A Bookworm's SEC Rush!
 

Hey, y'all! A few weeks ago, I was around Greek Chat looking for advice for PNMs. I want to thank everyone here for the excellent advice! I also spent the past couple of weeks reading uplifting recruitment stories. Now it's finally time to share my very own recruitment story! Many of the stories I read here on GC helped me get through some tough moments during rush and I hope my story can do the same for future PNMs. :)

Last week I went through rush at a pretty competitive SEC school. Some of you know which school, but I see no reason to post it again here. Many of you will probably guess the school, anyway. :) The theme I've chosen for this recruitment story is books, so here's the list:

1. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
2. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
3. Harry Potter by JK Rowling
4. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
5. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
6. Twelfth Night by Shakespeare
7. Hamlet by Shakespeare
8. Paper Towns by John Green
9. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
10. Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
11. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
12. The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare
13. Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger

I tried to choose book titles that will be familiar to most people, but I also wanted these to be my favorite books. Some of you may not recognize some titles. I also considered opera for my theme, but didn't think that would be as entertaining for most. ;)

Also, I chose the book titles for each sorority after the first round so that it would be just as fun to see which book I ended up in along with which sorority! Anyway....

Let's jump right into day one!

The first round was the most hectic and tiring, but fortunately I knew what to expect from attending Panhellenic Preview. I'll sum up my feelings quickly by sorting the sororities into three basic categories.

Sororities I really liked and clicked with:
The Great Gatsby, Pride and Prejudice, Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Tale of Two Cities.
Pride and Prejudice was my first house of the day, but luckily the girl I talked to was a friend of mine. She complimented my outfit, which was definitely a confidence booster to get me through the rest of the sororities.
I didn't have a rec for Tale of Two Cities so I wouldn't be upset if they cut me, but I liked them a lot regardless.

Sororities I sort of liked, saw potential in, and wanted to visit again:
Wuthering Heights, Scarlet Pimpernel, Hamlet, and Lord of the Rings.

Sororities I really didn't like. I liked the girls, but knew I didn't belong there:
The Mortal Instruments, Catcher in the Rye, Paper Towns, and Twelfth Night.

At the end of the day, my rankings were

1. Wuthering Heights
1. The Great Gatsby
1. Harry Potter
1. Pride & Prejudice
1. The Scarlet Pimpernel
1. Twelfth Night
1. Hamlet
1. Hunger Games
1. Lord of the Rings
1. Tale of Two Cities
2. Catcher in the Rye
3. Paper Towns
4. The Mortal Instruments

I was between 'cutting' Catcher in the Rye and Twelfth Night. I had a rec for Twelfth Night but not for Catcher in the Rye, so I ranked Catcher in the Rye lower.

I'll go ahead and post my Day One Philanthropy schedule now, put have to stop writing to go to my FIRST NEW MEMBER MEETING, YAY! But no worries! Most of this story is done being written and just needs to be posted. I promise this is a recruitment story that WILL be finished, and in a timely manner!

Philanthropy, Day One: We could have up to 8 parties that day. I had 7 on my schedule:
1. Paper Towns
2. Hamlet
3. Wuthering Heights
4. The Great Gatsby
5. Harry Potter
6. Catcher in the Rye
7. Pride & Prejudice

I was so surprised to see Paper Towns on my schedule! I was flattered because I thought these girls were very pretty social types. But I knew I wasn't like that and this probably wouldn't be the house for me.

The rest of Philanthropy, Day One will be coming tonight or tomorrow morning!

I have read all of these but Paper Towns and The Mortal Instruments. I have also never heard of them! Off to amazon.com to look them up!

I was going to root for Scarlet Pimpernel, but it is already gone! So, go Harry Potter!

Well, I will be able to sleep knowing that you are going to a new member meeting!! Have fun! Can't wait to read your recruitment story!!!

Same here. I've got to go with Pride and Prejudice. That's my all-time favorite.

You have excellent taste in literature (hence, no Twilight on the list ;)).

There are TWO Philanthropy days, and we can visit up to 10 chapters for that round total. Scarlet Pimpernel may still be in the running!

Why thank you! You know, Twilight did have some good things going for it. But it the end, it's crap. Pride and Prejudice is by far the superior love story. :)

Once again, I've broken my own rule of not reading a recruitment story until the ending is posted...darn...can't go wrong with Pride and Prejudice. :)

Okay, so enough trolling with replies!

The first chapter I visited was Paper Towns. I had ranked them lower the day before because I didn't think I would belong there, but was flattered to be invited back and definitely open to visiting them. Their philanthropy is actually something really important to me and it seemed extremely important to them. The girls I talked to shared the same connection to the philanthropy that I did. These girls weren't the type of girls in this chapter that I described after my first visit, so I began to think that maybe I could belong here after all.

Hamlet. I wasn't so sure about Hamlet though I had heard they were a good chapter. I talked to a girl I knew here, which was nice. Their philanthropy was important to me, but I didn't think I would enjoy their events enough. To be, or not to be? That is the question. Perhaps not to be....

Wuthering Heights. I didn't have such a good round with them the first day, but I got to talk to different girls for philanthropy. Everyone I talked to seemed really intelligent. I consider myself intelligent and prefer to surround myself by intelligent people, so I really liked the idea of being a sister of Wuthering Heights. Their philanthropy was also something I could see myself doing. Wuthering Heights was definitely becoming one of my favorite chapters.

The Great Gatsby. My all-time favorite book, and a sorority I fell in love with. The moment I walked in, people I knew called my name and waved. The girls talked about their house (which is going to be absolutely gorgeous!). One of the girls I talked to had my major. When she asked me what I wanted to do with it, I told her my 3 ideas. To our delight and surprise, she had the same exact major with the same interest! I was thrilled. I also talked to the president and some other leaders of this chapter. The president remembered me from the day before and we talked a little about philanthropy. This philanthropy is also something I could see myself doing, and they host a fun activity I'm also good at.

In other words, The Great Gatsby became my Rush Crush (my green light at the end of the dock! Foreshadowing, anyone?)

By now it was about time for lunch. The Gamma Chis had peanut butter sandwiches for everyone, but I had to rush to my next party. This day had been so exhausting.

Harry Potter. I really liked this chapter the first day. The girl I talked to had my major. But the second day I didn't like them as much. I could see myself getting involved with their philanthropy and enjoying it, but I just didn't connect with the girls I talked to. Maybe I was also just tired.

Catcher in the Rye. Although their philanthropy was meaningful to me, I could not see myself in this sorority at all. I talked to another girl with my major and she was really sweet. But I just didn't think it was the right fit! If a Body catch a Body comin' through the rye... They didn't quite catch me.

Pride & Prejudice. The girls here were so sweet. I absolutely loved their philanthropy. I was so tired by this round, but I was invigorated learning about all the fun activities they do in the community. I wasn't sure if I could see myself here, but it would be nice to be invited back. Could this chapter be my Darcy?

And that's the end of the first day of Philanthropy Round! We could visit up to 10 sororities total in this round, which meant that I could have up to 3 sororities for the next day. Satisfied with how this day went, I went to bed knowing I could take it easy for the next day. A full schedule isn't very common, so my expectations weren't too high. But if I could visit three more, I was hoping it would be Hunger Games, Lord of the Rings, and The Scarlet Pimpernel.

I wasn't expecting invitations from The Mortal Instruments or A Tale of Two Cities because I never got recs for them.

And that is all I will be posting tonight! There will definitely be more tomorrow. I'm an early bird but don't have class until 11.

I am rooting for Gatsby...my all time favorite book, as well.

I'm enjoying your writing! I'm guessing you're going to be an English major?

I was an English major and you have so many good books/plays listed that I can't choose, so I'm just going to enjoy the story.

Edit: I'm not a fan of Catcher in the Rye, so I might have a hard time rooting for them. I'm going to feel totally guilty now if my daughter's sorority is at your school and that's them.

As much as I love Harry Potter, I must root for Paper Towns.
As HP was coming to an end I didn't think I'd find books that were as good for a long time. Then I heard about John Green and I read all of his books. What an awesome author.

“The town was paper, but the memories were not.”

I'm all about The Hunger Games :D

Loving it!

No, I'm actually a biology major who loves English, too. :) Actually, I kind of like all subjects.... But thank you for the compliment! I'm glad you're enjoying my writing.

Philanthropy, Day Two
 

Today was going to be a short, more relaxed day since there were 4 party slots total. I could visit up to three, but assumed I'd never have a full schedule. Before I got my invitation, I hoped that I would see Hunger Games, Lord of the Rings, and/or The Scarlet Pimpernel.

My invitation read:
Lord of the Rings
Twelfth Night
The Scarlet Pimpernel

Ah, so it was official that The Mortal Instruments, A Tale of Two Cities, and The Hunger Games had cut me. But yay, I was going back to Lord of the Rings and Scarlet Pimpernel! I had kind of forgotten about Twelfth Night. I liked their philanthropy so I was glad to return to Twelfth Night, but they didn't really stand out to me as a sisterhood I'd like to join.

First Party: Lord of the Rings
I think it was nearly impossible for any sorority to stand out to me after how much I adored The Great Gatsby. But again, the girls of Lord of the Rings were as sweet as ever. This was a much quieter party than the others had been. I liked their philanthropy and the activities surrounded by it. One of the girls I talked to was absolutely 'adorkable'-- an adorable dork. She asked me if I had come up with a halloween costume! Haha I actually already had a fantastic flapper costume at home in case I would need it in college, so I told her about it. I mentioned my love for Great Gatsby (the book, not the sorority! What a disaster that would have been!).
I left this sorority a little unimpressed, but like I said. It was hard for any of them to stand out.

Second Party: Twelfth Night
I didn't know how I felt about this sorority. I knew a couple of sweet girls in it, but I just didn't get the feeling I fit in. Their philanthropy was meaningful to me. I don't know. I was pretty sure if Twelfth Night showed up on my bid card, I'd be fine with it. But I didn't love it....

Third Party: The Scarlet Pimpernel
I was happy to be invited back to Scarlet Pimpernel! They were my last party on the first day (when we visited every chapter), so I'll bet I wasn't too memorable. Their philanthropy also meant a lot to me. But again, they weren't really standing out to me....

It was time to rank. This was a disaster. It was hard to compare chapters from the day before with chapters from today. If a sorority didn't stand out to me, it was hard to decide whether I should 'cut' it or 'keep' it. I also regret to say that I was beginning to be influenced by peer pressure. I had heard the talk. I knew which chapters were popular and successful and which ones weren't as much. I don't think these rankings hurt me too much in the long run, but let's just say I should have thought longer before finalizing them.

1. Wuthering Heights
1. The Great Gatsby
1. Pride & Prejudice
1. Paper Towns
1. Harry Potter
1. The Scarlet Pimpernel
2. Hamlet
3. Lord of the Rings
4. Twelfth Night
5. Catcher in the Rye

In bold, I have marked the mistakes I think I made. That night, my gamma chi said we should research our remaining chapters. Learn about their history and founding, that sort of thing. This gave me time to think about what I wanted from a sorority in the long run. Through this process, I realized I should have cut Paper Towns (I only ranked them higher because of their philanthropy and popularity!), and I should have kept Lord of the Rings or at least ranked them higher than Hamlet. I liked the girls in Lord of the Rings better! Ugh, it was kind of a mess and I was nervous for Skit Round. But I knew everything would be just fine.

Up next (later tonight, hopefully): Skits!

A Hunger Games recruitment -- now that could be quite a story.

But sink me, I have to give major props for The Scarlet Pimpernel being on the list.

I watched the Hunger Games movie Friday night and was struck by some of the similarities between the Games and recruitment! Yikes. Haha.

I definitely made a couple of strategic errors when I went through recruitment (this was back when a PNM could cut if she had more invitations than were allowed for that party round), but I still ended up joining the sorority that was my favorite all the way through. It all worked out in the end!

Skits, Day One!
 

I was very tired on skit night. Tuesday was the last day of philanthropy and we had a break Wednesday for the first day of class. This gave me a break but it also gave me time to get nervous. As I was getting ready, I played some of my guilty pleasure music on my iPod to help me get excited. But as I walked over to the parties alone, I couldn't get rid of the anxious feeling in my stomach.

I receive my invitation. There is one party, Lord of the Rings.
Okay. That's okay, I told myself. So I didn't quite like them philanthropy round, but I wished I had ranked them higher. I liked their history and founders. Although this sorority wasn't the favorite among my fellow PNMs, I was happy to return to them. They seemed to give everyone a chance. I had been told many times that they are one of the more diverse chapters personality-wise and have the most out-of-state students. I really liked this about them.

Unfortunately this did nothing to ease my anxiety. I had faith that I'd at least return to Great Gatsby for the second day of skits.

Lord of the Rings's skit was pretty adorable! Obviously there wasn't anything I could find wrong with it, since so far I had nothing to compare it to. The girls were funny, cute, and obviously loved their sorority. Several of the girls I had talked to over the week were in it, so that was fun to watch. However, I was tired and nervous and losing my concentration during conversations. It also didn't help that I was paired with another PNM in our conversation. That always made me nervous.

And let's be completely honest. I wasn't sure I wanted to be invited back to Lord of the Rings when I wanted so badly to be a Great Gatsby. (a Daisy Buchanan? Is that what we would be called? lol)

I went home and went to bed. We could visit up to 6 sororities during skit round, and there would be 4 parties for day two of skits. I could still have up to 5 sororities for this round! I was still nervous, but had faith that tomorrow would be a better day.

I really hate that this school is only giving you half a schedule for each round. It seems awfully nerve-wracking and pointlessly cruel. It would be much better to give you the whole schedule for the whole round, even if it's on two different days.

There are pros and cons to both ways. :)

What are the pros? I just don't get it.

Ooooh...interested to see where you end up. And wondering if P&P is KD, only because it's my favorite book. What a coincidence if so!

Yeah, I don't understand this either. Seems to me like it would keep the PNMs' hopes up for their favorite houses, but what if they're not asked back? PNMs will be wasting time thinking about their preferred chapters when instead they could have been spending the first day learning to love another!

I'm with you. Normally I can see both sides of an argument (a true Libra) but I'm having trouble thinking of the pros. The best I can figure is that by only getting a little at a time, you focus on the houses that day. You don't know (unless it's in your first half) whether your favorite kept or cut you, therefore you can't dwell on that. Therefore you look at each one individually without getting caught up in what's printed on a sheet of paper. However, if that's the goal I would think they'd only release each invite right before that party- not half & half. Regardless, I know it would've driven me crazy when I was going through!! I think I'd feel constantly anxious with not knowing what's coming next.

ErinHope- I love that you could identify where you should've ranked differently. I think many of us have thought through that, but for me at least I didn't realize my mistakes until after I went through recruitment as an active. I wouldn't change where I wound up, but the journey could've been better :) You are light already years ahead of where I was!

Yes, this would just make me more nervous, too.

I think one pro would be since you don't have your whole schedule, you can't freak out about who cut you until you've seen presumably half of your schedule. And by the time you've been to half of your parties, you might as well finish out the round, right?

Ok 1) I LOVE the fact that you included Paper Towns in your code. I'm a big young adult fiction fan, and John Green is my absolute favorite. I bawled like a baby through the last half of Looking For Alaska.

2) You're an awesome writer, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of your story!

Oh, and 3) You've got a fantastic name, from one Erin to another ;)

(Off topic for the John Green fans. The author is a very good childhood friend of a friend of mine and her brother. In fact, a character in Looking for Alaska has quite a few things in common with her brother. She said it was very surreal reading a book set at their school, a boarding school in Alabama).

ErinHope, looking forward to the rest of your story!

Haha I think John Green tends to do that! I have some friends who are very involved in the Nerdfighter community on YouTube, and it is SO surreal to read their names as the names of characters in their books—especially when they're vaguely obscure (to me) Dutch names...

ErinHope, best of luck! :)

I'm shocked that no one has done it yet!

DFTBA! Who are your friends involved on YouTube?

Skits, Day Two!
 

This day is a defining moment in my rush experience.

7:15 AM Friday morning, I'm almost done getting ready to go to my 8 am class when I check my phone to see that my Gamma Chi had called me late last night. She left a voice mail telling me to call her back immediately. So I call her.

I have no parties tonight. None.

I'm trying to stay positive and fighting back tears, but neither of us understands what just happened. I was prepared for rejection. I knew there would be heavy cuts after the first round. But to go from 10 to 1 in one round? I didn't think it would happen to me. I did so well at philanthropy round! I had an amazing resume, was talkative and enthusiastic. My Gamma Chi is discussing my options with me. If I rank Lord of the Rings number 1 for skits and they invite me back for Pref, I'm almost guaranteed a bid. These girls want me. But do I want them? I thank my Gamma Chi for talking to me and tell her I need to call my mom.

After sobbing to my mom for a few minutes, I attempt to pull myself together and go to class. This doesn't work out so well. Paying attention in class isn't too hard because I know how to study and take notes. But I cannot stop crying. My mind just goes back to the rejection. What did I do wrong? Did they think I was being fake? Perhaps my interest didn't come across as genuine. Most likely there were simply a ton of awesome girls, or the way the computer and rankings work just screwed me over. I keep that in mind, but we all know how hard it is not to beat ourselves up in these situations.

I have three classes on Friday morning before getting a break for lunch. By the end of the third class, I'm still extremely upset, but feeling much more positive. There is always a light at the end of a tunnel. I can see it. I know it's there, and I know what's in store for me once I get there. It's just so hard not to succumb to the despair of the dark tunnel. It chokes you, it frustrates you, and scares the hell out of you.

My dark tunnel has two paths.

The first path. I know that if I make it through preference round with Lord of the Rings, I can be the sorority woman I want to be. I'm able to remind myself all of the great things about them. I have a few epiphanies about why I wouldn't fit in with some of the other sororities. I will rank them number 1 for skits and do my best to show them I want them, too, at Preference.

The second path is that I get dropped from recruitment before Preference. Yikes. I don't want to think about it, but I have to. If this is how it is meant to be, I will throw myself whole-heartedly into my other activities. I'm in a choir. I want to continue voice lessons. I'm planning to join the club swim team, a little family of its own. I will go to sorority events throughout the semester and participate in their philanthropies. I'll get to know the girls so that if I choose to go through spring informal rush, I will be a familiar face.

Things will work out the way they're meant to. I have faced this sort of rejection too many times NOT to know that it always works out. It will be okay in the end. Maybe not great, but okay. And okay is something I can live with.

Another great thing about this experience? If one of the worst days of my life is the day I was dropped from 9 sororities (favorites included) in one round, I have a pretty dang awesome life. Seriously, I am so blessed to have this life.

I got out of class and called my mom to tell her all of this. After that conversation, I had pretty much made up my mind. I am going to rank Lord of the Rings my number 1 and hope for the best.

That evening I went to our Panhellenic building to rank. I walked in there with my head held high, a smile on my face. I ranked, and then talked to my Gamma Chi. She has seriously helped me through so much. I had even hoped she might turn out to be my sister. I could see her fitting in with Lord of the Rings, but I really couldn't be sure what her sorority was. She told me how proud she was of me and how impressed she had been with my positive attitude. We cried and hugged a bit before I left to go back to my dorm. I was a little nervous, but knew absolutely that everything would be okay.

And this is where I get to respond with the pros! I think overall it is better to give the full schedule for each round. But in my case, I am so thankful I had all day Friday to confront the fact that all I had left was Lord of the Rings. As nervous as I was Thursday night for the first round of skits, I don't think I could have borne finding out that everyone cut me as soon as I arrived for the parties. I might have been crying in their party!

Thank you, Erin! Haha, we do have an awesome name. :) I love all of John's books, but since Paper Towns is my favorite, it was the only one I included. :) I didn't want too many by the same author (Shakespeare being the exception!)

What a wonderful attitude. My daughter had a similar, though not as severe, experience and her Gamma Chi was such a rock. She did turn out being her sister, too!

Erin—I'm so sorry to hear that! That really sucks, and there's no way around it. All I can say is that you seem to have an awesome attitude, and I hope your story ends as well as mine did. It's horrendous being there, but you have to be strong (which I'm sure you are!) and know that you are a wonderful, valuable woman, and these women are missing out on you, big time. Hopefully they'll come to their senses soon! :D

Re: John Green, I'll mention them by their YouTube names: owlssayhoot & BooksAndQuills. I think those are/were their handles? I'm so used to referring to them by their rl names!

Ok, are you sure you're a college Freshman? I have friends twice your age who don't have as solid a sense of perspective. I am enjoying your story and can't wait to hear the ending!