The Bag
 

During recruitment, PNMs at my daughter's university are required to place their things in clear plastic bags. I have no idea what size these bags are,(we just carried our handbags back in the dark ages) but I am thinking "gallon" size because everyone has been discussing the importance of bringing flipflops to wear between houses. So beside what is listed below...what can you recommend for "THE bag"?

Chapstick
Lipstick (if PNM wears lipstick)
bandaids (blisters)
breath mints
bottle of water
makeup as need for touch up
wet washcloth inside smaller bag to wipe hands/face/neck in the heat
(and it is the hottest summer on record so far)
safety pin or two
flip flops
notebook
pen
watch (my daughter wears a watch faithfully but it was recommended that she does not wear it for recruitement because if she looks at it could be looked upon as rude, but she will go nuts not knowing what time it is at least between houses)

coffee filters work wonders on a sweaty face, and an extra rubber band for her hair if she plans on wearing it down during the parties but wants to put it up during down time

I carry a Tide-To-Go pen everywhere now, so as far as I'm concerned, no bag is complete without one.

Even better than Band Aids for blisters is a product from the same company, Friction Block. It's like a mini stick of solid deodorant that you rub on your feet before wearing new shoes. I tried it this summer and have had none of the usual problems from breaking in sandals.

(I swear that this was not a paid endorsement.)

I was going to say the same thing! Swear by this stuff. Put it anywhere your shoe sorta rubs and reapply between parties. It will prevent any blistering.

And I would suggest unscented baby wipes instead of a wet washclothe. They also work great at removing eye make-up smudges!

Depending on how long the day is something small for emergency rations. I recommend something like peanut butter Toasts or cheese and crackers. It will help prevent headaches and dragging after that 6th party after lunch....

Oh Snap....didn't think about food...that is a great idea. My daughter can get cranky really fast if she gets hungry! Guess that means adding "brushups" for her teeth for after snack time. Thanks for all the suggestions so far....I am hoping this all goes well!! I am guessing a travel tube of advil might come in handy too....

I'd say a hairbrush and hairspray (maybe a travel size?) I don't know where your daughter is going through recruitment, but if it's hot and humid that would be a must!

Tissues
Pepto in case of nervous stomach, etc.
A discrete zippered bag with a pad or tampon.

tampons or pads-at the age, you never know when your friend might come visiting.(great minds, xidelt)

a little handheld battery operated fan or one of those fan/mister combos.

Forgot something - flip book or a sheet with a list of symbols of the different sororities (KKG blue and blue keys, DDD blue tridents and dolphins, KAT black and yellow kites, DG - bronze, pink, and blue anchors, etc.)

You could write it out ahead of time on pages in your notebook if you know which houses you are going to in which order for first round. The first batch of parties might be 20 minutes each without a lot of time in between. At a school with 8 chapters it might not be so bad, but on that first day if you have 16, 17, 20 chapters it might help a lot with remembering who was who when you finally get to making your rankings.

(It is so depressing to hear about PNMs asking "now which house did we go to fifth? They had two letters....."

sometimes each pnm will be given a "rush booklet" from panhellenic that has each days recruitment schedules, as well as the campus sororities, in alphabetical order, including their colors, symbols, etc., and sometimes a photo of the front of their house. hopefully op's daughter's panhellenic does that too.

We have that but some of them wouldn't fit in the bag op described....

Last year my daughter was limited to a quart size ziplock. I would double check bag size with Panhellenic just to be on the safe side.

Toothpicks or dental floss!

Maybe an iPod/mp3 player for in between rounds? Good for drowning out the tent talk!

Cigarettes. A lighter. A flask of Jim Beam. I'm kidding!

Deodorant/antiperspirant

Maybe a mini Evian water spray? I ditto the battery-operated fan, but make sure to test them out ahead of time! Some of those things will frustrate you more than cool you off.

FROSTY TOWELS - they are amazing! I used them at Disney this June. It would be great if Panhellenics gave them out. They are slightly smaller than a standard washcloth, don't require refrigeration, and are SO refreshing. http://www.frostytowels.com/

- blotting tissues - better than messing with powder - http://www.sephora.com/browse/produc...b2dsZS5jb20%3d

Same with my daughter. The Gamma chis handed out the baggies at the initial meeting and they were only allowed to take what would fit, nothing more.

Can someone tell me why they are limited to a clear ziplock bag? We could have anything we wanted when I rushed, what's the reasoning?

Some of the reasons I have heard (other than the liability of keeping up with personal belongings like KSUViolet mentioned) are that girls sneak in cell phones and communicate with the 'outside world' during parties.

For my recruitment, we weren't allowed to have anything with us when visiting sororities or between rounds. Our stuff was locked in a room/supervised by Gamma Chis, so you only brought the minimum- Phone, Room key and ID, and they stayed there for the duration of your parties.

We got panhellenic issued pin-on nametags, and I hid some advil and bandaids in mine for pref :) But honestly I think it was better not to have all of that stuff to fuss with, by the end of the night nobody's hair was perfect and nobody cared. It was pointless to worry about your makeup, there was nothing you could do about it and mirrors were covered anyway.

Checking out who has designer bags and who doesn't might also be a factor for not allowing them.

Whaaaaat????

Yup. Recruitment at my school has some really strange rules...all of the clocks and mirrors are covered, as well as pictures of boys (including family...yes, my 8 year old cousin gets a sticker over his face).

The mirror rule is kind of nice, it keeps you from obsessing over your hair/makeup. But I am a 24/7 watch wearer, and was kind of freaked out by not knowing what time it was.

Best stuff ever!

Also, make sure her mints are sugar free, sometimes ones with sugar can make your breath stink!

The idea about the coffee filters is great too!

I remember back in the day, when I was on the sister side of recruitment, breath mints were often our main food group for the week.

I would urge you to be careful with the sugarless ones, as they can make you really, really gassy if you overuse them.

Just trust me on this one.

Hee hee...sucralose is a laxative!

Thanks for this, SWTXBelle! I'm making my daughter's Rush kit -- oops, I mean 'Recruitment' kit, I'll never get used to that -- and thought I'd thought of everything, but no!:o

Can't we just do away with this RECRUITMENT and PNM thing? It would be one thing if only oldsters like me were using the old and far more functional words, but I've noticed even newbies and youngies are still using rush when not forcing themselves to be PC.

It IS a rush (of activity, adrenaline, many things), and recruitment sounds so clinical, and most definitely a one-sided affair.

/steps down off high horse

There are those of us for whom it will always be rush, rushee, and pledge. Rush is an accurate term. Rushee is just logical for one going through rush. And pledge is important because it reminds the probable sister that she is making a promise - one that can be broken before initiation, yes, but a promise nonetheless.

As James pointed out here once, the terminology changed but not the action. A true "recruitment" would imply that groups are seeking out certain qualities and when and only when they find them, asking those people to join. It's a one-sided process, with the power in the hands of the person being recruited.

So if we keep using this false terminology, it's no wonder that rushees think that they have the upper hand and can pick and choose, when actually the selection process is mutual and in some cases, skewed far more towards the sororities.

I don't know if I agree with that definition. Military recruitment isn't just one sided. People looking to join the military have a choice of service groups, and the military definitely has criteria to join. That is mutual selection.

People "looking to join" the military don't need to be recruited, and therefore don't fit the definition.

The image I conjure up by recruitment is either 1-the CIA coming to your school trying to get you to sign on the dotted line or 2-some wingnut religious cult doing same.

So it's official. I'm using Rush, rushee and pledge on this site from here on out. Everyone will know what I mean and I'll be happy.

I carried around a comb/hairbrush with my in my zip lock bag. It was the most helpful thing ever and a lot of other girls commented on how it was a great idea. It was like 100 degrees so obviously I got really sweaty which messed up my hair.
I also had granola bars. The first day I barely ate anything and my stomach growled at one of the parties. Kinda embarrassing...