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Speaking Greek (Recruitment Story)
Hello! After lurking on here for four years, it’s finally time that I get to go through Recruitment myself! And since I love reading everyone else’s recruitment stories so much, I thought I’d post my own!
I got interested in wanting to join Greek life my freshman year of high school when we were assigned to write a research paper on the topic of our choice. I’d watched The House Bunny or Legally Blonde or something like that a few days prior and had been Googling stuff about sororities shortly after, so I figured, why not? By learning what sororities are actually like through that paper, and since then, I’ve grown even more interested in joining one. Four years of pent-up excitement for this one week is a lot, but I’m really hopeful that I’ll find the sisterhood that’s right for me and all that excitement will be worth the lifetime that I get out of it. :) While I won’t post my school name or location (at least not until after all is said and done), I will say that I go to a school with seven NPC sororities, and recruitment is not terribly competitive. Since I’m a huge linguaphile, the codenames will all be foreign languages (fun fact: I can say ‘I love you’ in all of these; sadly I can’t speak all of them fluently... yet :) ) Spanish Afrikaans Italian German Dutch French Japanese Now I’m fully aware that chapters pay attention to these boards and things like that over the week, so I’m definitely keeping the details of my story for after Bid Day. However, I also know you guys get excited about these stories and want to know what happens (I do too when I read recruitment stories!) so do you think it’d be fine to say the number of chapters I get invited back to each day, or even which ones and how I ranked them (using codenames of course) and giving details later on? Or would it just be better to save the full story for the end? Let me know what you guys think on that. |
By the way, Recruitment begins Thursday but there are other events for PNMs between now and then.
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I'd say do what you think is right :) I do not think you are giving too much info away so far.
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You could write it live in a word document, so you'd have your genuine thoughts at the time. But I would wait to post a few days after each round, just to be extra safe. Good luck to you!
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Have a great recruitment!
I'm obviously rooting for Dutch (ok and Afrikaans as well...) Veel succes! Veel sukses! (aka Good luck) |
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Today was the Sorority Meet and Greet event for PNMs. I was able to talk to girls from each of the houses (or at least introduce myself), which was my goal. I also got to meet one of my Rho Chis, and I really like her! Meeting women from each group was really nice, and I think it gives me a first impression in a positive way, instead of hearing gossip from the outside and whatnot. Here’s where I’m at with each group so far:
Spanish: I got to meet several girls from this group, and introduce myself, but I didn’t talk to them for very long. They seem nice and very diverse. I didn’t get to talk to them long enough to know more than that. I’d like to learn more though, and get to know the Spanish women better. Afrikaans: Again with this group, I really only got to introduce myself before the event ended. The two women seemed nice as well, and they tried very hard to remember people’s names which I liked. I’ve always enjoyed this group on a national level based on what I know (values, symbols, etc) and their philanthropy is something very important to me personally. I’m hoping to spend more time getting to know these women better as well. Italian: This group was sort of off my radar, but they surprised me with how well we got along! I talked to several of them for quite a while, and the conversation came very easy. I like this group. I’m looking forward to seeing them at Recruitment and seeing if I continue to get along with them so well. German: I only talked to two girls from this sorority. They seemed kind of shy. I enjoyed talking to them, but thus far don’t feel a connection. However, I plan to start with a clean slate at Recruitment; I don’t want to make a judgment just yet. Dutch: I met three girls from this group. They were all very bubbly and outgoing. I liked them for the most part. One of the three seemed sort of closed off but we talked about a TV show we both like and she opened up more. Other than that I don’t have much of an opinion yet. French: I only talked to one girl from this group, but we got to talk one-on-one which was really nice. I think we got along well. Based off talking to her I like them so far. I look forward to meeting more of the French sisters. Japanese: I met a few Japanese sisters. I was in a big group with a few of them and some other PNMs so it was hard to say whether I felt a connection or not. BUT! One of the Japanese sister’s mom used to work for my school, and I knew her. The girl said she would talk to her mom and see if she remembered me. Since I don’t have any Greek connections at all I thought it was really cool just to even have that little one, and I hope it’s a good thing. I like this group a lot so far. Another thing I’d like to note after the fact is I’ve seen the girls from Japanese at all the events so far, and together. They seem very involved on campus and that’s appealing to me. Rho Chis: I love all of the Rho Chis! They’re all so fun and excited about Greek life and I love it. I won’t rank the groups or anything like that. It’s too early to tell especially because I didn’t get to spend equal time with an equal number of sisters. But I’m enjoying the whole thing so far! I can’t wait for Recruitment to actually begin. I feel like I can say right now that I can’t forsee myself dropping out of recruitment because I don’t like whatever chapters I end up with on my schedule after a particular round. I think I’d be comfortable with any of them. That could change, but for the moment I can say that I would be delighted to receive a bid from any chapter. Also, if anyone thinks I'm giving away too much information, please tell me and tell me what part(s) are too revealing. |
Sounds like you had a great first day!
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Viel Glück! I am rooting for German, my minor! :)
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Good luck Seisanne! I speak almost fluent Spanish so I have to root for them! I hope you have an amazing recruitment and have a great experience(: Make the most of it!
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My Spanish (after taking it for 2 years in high school and 2 years in college and growing up in AZ)... Hola como estas? Muy bien, gracias y tu? Donde esta el bano? Que hora es? Una cerveza por favor? No habla espanol. (which I personally find hysterical because I'm saying I don't speak Spanish in Spanish) That be my Spanish. :) [/end mini hijack] |
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I wish I spoke Spanish. Heck I wish I spoke another language. I say that I "speak teacher". LOL. Hope you are having a great time at recruitment. |
I took siete anos de espanol. When I was in Espana, I learned that "Como se dice in ingles?" was worth its weight in gold. Sadly, it destroyed my accent. If you don't use it, you do lose it!
seisanne, I hope you get the sorority bid that you understand! |
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Today was the first official night of Recruitment! Of course we didn’t get to meet chapters or anything yet but we got to see the Rho Chis do their little fashion show, and the presentation by the Greek Life/Panhellenic officers. Which was fun! And I met both of my Rho Chis and my group. There are some really cool people in my group, and my PX’s are AMAZING! I love them! More to report later :)
(Pssst... 'later' will probably be tonight!) |
Meet the Chapters Night!
Ahh today was so exciting and fun, and I had such a good time! I stick to saying that I’d be happy anywhere, but my opinions continue to change A LOT as I get to know women from each chapter. Also I am tired. It’s been a long day. I wasn’t tired during the rounds, but I am now super tired! If I don’t write this out now though, I’ll probably forget some tomorrow. Italian: First on our schedule was Italian. I was excited to go to this group since I’d really gotten along with them at the Meet and Greet. I talked to two girls here, and while I had a good time with them, I didn’t click with them quite as well as with the sisters I’d talked to a few days earlier. I had fun though, and knew that I would want to at least keep them on my schedule. But I also knew that I would probably have parties that I clicked with better. French: Next we went to French. Their party was so put together and beautiful! I could tell that these sisters also had been practicing their rush conversations a lot. I spoke to three girls here, and got along with all of them really well! I left this house feeling like I would have a lot of fun if I joined here. I talked to the sisters a lot about social and philanthropy events, and about some of the random things they do with sisters. They seemed really fun. I hope I get invited back here. Spanish: I don’t know what it was. I had a good time here, and the girls were nice. But I just had a feeling the whole time that this wasn’t the group for me. I got bumped like five times also! It was good to meet several sisters, but the conversations were so short. Also I was talking to one sister about their philanthropy, and she said “Yeah, when you come back tomorrow for our Philanthropy night--uh, to whichever sororities you get invited back to…” Oops! She caught herself, but I caught her too. Good to know they wanted me back, I suppose? I didn’t tell my Rho Chi because she caught herself and I’m sure they don’t mean to do that. I didn’t really want to get Spanish in trouble or anything and I knew it was an honest mistake. But as I said, I wasn’t really feeling it here. But I’ll be happy to go back if that’s what happens. Japanese: I only talked to one sister here! After the five at Spanish, it seemed weird. But I really liked Japanese either way. The girl I talked to really seemed interested in what I had to say, and she was so passionate about being a Japanese. I think I’d be really happy to call myself a sister here if that’s what happens. I just wish I’d been able to talk to at least one more girl, not that the conversation with the one I did talk to wasn’t good. But, I had talked to some of them at the Meet and Greet, so I liked them already and at that point in the night they were my favorite. Dutch: Sigh. Dutch. Hmm. I wish I’d had a better experience here. The Dutch girls seemed well prepared for recruitment, they were all beautiful, and their chapter room was filled with lovely decorations, crafts, and awards. They were a favorite by many PNMs. But, the girl I spoke to seemed like she didn’t really care what I had to say. She kept going on and on about how great Dutch was, and how they win all these things, and do all these events, and how great their sisterhood is. But when I would talk about stuff I did, she wouldn’t really listen. Pretty much right away, I knew that this group was not going to be high on my list at all. I didn’t feel at home or really even comfortable there. I don’t know if it was the girl, or me just not feeling it because so many others had a good experience. But I knew this one was not the one for me. But if I get invited back, I feel like if I meet other sisters, I might get along better with them. I’m keeping an open mind to Dutch but so far I feel like it’s not the chapter for me. Afrikaans: I really want to love this chapter! But so far I just like it. I only talked to one girl here too (Chapters! You need to bump! AHH!!) and we got along well. The conversation stagnated at a couple points (which is when they needed to bump!) although I did have a good time talking to the girl and the party went by really fast. I had fun here, and I want to go back. Same as the Meet and Greet, I need to get to know them better. I hope that becomes possible tomorrow. Speaking of that, just like with Spanish, the girl started to talk about me coming back to Afrikaans’ Philanthropy Night and caught herself! I liked knowing that groups wanted me back, but I know that they know it’s against the rules. I still didn’t tell my Rho Chi. I know it’s serious, but it’s also serious. I didn’t want to get them in trouble… I hope I don’t catch shade for that. In their defense both the girl at Afrikaans and the girl at Spanish were sophomores doing Recruitment for the first time on the other side. Anyways, enough about that. I wanna go back to Afrikaans and get to know them better. As I said in my last post I LOVE LOVE LOVE their philanthropy so if anything I’ll have a lot to talk to them about tomorrow (y’know, assuming I go back). German: WOW. :) Just wow. I wasn’t expecting to click with this group really at all, especially after Meet and Greet not going great with the German girls. But I think I am falling in love with this group a little bit. They have so many different girls, and they have such an obvious and amazing sisterhood, they’re super diverse, their chapter room was beautiful and so homey and the conversations I had were really great. Wow. I kind of love this group. I’m still blown away by the experience I had at this chapter. All of the chapters tonight before this one, I had fun at and had a great time talking to sisters, but at German I already feel like I would be happy to call myself a sister if that’s what ends up happening. I didn’t even want this party to end. Just, ahh! I was so impressed by this chapter especially since I wasn’t expecting to be. I really hope I get invited back to German!! Our Rho Chis didn’t have us rank them all yet, they just asked which one we wanted to drop. (Ok, my rant starts here.) All of the Rho Chis keep talking about PNMs “dropping” chapters and they’re really really pushing the “it’s a mutual selection process” which everyone on here knows it’s not that mutual. And this girl was giving me crap when I was talking about how we might get invited back to our last choice, and all these other PNMs don’t get how it works. And the Rho Chis aren’t helping with that! It’s irksome to me. I’ve kept my mouth shut about it for the most part, because it’s not my place to explain the whole thing and I’d probably get in trouble for it or something. But the whole mutual selection is being pushed hard and… sigh. I’m a bit frustrated about it. And I know there are going to be a lot of girls disappointed/upset tomorrow when they get their last choice back or they lose one of their top choices. </rant> Anyways, it was clear to me which ones I liked in which order and why. If I could’ve ranked, I would’ve ordered them: German Japanese French Afrikaans Italian Spanish ----- Dutch Only time will tell where I get invited back to! Hopefully I get to come back to all of my top 6, but I really have my fingers crossed for the top four. But I stick to what I said; I would make the best of any chapters. |
So, I wouldn't read too much into the accidental "When you come back for round two...".
They have been preparing for this week for a long time, and honestly, the later rounds are often more fun for the rushers (and the PNMs). I'd bet that these girls are just excited and their mouths are working faster than their minds. Dirty rushing sounds more like, "Suicide Tri-Upsilon and I'll make sure you're here on Bid Day." And it's too bad the Rho Chis aren't doing a great job of explaining the ranking process. Keep us posted. |
Philanthropy Night
I went to go see my Rho Chis for the start of all of the parties. When I got my schedule, it was folded in half so I could see 3 parties on it, all ones I liked. But I opened it up and all I saw was Italian Afrikaans German What?! No more?! Only three?! What happened? I thought that early cuts would all be for grades, and I knew I wouldn’t have a problem with that. I thought I had really great conversations with nearly everyone I’d talked to yesterday. I kind of understood not getting asked back to Dutch and Spanish, but where were French and Japanese? I thought I’d connected with them. I don’t know what happened. I felt really hurt, and felt like they didn’t like me and I hated not knowing why. But after some consultation with my Rho Chis and fixing my contacts so I would stop crying, I jumped right into my first party. Italian: I was afraid I’d fall apart during this party because I was still emotional. But I walked in with a smile on my face and after hearing the sister explain the philanthropy thoroughly, I had a great conversation with her and with the girl who bumped her. And I did a little craft-sort-of-thing just as the party ended, which was nice. I think overall I really really like this group. And their chapter room was decorated amazingly, as an added note. This philanthropy could also be something really important to me. Afrikaans: I was so happy to be invited back to Afrikaans’ philanthropy day! I could be very passionate about this philanthropy. And their room was decorated very cute in the theme of their philanthropy. I loved this party, and the craft, and the video. I also had a better time talking to this sister. I keep having a better and better experience with Afrikaans. The sister seemed to like me, but I couldn’t tell if she really did like me or if she was acting like it. I don’t know. The way she interacted with me wasn’t what I’d experienced with other houses. Maybe that’s a good thing. She also asked a few things that made me a little uncomfortable: she asked what other parties I had to go to, and since I only had 3 I felt kind of uncomfortable saying. But I told her. She also asked, “So do you like Afrikaans?” which was something I might have expected more from Prefs or maybe Sisterhood night. But, I did like them. So I told her that I liked them, and that they’ve always been on my radar. I felt weird being asked those things but still I have a really good feeling about this chapter and had an awesome party here. German: I was really excited for this party since I loved these girls yesterday. But unfortunately they didn’t thrill me the way they had before. The first sister I talked to I wasn’t really clicking with, but thankfully I got bumped. The second sister I clicked better with, but she didn’t seem to know what to say after my responses to her questions, so she would reply to them with the same response every time. I wasn’t too bothered with it, but it made me feel like she wasn’t listening even though she was. We did a craft here as well, which was nice. While their philanthropy is a very important one, it’s not one that I have personal experience with, so I didn’t click with their philanthropy video as well as the others’. But, I still like this group a lot and hope they invite me back again. Since I only had 3 houses left, on the bright side I did not have to rank any groups low, since tomorrow is four-party day (or, y’know, hopefully at least one party). And I liked them all. I just had been having a lot of trouble “ranking” them in my head (I can’t really rank yet, especially since I have so few parties now.) So I talked to my Rho Chi and felt a little better about it. But then I called my mom. And while she didn’t tell me “do this” or “do that”, having me bounce off her and having her ask some questions back was so helpful, and helped me figure out why I like each of them, I suppose. She also helped calm my worries about not receiving a bid at all, which I am still very worried about. But I suppose all I can do is hope I get parties back and try to have some amazing conversations with sisters at whichever of these 3 ask me back. So after today and talking to my mom and Rho Chi, I would rank them: Afrikaans Italian German But thankfully I don’t have to rank them at all! After being cut so heavily today I will be ecstatic if even one group invites me back. |
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Good luck! |
Fingers crossed that you get good news for the next round!
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Sisterhood Night
Just before I left to go to where the parties are held, I texted my Rho Chi to ask if no news was good news (I had been quite worried). And she texted back saying I had the same three parties! So I was very very happy when I showed up and saw on my schedule Afrikaans Italian German YAY!!! I said I would be ecstatic and I was! :D So of course I went into my first party with a huge grin on. Afrikaans: Things keep getting even more amazing with this group! I feel so drawn to this sorority (or women’s fraternity… who knows ;) ). And today I’d had some good questions set up to ask sisters from each house, but I didn’t even get to use them here because the sister and I talked about all kinds of stuff the entire time. I really connected here today and the conversation flowed so well. I’ve never been bumped here which I feel like is a good thing. I continue to keep an open mind but I feel like this is the place. This one just feels right and even the other days the parties have gone by so fast and I haven’t wanted to leave. Today’s party was beautiful and when the sisters told their stories of what being an Afrikaans meant to them, I really felt like this house could be my home. I love this house and I’m praying I get to come back for Prefs!! Italian: I continue to have a great experience at this house. I consistently have good conversations with these girls. The sister I was paired with today was kind of shy, but I used some of those fabulous questions and she opened up a lot. She said that she’d heard a lot about me and that that was a good thing, which made me so happy!! I looked around at the girls I had talked to here and felt like I could really fit in. Italian is a close second. The only thing is that I don’t feel so drawn to this group as I do to Afrikaans, but I am still falling in love with Italian. German: Their party was beautiful today. I felt like I was really clicking with the first sister I talked to, but I would get bumped twice. While I enjoyed talking to the other two girls, I just didn’t feel that same I-don’t-know-what with them as with some of the other girls in this house. I looked around the room. I had really, really gotten along with some of these sisters and with others I just hadn’t clicked. German was a pretty mixed bag. They are so diverse and have so many kinds of girls and while I think that’s a great thing, I think it’s why I have mixed feelings about them. I click with some and not with others. At this house, the first sister I talked to today said that she’d heard some amazing things about me from her sisters, and I was so happy that they liked me too. But while I liked them, after some thinking, I didn’t feel like it would come so easily to call all of them sisters as it would at Afrikaans and Italian. It was kind of a hard decision to choose which one to rank low, but at the same time it wasn’t. I went with my heart and ranked Afrikaans Italian ----- German And although I’m really super hopeful about getting Afrikaans back, I will continue to be grateful to get any houses back on my schedule. |
Congratulations!! I love getting updates on your story-glad everything is going so well for you:)
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Wonderful news! You have a great attitude. I'm wishing you all the best and looking forward to more updates.
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I don't know if this is a post-dated "live" recruitment thread or if you've already found your home, but in case it really is live, I want you to remember that you have met a ridiculously small number of girls in all of these chapters. DON'T let yourself be disappointed if you get invited back to German. You DO like them. The one you like the most you've admitted to only meeting a few girls. They've done a great job of matching your correctly for rush, but that is NOT the whole chapter. So just saying - keep an open mind!
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Can't wait for the ending, this story is very enjoyable.
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Preference Night
My Rho Chi texted me to come later because my parties were scheduled for later times. I texted back asking which ones I had and she said Afrikaans and Italian! Woo hoo! Both the houses I had asked for! I was super pumped for my first party. Afrikaans: This party was SO BEAUTIFUL! The party started with the president announcing each girl and who she was preffed by. I was put with the girl I’d had the first night of Recruitment. We had a much better and more natural conversation today. They talked about their values and did a thing with flowers (if I tell what, it might give away the group, I think, maybe?) and their party was just breathtakingly beautiful. Later on in the party the sisters took their name tags in the shape of their symbol and flipped them over to reveal the name of the girl they were preffing and put it on the girl. This was the moment when I knew that this was the group for me. I nearly cried when they did that. This party ended way too soon and I never wanted to leave. Once I turned the corner from the chapter room I looked at another girl and pointed back and said THAT ONE! After the Afrikaans party I was pretty set on wanting to become one of their sisters. And then I went to Italian. I was preffed at Italian by a girl I really had gotten along with before. While we were talking, I thought about these girls and how easy it would be to also call them sisters. Their pref party was incredibly personal and emotional. Some sisters shared their stories of how much being an Italian sister had changed their life. But I didn’t cry just yet. Each sister did a flower thing and then some sisters came up and sang. This is when I cried. This party really got to me, not just because it was so beautiful and personal, but also because I felt so conflicted. I really loved this house and after getting to know some of the girls, I felt really bad about maybe-possibly choosing another house. I knew more of these girls, better than the Afrikaans sisters. And I felt kind of weird picking Afrikaans over Italian after getting so emotional at Italian. So I talked to my Rho Chi. And I told her that I had been set on Afrikaans and that that house was where my heart and my head were. But that I really liked Italian and could really see them as sisters as well. And that it was really hard choosing to rank two that I really liked. But she told me to go with my first instinct and know that I would be happy either way. So by the time I went to go rank and sign my MRABA, I had already had my head sorted out. I would rank them Afrikaans Italian And only tomorrow will tell what will happen! I feel really good about my decision to put them in that order. I feel like Afrikaans is for me for so many reasons although I would still be so happy at Italian. |
Even though I just posted about Prefs can I post about Bid Day pleeeeeeease? :P
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Yes!! :-D
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BID DAY!!!!
I walked into the stadium and was handed my bid, but we all had to sit on our bids for an excruciating amount of time. Then we did the Rho Chi reveal! One of my PX’s was a French and the other was a German! Not nearly soon enough, the countdown began. I opened my bid to reveal I had been invited to become a sister of . . . . . . . . . . AFRIKAANS . . . . . . . . . . also known as . . . . . . . . . . PI BETA PHI!!!! |
Yay congrats!!!
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Great news! Very happy for you :)
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Yes!!! Congratulations to you and Pi Beta Phi!
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Congratulations to you!!
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Great story. Congratulations to you and your sisters!
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Felicidades! Estoy muy feliz que tú hayas venido a Pi Phi!
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Hooray for you and Pi Phi!
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