oahu forgot I was there, I was so turned off at this point by this girl and her sorority I just wanted to leave. She was making no effort to get to know me, not to mention her makeup looked like she went out and partied the night before and hadn’t done anything to fix it. I was so happy to get out of there when time was up. I talked to my friend Courtney about the Oahu’s later and my experience there and she told me she had a bad experience too. Apparently the girl she got asked her the same question (So where are you from?) 3 times over the 25 minute period. Needless to say these girls didn’t seem like the brightest. The next house I went to was Nantucket! This sorority was quite small compared to the other ones so there was sometimes one girl talking to 3 rushees at the same time so it was hard to get personal one on one time. The girls I met here all seemed really awkward and sort of “disinterested” which turned me off. I also had to go to the bathroom really bad at this point so I spent 10 minutes of the time waiting in line for a stall to open up. I wasn’t too sure about the Nantuckets so I was eager to get to the next house. My next house was St. Lucia! All the girls I met were VERY enthusiastic about being a St. Lucia, they all seemed to really like their sorority. This was a nice change from the Nantuckets. One girl I remember meeting was SO hyper and bubbly I don’t think I’ll forget her! I was starting to get tired though by this point so I was happy to move onto the next house even though I liked all the girls I had met at St. Lucia. My next house (and second to last!) was Maui! The first girl I talked to was actually the president of Maui. She was very informative about everything Maui was involved in and our conversation flowed nicely. The rest of the girls I talked to were also very sweet and outgoing, which I liked. After the 25 minutes was up though, instead of moving onto our final house we had to wait inside Maui’s foyer for a good 15 minutes because apparently the weather was too horrible outside for us to leave! You could hear the rain pounding on the windows…I really hoped they didn’t make us leave until it stopped! Finally, it seemed to let up a little bit so our Rho Gammas all told us to make a mad dash for our last and final house, Bermuda! I remember sprinting all the way from Maui to Bermuda and it was still drizzling at this point and totally dark outside so you couldn’t see where any puddles were, so needless to say I was soaked by the time I got to Bermuda! Instead of wasting time learning the chant for Bermuda they let us go in without the chanting and singing. I remember looking around the room and seeing all the girls’ hair and outfits messed up from the rain so I was glad I wasn’t the only one! The girl I talked to at Bermuda I really connected with and we had a lot in common. I remember having to almost scream though to talk to her because it was SO loud inside their house. I was glad I ended up having a good experience though at my last house despite everything the weather had caused! After the 25 minutes was up, our Rho Gammas told us to list in order our top 10. They told us that the next day our list would be cut down to 7 so we had to put the 3 we liked the least on the bottom. My list looked like this at the end of the day: 1. Bali 2. Barbados 3. Capri 4. Bermuda 5. Kiawah 6. Maui 7. St. Lucia 8. Oahu 9. Sicily 10. Nantucket The next day was supposed to be Philanthropy Day, but it ended up getting canceled because of the menacing Hurricane Fay! So they told us that rush would resume in two days and be a combined Philanthropy/Video Day. I couldn’t wait to return to rush and see what houses had asked me back…hopefully I got a full list of 7! Anyways, hope you guys like my story so far, I’ll try not to slack on the updating! |
enjoying this! :)
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I love the story so far! Can't wait for moreeee!
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It would be so horrible to wait so long to see who you go back to, I would have died. I love this story so far, what an interesting recruitment story.
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I love hearing a Florida recruitment story!!!! More please!!! :rolleyes: |
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[/hijack] I can't imagine being soaking wet during recruitment! |
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I sometimes can't keep the campuses straight and I might be confused. |
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Back to the story - I'm really enjoying it! I can't imagine how crazy it must have been. Can't wait to hear the next installment!
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Can we get a teaser....like what houses you went back to?:D
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Hey everyone thanks for being so patient! Now on with the story!
So after having to wait an extra day to see what houses I got asked back to I was very anxious for Philanthropy/Video Day to begin! I decided on wearing a casual and cute black dress. I met up with my Rho Gamma and she gave me my party list for the day, and I ended up getting a full list of 7! The ones that asked me back were: Capri Bali Barbados Bermuda St. Lucia Maui Kiawah I was so happy I got asked back to all the houses that I wanted! My first house was Capri, so after we sang their chant again they let us into the house. The first girl I started talking to was hands down the sweetest girl I had met at rush so far! She was very informative about Capri’s philanthropy and everything they were involved in. She also took me on a house tour and everyone’s rooms were super cute. I also had a very good conversation with another Capri in one of the rooms and I could tell she really liked me and was genuinely interested in what I had to say. We then went back into Capri’s chapter room to watch their video, which was very well put together, and hilarious I might add! I had a very good feeling about Capri when I left and I could definitely see myself in this sorority. The next house on my list was Bali! I was eager to go back to this sorority since I had such a good first day there. We did their chant and I walked into Bali and started talking to one of their girls. This Bali girl seemed nice enough at first, but our conversation seemed forced and awkward at times, nothing like the conversations I had with the other Bali’s on the first day. The Bali then took me and another girl on a tour of their house. The other girl and the Bali had more things in common so she dominated the conversation, which I wasn’t too pleased about. They then started talking about partying and the Bali said that her and her sisters all got into bars really easily and free drinks all the time. This comment really made me start to question Bali because I hadn’t heard anything about them having a “party” reputation. We then watched their video which wasn’t as memorable as Capri’s and I sadly left Bali wishing I had a better time there just because my first day made me fall in love with them, but I reminded myself that everything happens for a reason and I moved onto the next house. My next house was Barbados! I really liked these girls from the first day so I was excited to go and talk with them again. The first thing I noticed though about the Barbados when I walked in was that their outfits seemed quite “skanky”. They were all wearing tube tops and short shorts, some with their stomachs showing which I thought was quite classless. I began to think that maybe the “rumors” I had heard on the first day about Barbados were true. The Barbados girl that I talked to seemed nice enough although she wasn’t that memorable to me compared to other girls I had talked to. I left Barbados feeling a little disheartened that my two top picks from the first day hadn’t turned out to be what I had expected. My next house was Bermuda! I felt like I made a good impression on the girl that I had talked to on the first day despite being a soaking mess so I was eager to meet more Bermudas. While we were chanting and waiting to get let in I ended up meeting such a sweet girl, she had such an infectious smile and was full of positive things to say, I remember thinking that I would love to have this girl as my sister. We were then let into Bermuda and I talked to a girl who I ended up having a good connection with which was a nice change from the previous two houses. She took me on a house tour and I really liked the Bermuda’s rooms, they were so big! We then watched their video and all the girls seemed really fun and down to earth. I had a good feeling about Bermuda when I left. My next house was St. Lucia! By this time it was dark out and it had begun to rain again! I remember it being SO windy and rainy at one point, it was definitely worse then any weather that we had got the previous day, which I thought was ironic since we had moved recruitment back a day to avoid weather like this! At St. Lucia the setup was a little different since they didn’t have a “house” to give a tour of. So instead of a house tour we sat down and made a craft for their philanthropy, which I liked. The girl who I talked really seemed to like me as well and we got along great. After the craft I remember sitting down and talking to their president and we had a really good conversation about study abroad and traveling. I had a good time at St. Lucia, but it was kind of a negative that they didn’t have a house yet. My next house was Maui! The weather was really getting rocky at this point so I was happy to get inside! The Maui’s also didn’t have a house like the St. Lucia’s. I talked to many different girls at Maui, which I didn’t really like because I couldn’t make a memorable conversation with any of them. I was also quite tired at this point (it was 10 pm!) so I felt like I couldn’t give 100% focus to any of the girls I talked to. I was happy when time was up at Maui so I could move onto my last and final house. My last house was Kiawah! I was kind of surprised to see them still on my list when I got it since I put them 5th on my list and they were considered a “top house”. I wasn’t going to complain though and I was hoping to have some memorable conversations with the Kiawah’s since I didn’t really have those on the first day. The first girl I talked to I really liked a lot, she was a lot more relatable then the other Kiawah’s I had met before, and we had a lot in common. We talked for probably 15 minutes and then I started to talk to some of the other sisters. All the girls I met were super nice and didn’t seem fake at all like the ones I had met the first day. They then took us into their chapter room so we could watch their video. I absolutely LOVED their video; it was definitely my favorite one of the day. They showed all the different activities the girls went out and did, which were all things I loved to do as well and they had a really cute sisterhood portion which even made me tear up! They then discussed their philanthropy, which I was really drawn to because it was something my aunt had just been diagnosed with 2 weeks prior. Leaving Kiawah I had a very good feeling about their sorority and the girls in it. It was 12:30 in the morning by the time I met up with my Rho Gamma to give her my list for the day. Needless to say I was very exhausted and happy to be finished. I met up with my friend Courtney who was also told me that she loved the Kiawah’s and was going to put them as one of her top too. Our Rho Gamma’s told us that since a day was cut out of rush we would be going from 7 sororities to 3! I couldn’t believe I had to make such a big cut! So at the end of the night my list looked like this: 1. Kiawah 2. Capri 3. Bali (even though I had a less than perfect day there today I didn’t want to drop them quite yet because I loved them so much my first day) 4. Bermuda 5. Barbados 6. St. Lucia 7. Maui I couldn’t wait for Prefs Day the next day! I hoped that I would get at least two of my top three, but I really would have been happy with any sorority on my list it wasn’t like I had god awful times at any of them there were just things that I disliked about some of them. I couldn’t believe that rush was almost over, it was going by so fast! |
I couldn't imagine going from 7 to 3!
UCF peeps: How does it usually go (in normal recruitment years)? |
It usually goes from 10 to 7 to 5 to 3 and then you get your bid! But because we had to cancel a day we had to go to from 7 to 3...it was such a tough decision!
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I want to know the ending of this story! asap! hahaha please hurry :)
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Wow, you would really have to select with a heavy heart! (very tough decision)
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Can't wait to hear where you ended up!!
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Loving your story! Go Kiawah!
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more please!
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Are you coming back, onelove? :(
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So sorry for the long delay! My best friend was in town visiting so I haven’t gotten the chance to finish my story, but now I have a free minute! So the last day before Bid Day was Prefs Day! Where we would see the top 3 houses we got invited back to and would get to partake in some of their ritual. Prefs Day is considered to be the dressiest of the days. I decided to wear my white graduation dress with my white heels. I was so excited to see which 3 houses I would be getting asked back to, I was hoping for at least one if not all of my top 3 (which would be amazing!).
I met up with my Rho Gamma and she handed me my list, which looked like this: 1. Capri 2. St. Lucia 3. Maui I was a little crushed when I got my Prefs list, I even checked to make sure it was really my name at the top. I was very happy that Capri was still on there, I was definitely feeling very good about this sorority. I understood why St. Lucia was probably on there too since I had a really good conversation with my girl there and I knew she really liked me. I didn’t understand why Maui was still on there though when I barely remember any of the girls or anything we had talked about over the past 2 days. I was confused as to why Kiawah or Bermuda, or any of the other sororities I had put before Maui weren’t on there, but I guess it’s all the luck of the draw when it comes to recruitment. So instead of wallowing over my Prefs list (which many girls were) I decided to have the best day I could and to really find which sorority fit me best. I remembered something my Rho Gamma said “you will end up where you are meant to be” So I came to the conclusion that I wasn’t meant to be in any of the sororities that had dropped me (which I later found out was DEFINETLY true). If any of you were wondering about my friend Courtney she ended up preffing at Barbados, Bali, and Maui. She too couldn’t figure out why Maui was still on her list, and definitely seemed more upset about it then I was! Anyways, so I was excited to go to Capri first. Prefs day is much more subdued and personal than the other two days (there’s no chanting or loud music). We were led into the Capri house and I was so happy to be paired up again with the girl I had talked to the day before. She was even sweeter then I had remembered! She took me into her room and showed me all of her things that had to do with Capri and told me what the sorority meant to her. She then took me into the chapter room where the Capri’s did part of their ritual for us. I won’t go into detail since I feel these things should be kept somewhat private. It was a very beautiful ceremony though and its something I will always remember. After the ritual was over I was so excited, I wanted to be a Capri SO bad! When my girl was walking me out I even blurted out “I hope I see you tomorrow!” And she flashed a big smile and said “Definitely!” As I was walking to my next party at St. Lucia I was going back and forth wondering if I should have said “I hope I see you tomorrow!” I was hoping I didn’t come across sounding too desperate and hopeful and I hoped my girl was being fake back to me! We were then lined up in front of St. Lucia and I was so happy this day would be much shorter than the last two! We were led into St. Lucia and I was expecting to be paired up with the same girl I had talked to yesterday, but I wasn’t so that was somewhat of a disappointment. I did end up seeing her at some point during the ceremony and she smiled and waved to me, which I thought was nice. I didn’t really like St. Lucia’s ritual that much, it didn’t seem as personal as Capri’s and it seemed too long and drawn out. After the ritual was over different girls kept switching and coming up to talk to me every two minutes which I didn’t really like either because I wasn’t able to make a good connection with any of them. My last and final party of Prefs was Maui. I wasn’t sure who I was going to be paired up with since I didn’t really remember any of the girls from the day before. We were led in and I was paired up with a girl who I knew I hadn’t talked to before. The set up that the Maui’s had was definitely the most beautiful of the three. Their ritual was the longest though so it was hard to stay focused through all of it. My girl seemed nice enough but I knew we didn’t have the type of connection I had with my girl at Capri. After Maui I met back up with my Rho Gamma and I made my final list, which looked like this: 1. Capri 2. Maui 3. St. Lucia Some girls were suiciding a sorority (only putting one down on their final list), which our Rho Gamma highly discouraged us to do. I put all three down even though I knew deep down I was going to be totally crushed if I didn’t get Capri. I was so excited for bid day the next day though and I kept hoping and praying that Capri would be the one on my bid card!! |
so.........?
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Unless there's a twist coming, it looks like it's Capri.
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