How will I explain?
 

Hey everyone. I started getting interested sororities and rushing when I found my grandmother's member pin... even though I won't be going through recruitment for another year and eight months. :p Anywhooo, here are two problems I foresee:

1) I participate in "Running Start;" I take my classes at a community college and get both college and high school credit. When I finally get to college, I will have junior (or eek! senior) standing. But I don't want to graduate early. It will take me three years minimum to graduate, and I think I want to take four. How do you think GLOs will react?

...and an even stickier subject....

2) I am a vegan. So I don't eat meat, dairy, eggs, honey (lol I know I know it's a little silly), etc. Since talking about this falls into the no-no category of politics, I would rather not mention it during FR. However, I will be declining any food offered to me (how rude!). How do I explain myself without coming off as rude or weird, and without scaring people, or getting stuck on an undesirable topic?


Any suggestions would be great!

Oh, and watch out for my recruitment thread, coming September 2006! :p :p :p

Hello hello! As a former non-meat eater, what you need to do is politely explain. If someone offers you cheese or a cocktail weener (man that doesn't even SOUND appetizing), just say, "No, thank you, I'm vegan." Might even start an interesting conversation for rushing. Goodluck, and don't compromize your stance just to make an impression.

When I went through rush way back in the day, we were never offered food so it wasn't an issue -- so take what I say with a grain of salt. I don't think you'd have to offer an explanation as to why you're turning down food -- isn't it enough to say "No thank you" -- I mean, maybe it's not and I don't know where you're rushing, but I would never be offended by that. I would think it's enough to decline food and maybe accept a drink and be done with it.

Also, please don't feel the need to dismiss being vegan as silly. I really admire that -- I've been a vegetarian for over 10 years and I have mad respect for you for being vegan.

Good luck!! :)

m0rgan-- I PMed you;)

Make sure they know you are a first-year student!

Give them a (short) explanation of Running Start - just tell them that you had the opportunity to take college classes when you were in high school, but you are (this is most important) scheduled to graduate in 3 - 4 years.

If you explain, you will stand out for your grades/smarts, not your age. I'm sure they will have your class standing (fr, so, jr, sr), so be sure to do this. It is a lot harder to go through formal recruitment as an upperclasswoman.

Don't worry too much about Running Start (or veganism - I agree with Phoenix, it shouldn't be an issue) - every sorority wants to have a great GPA, and you sound very smart! ;) Good luck!

if you've got a year and eight months until you rush, you really shouldn't be worrying about something so trivial as how to politely say no thank you. :)

I agree with everything that has been said.
You can explain your Veganism (?) to the sisters when you go through or you can just say no thank you..often times girls don't eat food we give them because they are either too nervous or too busy talking

One year we had a young lady go through rush who was a diabetic. No one knew until she turned down the snack at a party which was cookie and lemonade. Once word got our, every house made sure that they had something appropriate for her so that she did not feel uncomfortable, especially on the days when you had food at every party near the end of rush. Don't remember is she ended up accepting a bid at one of the houses. Was nice to know that panhellenic as a whole would work through the situation back in the days when Greeks were thought to not tolerate anything different.

DaffyKD

I didn't go through formal recruitment but the COB I went through had a TON of food. I'm talking ice cream, pizza, the whole nine yards. And I am a diabetic.

Since my insulin schedules at the time had me eat beforehand, I simply declined any and all major meals they served. Granted I had a couple snacks, but it didn't count against me if I didn't eat the whole meal.

However when I started searching for non-existant diet soda the first night, people started to take notice and asked why. On future nights, there was a two liter bottle of diet soda there, as well as water.

If anything, they will accomodate you rather than turn there noses up at you.

ETA: Phoenix, I'm not on the pump unfortunately. Although I broke my sisters in real quick on Bid Day the year I rushed when I whipped out my shots and vials. I also have no shame. :)

Daffy: As a diabetic, I think it's fantastic that you made adjustments for her needs. It was really hard during rush to eat at parties simply because people rarely expect diabetics, or know that they are diabetic. I unfortunately had a hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) attack during open house last year, thankfully one of the chapters had a fellow diabetic who helped me out with glucose tabs.

(PS, all you recruitment chairs out there, consider getting Crystle Light lemonade or Diet pop for your parties!)

Edit: Chi Delt, are you on the pump?

I am a diabetic as well and I found that when I went through rush there was always sometyhing I could eat or drink, like water or veggies or fruit. (I'm also a bad diabetic so I would eat the chocolate too :p )

Currently we have a sister who has PKU and we try our best to find foods that she can eat. We also have several sister who are vegitarians or vegan and we usually try to have something like veggies or fruit available.

You'll probably find that the parties aren't all that long and you'll be too busy too eat. But you're not the only one who is a vegan and you'll find that there will be members of the houses that are vegan/vegitarian. It's really nothing to worry about.

Being a vegan is a lifestyle choice, and not a life-or-death dietary restriction. If somone offers you food or drink at a recruitment event that does not meet your dietary choices as a vegan, just say, "No thank you." No one is going to cut you from a house for refusing food. And if they do, honey, it isn't a house you want to belong to, anyhow!

Regarding your upperclassman status-- make sure that the office of Greek Life and the sororities receive a letter from your Running Start program regarding your status. Also, make sure any alum recommendations you get talk about the program and your age, and years you will have left in school. Talk about the program at parties and leave women with the impression you are an academically motivated leader--- it will help them remember you and your class status. You may still be cut for it-- like it or not, a junior is a junior, and a chapter that wants freshman is still going to take only freshman. But if you are proactive about informing the sororities and selling yourself as the Running Start PNM, you'll be well prepared.

I am a diabetic too! I have been on the Insulin Pump for 3 years. And Lady PiPhi if you consider eating chocolate being a bad diabetic, then I am downright evil! My nutritionist tells me it is okay, she taught me how to do it safely (and how to have other no-no's as well). She is diabetic and knows about how hard it is. I just press a few buttons on my pump and away we go! It drives me crazy when other people think that they know how to take care of my health better than I do. "Oh but my Great-Grandmother is diabetic and she...." Two different things honey!

Sorry to hijack, just got excited!

Lol. I eat whatever I want. I haven't been on a meal plan in 10 years.

I only take 2 shots a day because I refuse to take 4. I know I should be on more because a more rigid control is better, but I refuse. Chocolate is my one weakness. I'm not big on sweets anyway, but I must have chocolate.

I'm on the pump as well, have been for 3 years. I'm on a 1200 calorie a day diet, so I guess I'm on a pretty rigid meal plan.

Now about the thread.

I am confused about the Running Start thing. If you are taking classes that count for High School credit, do those still go into figuring your college hours? Jr/Sr status is close to 100 hours of college credit. How would you still have 4 years left of school if you have close to 100 credit hours towards a college degree?

Also be sure to keep the grades up. We had a girl transfer in with highschool/college credits. The college grades were not so great but all of her high school grades were great. Her average from the college transfer credits were below a 2.5 which made her grades too low for the chapters to accept. Because of the way the transcripts were done, the grades were divided like that instead of all being averaged together. I worked with her for quite a while to try to find a way to allow her to pledge somewhere. Her older sister was in a sorority at LSU so she really wanted to pledge. Her sister actually called to talk to me a few times to see if we could work things out. Hopefully she will try again because we are having a Semi-formal Spring Recruitment this year.

Sorry if I misunderstood anything. I am still kind of confused.

Wow. There are a lot of diabetics on this board. I would never have guessed.

\

My daughter is doing this here in Georgia. The classes she's taking count for both high school and college hours and grades--I have no clue what formula they use to average them into her high school grades but luckily, her college grades are about the same as her high school grades.

She should end her high school senior year with 28-30 hours of college credit. Her sister Blazercheer did the same and because she was allowed to do Maymester too, she started college with 41 hours of credit!

Roqueemae, the poster may be talking about quarter hours of credit. On our semester system, 30 hours=sophomore, 60=junior, 90=senior.

warning: too much information
 

I'll try to explain it better [warning: it's still confusing!]:

My high school decides which community college classes will count for certain requirements. Ex: ENGL 268 & 269 will count for
Junior English. Both of these are 5 credits, giving me a total of ten credits. These automatically go into my high school transcript.

When I go off to college, I have the option of transfering those credits. By the time I transfer, I will have over 90 credits to be able to transfer if I choose. But, not all of these will count toward my degree. My high school has me take specific classes that do not always count toward the "Areas of Knowledge" (general requirements) at the University of Washington. I can still transfer the extra credits though, as they might be good for my gpa.

The UW has a quarter credit system with a typical student taking 15-18 credits per quarter.

freshman: 0-44
sophomore: 45-89
junior: 90-134
senior: 135+

Just to make matters more complicated, I'll mention that I will already have 45 credits at the University of Washington [I don't get to choose if I tranfer this, these were classes taken at the UW] I got these from taking classes during the summer as a non-matriculating student.

Why will it take me 3-4 years to complete a degree if I have 135 credits already? Well, I want to major in something that will require me to take many classes I haven't taken yet. For instance, if I wanted to major in Slavic Languages I could finish in one year. But instead of rushing out of college I would rather take my time and double major or something.

Thank you everyone for calming me down about the vegan thing. I guess I was just worried about getting stuck into conversations about where I get my protein or something! :p

On another note, so many diabetics! Be safe you chocolate lovers! :)

GREAT explanation! I guess it is kind of like changing your major from nursing to english. Not many will transfer leaving you to take many more credits in order to graduate.

Remember what I said about the courses and keeping your grades up. You sound smart though so that probably will not be a problem.

PS I just finished a Peanut Butter/Fudge shake from Sonic. YUM!

I just ate a peanut butter/fudge brownie! Mmmmmmmmm

Vegans don't just eat vegetables! ;)

lol...I'm a first-year student with sophomore standing, and I'll have junior standing next semester, thanks to high school AP classes and summer school!:p (My goal is to graduate with a BA in 3 years and head to grad school...)
Unless you eat bugs to get your protein or something (and if you do, I can see why sororities might be a little grossed out:p ) I don't really think that topic should be too big of a problem.

Re: warning: too much information
 

m0rgan

I work at Washington State University Vancouver and I have friends at the University of Washington And there are enough people that transfer/ do running start that the women in the houses are probably going to know what you are talking about and there are probably going to have women in the house that are running start. I would mention that you still are planning on being there for 3 plus years though.

Put your fears at rest and take heart that people are going to know what you are talking about. Plus if they sororities still have the greek weekend in the spring be sure to go and tell people that you are doing running start, but that you are going to be there for 3 years. Dont force it into a conversation say something like oh yeah im doing running start so i will be a junior, but its kinda cool that i will still be at UW for like 3 years.

I feel way more prepard to do the work here since i have taken classes during the summer. Yeah, i took classes for running start and so i will have lots of credit, but i am still going to be at UW for 3 years.

You get the point. and dont worry you still have a while left. PLus if you are into church be sure to check out the university ministries The INN. Its super fun. Just my plug.

Good luck, debbie