Aerylle's 2010 Fall Recruitment Story
 

Hello everyone! This thread is going to be my recruitment story as I am rushing in a few weeks!

For right now, my school, location, and the sororities will remain undisclosed because I do not want to harm my chances any. So if you know my school or can figure out what sorority is which, please keep quiet until after the week of recruitment. Or, if you really want to know, feel free to PM me. Thank you!

This will not be a live thread per se, but the posts will be written the nights of recruitment and posted at least one day later than they happened, possibly a full week after it has been completed.

Just to get this party started, the sororities at my school will be code named with my favorite shows main cast, lets see who can guess the show!

Lorelai
Rory
Sookie
Logan
Jess
Paris
Emily
Richard
Luke
Michel
Lane

As I said earlier in the post, my recruitment isn't for a few weeks but in the mean time I'm going to use this as sort of a count down and "how I'm getting ready" thread, if that is cool with everyone.

Alright. Let the count down begin then. Although, ya know, you won't know the actual date just because the date, coupled with the number of sororities would probably tell you what school I am attending..

But yeah. :D

Edit: Dress length vs. shoes

So I have my Pref night dress, and I'm trying to decide if I should wear heels or flats. The dress comes to a bit above my knees and I can't decide if flats or heels would look better.

Thoughts?

I think you need to make Logan a different color. The yellow is really hard to see. :)

Whoo hoo Gilmore Girls thread!

Poor Logan, I'll change him to Black I think. :]

That way no one has to strain to read him. :D

Background
 

Just a bit of background on myself to get everyone better acquainted. :]

I am the first in my family, both immediate and extended, to both attend a four year university as well as even consider going through recruitment. This fact alone made finding Rec letters a challenge. But I did it. I found a few wonderful women to write letters for me.

Now as you all can imagine, I was pretty clueless on how recruitment went down. All I knew was that of the movies and TV shows, so I had no idea what I was in for. About five months ago I came across Greek Chat after doing some searching for info on the sororities at my school. This website is a life saver.

I've learned so much from this website that if I hadn't found it when I did, and read what I have, that I would probably botch the entire week. Or, rather, I would mess up the first two days and wouldn't get a chance to see the rest of the week.

With all of this said, I'm sure everyone on this website can sympathize with me when I say I'm nervous.

I think that's all for now, though. School starts soon, as well as recruitment. So I'll keep everyone posted with any new updates and/or changes!

Good luck to you!!!!!!!

I'm also rushing this fall- best of luck to you!!

Thank you both of you!

Good Luck!

Go Rory!

Update and more back story.
 

And in case anyone has read anything I've posted over the past few months, you know that I originally started asking about rushing as a sophomore.

I asked this because the original plan was for me to go to Community college for a year, then transfer. Well, one day early this year I decided to apply to my university because I really wanted to go there instead, and got in! Hence why my older posted are somewhat not valid anymore.

Also, I thought I give just a little update.

So the days are going so slowly between now and the first day, but I am thankfully kept busy with other things.

Anyone have any tips of last minute preparations to make myself feel a little more confident? And I don't mean things like getting your hair done (although, I already have an appointment for this. ha ha) I mean things to help the butterflies evacuate your stomach. :D

That is a good thing to remember..

Thank you. :]

The above tidbit is quoted from this thread titled "Live Recruitment" from earlier this year.

The reason I have it here is because.. I kinda wanted to address this topic. I would have addressed it in that thread, but it has been so long since it happened that I didn't want to because I figured no one would read it.

Either way, here's what I wanted to say.

Lately, I've been talking to a 'friend' (don't know him well enough to call him a true friend yet, plus, he is kinda trying to sabotage me) about recruitment in a few weeks because he is a part of XYZ fraternity.

The first couple times I talked to him about it, he basically pleaded with me not to go through with it. "It was the worst decision of my life. I HATE my brothers. They are nothing like me. Blah blah blah." From our conversations, he basically isn't your typically "frat. boy" in the sense that he is.. well.. I''m trying to phrase this in a way that doesn't offend anyone. His personality is closer to the "I hate the Greek System because they are all idiots and Jack A$$es."

With this in mind, I take a whole barrel of salt with everything he tells me.

"ABC's are all Vapid whores."
"XY's are all fat and are only in that sorority because their daddies pay their way in."
"MNO parties really hard, which leads to harder hazing."

Now, mind you, he has told me more than five times that he doesn't know many sorority girls, and all this is rumor (or "tent talk" if you will) or speculation. Also keep in mind that I have proof that two of the above is wildly false (I have a few girls from my high school who joined sororities.)

Now, as you can probably imagine, I am both scared of what he says (for fear its true) and trying to ignore everything he says because he has had such a rough time in XYZ himself.

Like the above quote mentions in the last 'paragraph', there are people who paint all Greeks negatively. I seem to have found most of these people as my friends/family/acquaintances, not sure why.

I don't exactly have a question for you all today, more of an explanation and I just wanted to touch this topic briefly as I feel I'm fighting a losing battle in trying to convince the people I know and love (some of them, not the guy mentioned above) to support me in the endeavorers.

Don't listen to them! I'm begging you! When I went through recruitment I had a VERY unsupportive boyfriend. I almost dropped out mid-recruitment because I couldn't stand all the things he was saying about the person I was "becoming". He called sorority girls/me everything under the sun; slutty, stupid, fake, paying for friends etc.

Flash forward 3 years and he's gone, but the friends I made during the process and by being in a sorority are still here and support me in whatever I do! I know it's hard not to listen to the opinions of others but you need to at least give yourself a chance and go ahead and give recruitment a chance.

Thankfully my boyfriend is so supportive! One of the best people in my life right now. He was really concerned in the beginning that it would ruin our relationship because I'd be around my new sisters so much, but he's come to understand that it's something I really want so he knows it'll make me happy.

And yeah, I know. I'm trying SO hard to ignore everything this guy tells me. I'm trying to look past everything superficial and anything even remotely close to 'rumor-like' and give everyone a fair chance. I think it'll be easier once recruitment actually starts because then I'll see that the stereotypes are wrong..

I just wish time would hurry up and pass already! Lol!

It sounds like several things could have happened with this guy.

• He totally put on a fake image during rush and ended up with a group he doesn't fit.

• The group he joined is desperate for members and pledged anyone with a penis.

• He expected it to be more like his friend's/bio brother's fraternity experience at a completely different kind of campus.

Ask him that if he's that unhappy with his fraternity, has he done anything to try to change it or thought of dropping out instead of constantly complaining. If he just kind of hems and haws and doesn't give you an answer, then just drop it.

The same with anyone else who's unsupportive. Just say "thanks for your opinion, but I'm going to go through it and check it out for myself. I would rather do that than wonder about it. If I don't like it, I can always drop out." Then CHANGE the subject.

p.s. thanks for the quote. ;)

Not to be mean, but I think it was the second one. Every time I ask him about things like Date Dashes or Serenading, he always comes back with, "We are too small to do anything or get noticed."

He has considered dropping, actually.

And, that's what I tell people pretty much verbatim. :D I mean, people are supportive in the fact that most of them have stopped bashing the Greek System, but I know that every time I talk to them they don't really want to hear it. That, and my mom keeps saying things that are like.. she really doesn't want me to go through with it, but she doesn't want to come out and say that.

And you're very welcome. :D

Well I'm glad to see you have people supporting you! It definitely makes things much easier :)

It does. I just wish that I have people who wanted to go Greek as well, that way I could be excited with them. Lol.

Well, you have at least a handful of fellow PNMs who are posting in this forum ;)

Not to mention the great actives & alumnae who are posting as well!

That is true! And I'm so thankful that I found a wonderful place like Greek Chat months ago to help me! :D

Thank you everyone!

Remember to SLEEP!!!!!!
At the end of the day, you won't be able to show who you really are if you're a walking zombie! :D

Ha ha, that's kinda ironic you say that because I've been sleeping so terribly lately.

I recently got a part time job and the training sessions have been mid-morning the past few days week and I kept waking up around 4:00 or 5:00am each day and just not being able to go back to sleep.. Kinda sucks. ]:

I would just avoid the topic of greek life and recruitment all together with this guy. It sounds like he has some things he needs to work through. If he brings it up, you can always diplomatically say something like "We have different opinions on this, and I want to check things out for myself, so let's just drop it" and talk about something else.

It's good that your boyfriend is very supportive. Mine wasn't and it was terribly difficult at the time because when I needed comfort, he reitterated all the reasons why I shouldn't go through recruitment. We broke up shortly after my new member period started.

I think you are right, Maggie.. I mean, before I was glad to have a friend who was in the Greek system who could answer all these questions I have. Then I found GC, and realized that he was very anti-greek..

]: That is terrible.. I assume that you rose to the occasion so to speak and pushed past it and are now a member of a wonderful organization?

Best of luck Aerylle! I'm going through recruitment VERY soon as well so I understand all of the stresses you're feeling! PM me if you ever want to talk to a PNM outside of your greek system :) we gotta stick together! I'll definitely be following your story!

ETA: How on earth did you do that signature? I want to link my story on mine!

^^ Signatures are edited in the "User Control Panel"

Copy the link, then in the edit your signature section, there is picture of Earth (it looks like it anyway) with a chain link over it. Click that, and put the address to your story in it.
Viola.
:D

And thanks, I might PM you. I'm following yours too!

To The PNMs
 

Anyone else feel like this a little crazy?

Like, for me, I've been reading other people recruitment stories for months now, and now I'm writing my own. It feels weird!

But exciting. Lol.

First off, thank you for showing me how to do the signature! You're awesome!

And I completely agree with you. Do you ever feel like you shouldn't be going through recruitment yet? It feels like I graduated yesterday and I'm moving to college very soon. Do you feel like that or am I just crazy? (and that is possible) :rolleyes:

You're welcome! If you ever need computer help, feel free to PM me. :D

And I agree! It feels like I started freshman year of high school yesterday and going through recruitment was just a far off dream. Gosh, I can't believe it's come up so quickly!

Yes, but I am getting more hyped up from reading yours, personally. (And all the other current PNMs.) I feel more connected to other girls who are currently going through than girls who have already gone through!

good luck Aerylle and all the other PNMs! I'll be rooting for all of you :)

I second that :)

Good luck with recruitment

It's nearly here!
 

Well, we have roughly a week left and I so excited!

I am starting to break in my new shoes, playing around with my new make-up products, and gathering a list of items to take along with me that week.

So far, here's my list:

• Sun screen
• Body Spray
• Hair bands and clips
• Band-aids
• Headache meds
• Deodorant
• Can you think of anything else I might need?

On that note, I was wondering if anyone might be able to clear something up for me.

I got a more detailed outline of events for the up coming week and the first two days are Open Houses and are about.. 10 hours long.

From looking above, you can see I have 11 sororities on my campus. How long are the first meetings going to be? I know you won't be able to tell me exactly, but guessing would be fine. :]

Thanks everyone!

Of hand, here are some more items that could come in handy for you or someone in your group:
hand sanitizer
small package of wet wipes (the individual ones you find in the travel section at Target) or small package of kleenex -- the wipes are best in the south though because you can use them to wipe the sweat off your neck! (I know -yuk)
nail clippers and/or file
safety pins
mints
tampon
snack
a Flipnotes or pen and small pad of paper
oil- blotting sheets or compact powder
chapstick, lip gloss, or lipstick


Don't forget flip flops to wear while walking to houses and an umbrella to keep away the sun and rain. Also, a small hand-held fan comes in handy in those hot and humid areas of the south.

In terms of things you might need, definitely add these!

• oil-blotting sheets
• powder
• lip-gloss if you'll be wearing it (in a 10-hour day this will come off and you'll definitely need to reapply)
• a small/pocketsize hairbrush if you're wearing your hair down/straight, or just to fix bangs if you have them. On that note, I can't see why you'd need hairbands or clips unless you plan on changing your hairstyle during the day. If you're wearing your hair styled down/loose, you probably won't want to put it up at your breaks--don't want to get the dreaded "ponytail hair"
• depending what state you're going through recruitment in (don't tell us, I don't remember if you have already) you may want a rain jacket and/or umbrella. If it's hot, you can use the umbrella as a parasol, which may look dorky but will help keep you from sweating on the walk from house to house.
• COMFORTABLE FLIP FLOPS. I cannot stress this enough. You can wear these to walk from house to house, and just stick them in your purse and change back into your heels or other shoes.

In terms of your two open-house days being 10 hours long, don't worry! I obviously can't speak to the exact specifics of your school, but this is because there are likely many more than 11 open-house parties, in order to accommodate ALL of the PNMs. You will probably attend half of your parties the first day, and half the second, or something like that. Parties could be between 15 and 45 minutes, depending on your school, and you will have breaks. For example, you might have 3 parties in a row, then a break that is the length of 2 or 3 parties, then have 2 or 3 more parties in a row, or any kind of variation you can think of. Depending on the layout of your party schedule, you may be finished before the end of the day, but there is no way to tell until your recruitment counselor gives you your schedule. I hope that was helpful!

That was very helpful actually. Thank you!

And, to both of you, your lists were great. I had obviously forgotten some really important items, i.e. chap stick/lip gloss, hair brush, personal monthly items, and mints. Those are just a few critical items, obviously. I'm taking both of your lists with me to Target to grab some of these items.

Thanks!

You might also want a tide to go stick... I was wearing a white dress one of the days, and spilled some red juice on myself at a party (I was mortified by the way)!!! During the break a friend had one a saved my dress!!

Just a thought! But otherwise your list looks good. Also, don't pack up too many items... you don't want to lug around a heavy bag all day either!