Eirbear's Retro Recruitment Thread
 

So, I've been getting a huge kick out of reading all the retro recruitment threads, so (if anyone's interested) I figured I'd start my own. Now, granted, I never kept a recruitment journal, because it wasn't a thought I had at the time, but I still remember everything pretty clearly (minus one party at one round which has, for some reason, escaped my memory). I went through Formal Recruitment during Fall 2005, while I was a freshman. I had two Rho Chi's...we'll call them Janet and Jessica. There are four chapters at my university:

Alpha Xi Delta
Delta Zeta
Kappa Alpha Theta
Zeta Tau Alpha

Because my current obsession is Wicked, I decided the nicknames I'll give the chapters are names of characters from the musical (there's no meaning behind the giving of the names, it was random). The names will be:

Elphaba
Galinda
Fiyero
Nessarose

To tide everyone over until I'm able to post again, I'll give my initial feelings about the four chapters.

Elphaba--Before the rounds began, I didn't know much about this chapter. I saw the sisters wearing their letters around campus, and I met some of them in passing, but I didn't know any of them personally.

Galinda--The most I knew about this chapter was that a lot of them were in the English department with me. As far as I could tell, they were all very nice and other than that I had no opinion.

Fiyero--I only knew one sister from this chapter, a girl (we'll call her Mary) I had a PE class with (Folk Dancing...it was always kind of a joke). Mary was very nice to me and was incredibly excited when she heard I had decided to go through Recruitment. Other than her, I had virtually no interaction with any of the other sisters.

Nessarose--Going into Recruitment, this was the only chapter I really knew anyone from. Several of the girls in the marching band with me were in this chapter. One girl in my section was incredibly determined for me to go through Recruitment, and made it fairly clear she wanted me as a sister. My mom had also been in this chapter when she was at school, and because of this I promised to go through with a completely open mind, knowing my mom and I frequently have different ideas and tastes.

loove these threads!! im readin!

p.s- i LOVE wicked too!!

Yes, I am, actually! I didn't think many people on here had heard of ONU. :)

Go Polar Bears! ( I had many high school friends that attended ONU)

Current reflections will be in purple.

So, after a few floor meetings with our Rho Chi's (in which they brought cookies) and many conversations about times, dress, and all the little details for the first weekend, the day of the first round had finally arrived. Of course, we couldn't be without our little problems and I was "fortunate" enough to be part of it. Because I was in the marching band, we had practice until 6pm on Fridays (and marching band counts as a class, so there was no way to skip just to get ready for Open House). Open House was supposed to begin at 6:30. There were about four of us going through Recruitment, plus all the Nessaroses, and one Rho Chi (for these purposes, we'll call her Katie). Having one Rho Chi in the band worked to the advantage of everyone, because she was given special permission to drive the four of us going through Recruitment to the student union to change and then to our respective first rounds of the night so we wouldn't be late.

Band practice ended, and the five of us (four PNMs and Katie) rushed to the car, hurried to the student union, and changed into the clothes we had brought along. Katie gave us the nametags she had been given earlier and told us which houses each of us would be visiting first and that the other Rho Chi's traveling with each of our groups would let us know the order of the rest of the houses for the night. We put all of our stuff in Katie's trunk and planned to meet her to get them at the end of the night, and then we loaded into her car again and she drove us to our different rounds. We dropped off one girl at the Nessarose house first. My first round was to be at the Galinda house, which (according to Katie) was the next closest house to Nessarose, so I would be dropped off next. Katie ended up having to turn around after she turned to wrong way down a street. I determined she clearly wasn't a Galinda.

My experiences at each house:

Galinda--The first house I visited. We lined up outside the house, the Rho Chi's took our coats and purses to hold while we were inside. The door opened and all of us PNMs were incredibly overwhelmed by how loud the sisters were singing. We went inside and the girl I was paired with was really nice. The conversation flowed easily. I enjoyed seeing the house and all the sisters were really nice. Probably the thing I found the strangest was that they took a picture of each of us with their mascot. Looking back now, I can see how it was helpful--they had a picture of each PNM and a name matched up to it. So, it was unique to stick them out in our minds, but it was also helpful for them when they were doing voting and all that. I left happy, and Galinda was definately high on my mental list. I felt I fit in with the sisters and they made me very comfortable.

Elphaba--The second house I visited. We lined up again, but we found ourselves a little less surprised by the enthusiastic door song sang this time. Inside I was again paired up with a girl I felt comfortable with. She was nice, enthusiastic about her sorority, and I felt we clicked pretty well. There was an unfortunate almost-accident on the stairs, in which I almost fell, but I wasn't the only one. When I was leaving, I found myself feeling almost the same way about Elphaba as I did about Galinda.

Fiyero--The third house I visited. Again, we were greeted by a loud door song. Over the few weeks before Recruitment, I had heard that Fiyero was the largest sorority on campus. We went inside. I saw Mary, she waved enthusiastically, but I was paired up with a different sister. The sister I was paired up with was a lot quieter than the ones I was paired up with at the other houses. The tour of the house was nice and I enjoyed learning about the sorority, but I didn't feel I connected as well with the other sisters and I didn't feel quite as comfortable as I had at the other two houses.

Nessarose--The last house I visited. Through the grapevine, I had heard that this was the smallest chapter on campus. We were greeted once again by a door song, although it was a little quieter than those of the other three. Now, I know that this had nothing to do with the enthusiasm of the house, but simply because there were less sisters here than at the other three. Inside, I was paired up with another PNM (we'll call her Danielle) and a sister. After a few minutes, Danielle got snatched up by another sister and I was left with the one I was originally with. We started talking about all the normal small-talk stuff, and when I told her my major (Creative Writing) she got incredibly excited because she was an English major too. After that, the conversation flowed easily. We found out we were in marching band together (although, in different sections, which is why we had never met), and then I got a tour of the house. As I left, Nessarose went close to the top of my list too, tied with Galinda. I again had felt incredibly comfortable at this house and enjoyed talking with the sisters.

After the rounds, I found the other band girls and Katie, and we got our stuff out of the car. My floor group had a short meeting with Janet and Jessica, settling times for Sunday afternoon for Philanthropy Round. We would be making our first cuts later in the week, a couple days before the final weekend of Recruitment. All in all, I was very excited about Recruitment now, and couldn't wait until Sunday.

It sounds like you had fun, and approached RUSH (blame it on the age) with a great attitude.

Update again soon!:D

My cousin is a Theta at ONU! :)

Hijack...

I saw WICKED in Atlanta and loved it. Just finished reading Son of a Witch a few minutes ago..interesting ending, lol.

Back to your thread.

I'm seeing it in Columbus in a week and couldn't be more excited. And I JUST bought Son of a Witch and can't wait to read it...I've heard it's really good...

Anywho...


So, let's fast forward to Sunday. I wake up early, because Philanthropy Round was set to begin around one. As the minutes tick by, I get dressed in some nice black pants and a nice top. I spend my free time trying to distract myself from looking at the clock...I'm super excited for the second round. Janet and Jessica told us that, while WE won't be doing any cuts before Philanthropy, some of the chapters might make cuts, so, unless they tell us otherwise, we're all going to all four chapters. The PNMs on our floor meet down by the windows, by the chairs at the far end of the hall, with Janet and Jessica. I'm glad I'm able to meet my floor group this round, instead of being hurried off to a round late because of band. Because this isn't Open House, we've been told that we won't be going to the sorority houses and the four parties will be held throughout campus--a couple in the student union, a couple in the Pharmacy building. All the PNMs and Rho Chi's meet in the student union and the head Rho Chi gives the assignments of the round orders. We find our traveling groups and head out. I'm excited about getting invited back to all four parties.

Elphaba--This was my first party of the afternoon. While waiting in line in the hall outside the room in the student union, I found out Danielle was also invited back to all four parties. Since we were standing near each other, we talked about the different parties from Friday night--she told me she was a little upset that she was invited back to Nessarose, because she found the sisters to be too annoying. I shrugged. I liked Nessarose, but to each her own--I was only a little sad because I liked Danielle, and being a pledge sister with her would be fun, but we had such different opinions on one of my top choices that I didn't think it was quite possible anymore. The door finally opened, we heard another cheery door song, and we all entered. Again, I was paired with a sister I seemed to click with pretty well. We had a lot to talk about, and I really loved how passionate she was about Elphaba's philanthropy. We made bracelets, which was a fun activity to do while we all chit-chatted. At the end of the party, I felt really good about Elphaba, and loved their philanthropy.

Galinda--The second party of the afternoon for me. This party was in the Pharmacy building, so our group reorganized for the girls only going to three parties and headed off across campus. We waited outside the door once again, and when the door opened we heard another door song (although, we were incredibly used to this particular tradition by now). Inside, the Galindas were all wearing what looked like zoo keeper's uniforms in their colors, and there were animal drawings on all the tables. Our pictures with their mascot from Open House were hanging on the wall, and we got the chance to find our picture before grabbing a snack and settling down. I was, once again, paired with a sister I felt comfortable with. We had a really good conversation as I put together the kid gift bag we were making. As we left, I kind of kicked myself (figuratively), because every time I thought I had my top choice picked out, I'd go to another party and I'd feel excited about that one too. While that was lucky for me, because I could picture myself with three out of the four sororities, it was really frustrating.

Fiyero--The third party of the afternoon, back at the student union. This was the one sorority that I hadn't felt I really fit in with at Open House, but I thought maybe at this party that would change. We were greeted with another door song, and entered to find the activity room decorated in bright colors like Mardi Gras. I was paired up with a particularly quiet sister this time and the small talk while we crafted masks for kids to play with was incredibly forced. Leaving this party, I felt I had at least picked my bottom choice for the cuts later in the week. I just didn't feel I fit in at all with many of the sisters of Fiyero and would be happier in one of the other three.

Nessarose--The final party. We hiked back over to the Pharmacy building, lined up in the hall, heard the door song, and entered the room. The entire room was decorated with kids toys and fleece blankets. I found myself paired with the sister from my section in band. We sat at a table with the sister I had met on Friday (the English major) and with a few other PNMs and sisters as well. We made fleece tie blankets together for a Children's Hospital and the conversation flowed easily. Once again, as I left, I felt a little frustrated because Nessarose, Galinda, and Elphaba were so closely tied for first choice in my mind. I calmed myself down by telling myself I didn't really have to choose between these three for cuts until after Sisterhood round next Friday.

All the PNMs and Rho Chi's met back at the student union for a quick meeting. Our floor group found Janet and Jessica and we set up a Recruitment meeting, discussed the time we had to be in our rooms for cuts, and then headed back to our dorm. I couldn't believe the final weekend of Recruitment was so close, but was incredibly excited!

You know, I really don't know how you people that had really spread out recruitments did it! I thought I was going to die just having to wait 12 hours to get my invites back, I can't imagine 5 days!

I can't wait for the next update!

Great update! Can't wait to hear more. :)

A couple days after the first weekend of Recruitment, our floor had our last meeting with Janet and Jessica. To celebrate the final meeting, Janet and Jessica brought stuff for root beer floats. After having some girl talk time, we went over what we were all wearing for the last two rounds this weekend. Janet and Jessica also let us know what to expect on Bid Day on Sunday. They told us that we had to be in our rooms, with our doors shut, at 1:00pm on Sunday afternoon. They said if we got a bid, we would go to the field house at about 3:00pm and we should wear layers, since we'd get tshirts when we got there. Then we finalized times for cuts, times for the rounds on the weekend, and Janet and Jessica gave us a chance to guess what chapters they were in. The group decided Janet was a Theta almost immediately. We couldn't quite decide what Jessica was.

The next day marked cuts. I sat in my room, with the door closed, for a while before I heard Janet and Jessica's knock. I opened the door and they both stood there with a card, grinning. They told me I had to cut one chapter and that I just had to cross off the one I didn't want to return to. I was excited to find out I had been invited to all four parties for Sisterhood on Friday night. After thinking for a moment, I crossed off the chapter I chose to cut--Fiyero.

I closed the door again, feeling good about the coming weekend.

I know you just did, but update again soon:p

Congratulations on being asked back to all four! It's so nice when the ball is in your court.

I'm glad you guys are enjoying reading this!

Friday night finally arrived. Fortunately, Sisterhood round was scheduled to start a couple hours later than Open House had a week before, so band didn't conflict this time and I had plenty of time to get back to my room and get ready for the round. I got dressed in the outfit I had picked out--a black skirt, nice button-up blouse, and some nice black shoes--and did my hair up as best I could (I'm rather challenged in the hair-styling department) and put on some make-up. It came time for our floor to leave for the student union again with Janet and Jessica. All the PNMs and Rho Chi's looked great, and while we were waiting for our assignments in the student union, there were a bunch of people who walked by and stared. We all got quite a bit of amusement out of it. We finally left for the rounds. These rounds are the ones I don't remember quite so much about, and I don't know why. I remember snippets, and the more "unique" stuff that was done, but the specifics are kind of missing.

Galinda--My first party of the night. This one was in the Pharmacy building. The theme was a movie theme. We had popcorn and after settling down a bit (after looking at pictures hanging on the walls), we all sat down to watch a movie slideshow of their chapter. I enjoyed seeing it and noticed that I was even more excited for Bid Day and getting the chance to become a member of one of these chapters. Again, I was paired with a sister I felt I reallly connected with.

Elphaba--The second party of the night at the Business building. I was paired with a sister I liked and we had a good conversation. Like the Galindas' party, we saw pictures decorating the walls and we also watched a movie slideshow of the chapter's times together. Overall, I had a good time.

Nessarose--The final party of the night. I don't know why I always ended up as Nessarose for the last party each night, but I guess it was just one of those great ironies of Recruitment. This one was also in the Business building and had a Wizard of Oz theme (one half of the room had old black and white pictures, the other half had current pictures in color, and there was a cardboard rainbow joining the two together). I was paired again with the sister from my section in marching band. We had a good time talking, and we ended up in a group of sisters. Then we saw another movie slideshow, the sisters sang a song, we (the PNMs) all wrote down a wish on a piece of paper. We tied the papers to balloons, walked outside, and set them loose.

At the end of the night, I was a little stressed. I didn't know what chapter I'd cut the next day before Preference. I liked all three of them, but I could only go to two Preference parties at most. But, I was really looking forward to the next night's round, so I tried not to dwell on it too much.

Hmm, sounds like Elphaba made the least good impression. I'm sure it will work out in the end. ;)

*bump* more! :p

Saturday finally arrived. It was a football Saturday, so I had early morning rehearsal, which meant I would be late for cuts. Jessica said that she would wait for me to get back. As soon as practice was over, I jogged back to my dorm. Jessica met me at my room and asked me if she could come in. We walked inside, she closed the door, and she told me I had only been invited back to one chapter for Preference--Nessarose. While I was happy I had been invited back and relieved that I didn't have to make a choice for a cut, I was rather sad that only one chapter wanted me at their Preference. Jessica advised that I still keep an open mind about the other chapters, because I would get a chance to rank all four anyway after the party tonight. She said even though I was only going to one Preference didn't mean that my chances were gone for any of the other chapters.

After a football game, a hurried shower, and a changing of clothes into a black dress, it was time for Preference. Our floor met Janet and Jessica at the end of the floor, forced one of the PNMs' boyfriends to take a group picture of us (as we explained..."when girls get dressed up, we have to take pictures"). We made our way to the student union again. Nessarose's party was taking place in the second floor ballroom, and I was going to second round with all the others who had only been invited back to Nessarose (or one party). Therefore, we spent the whole first hour of the night sitting in a couch area of the student union outside the cafeteria with a couple Rho Chi's. Finally, it was time for our round. We lined up alphabetically and headed up the stairs.

We were introduced one by one by one of the sisters, and we were each escorted over to the tables by a different sister. When my name was called, I saw the sister from my section walking over to me. She lead me over to another table and we stood until the sisters sang a song and then we sat down. At the table was the two of us and the English major sister I had met at Open House. We had a really nice conversation and snacked on desert and then everyone was instructed to go stand in a circle. They performed a small ceremony and then we were escorted back out of the ballroom. The hour seemed to have gone by really fast.

Downstairs, we had to line up outside the closed doors of the activities room. We were let in in small groups, assigned seats at various tables, and were handed a card to list the chapters in our preferred order. After thinking for a really long time, I finally wrote the chapters down in my order from most want to least want--

Nessarose
Galinda
Elphaba
Fiyero

I felt pretty good with my list, signed it, and handed it in. On the way back to my dorm room I started feeling a sudden mix of excitement and nerves. What if Nessarose decided they didn't really want me that much after all? What if the Galinda and Elphaba both kept their minds made up that they didn't want me either? What if I only ended up with a bid from Fiyero--whom I hadn't clicked with at all, but they did invite me back to Sisterhood? What if I didn't get a bid from anywhere? I was pretty sure that with all these emotions and thoughts and fears rushing through my head, I wouldn't sleep very well that night. In case you're wondering...I didn't.

HA!

So excited for Bid day!!!!

Go Nessarose!!!

I had a huge problem with staying asleep once I had woken up early on Sunday morning. I kept myself occupied at my computer as long as possible, but that only lasted a little while. Eventually, I got dressed and wandered across the hall to my friend's room (we're acutally roommates now, and became roommates only a couple months after Recruitment...but I digress...). After bothering her for a bit, she finally gave in and went with me to Sunday brunch. I couldn't eat very much, because I was really nervous for the day's events. By the time I got back to my room, it was just about 1:00, which was when Janet and Jessica had told us to all be in our rooms with the doors closed. They had told us that they might not be on our floor at exactly 1:00, but that was the time they had to meet to pick up the bids, so we needed to be ready by then.

I sat at my computer for a while and called one of my high school friends to chat for a bit. Finally, a bit before 1:30, I started hearing screaming throughout the dorm. I knew this meant that on one of the three floors of my dorm some Rho Chi's had just delivered a bid to someone. I waited with baited breath. Not long after 1:30 the one sound I had been most looking forward to finally came--a knock on my door. I hurried to the door, opened it, and found myself standing face-to-face with Janet and Jessica, both smiling. They handed me an envelope. I held my breath and opened it. I pulled out a small card and (I'm not going to lie) I squealed. I had just recieved a bid from.....



















Nessarose!

Also known as....




















Alpha Xi Delta!


Jessica grinned at me and asked if I wanted to accept my bid. I said yes and she told me that the floor would be heading over to the field house to meet up with our new sororities in a couple hours. After a little while in my room alone, I got tired of waiting, so I went out in the hall--all the other PNMs from my floor, as well as our Rho Chi's, were all sitting in the hall talking, so I joined them.

It was finallly time to go over to the field house. All the PNMs that got bids and all the Rho Chi's stood out in the hallway of the sports center. All the sororities were inside. After a bit, we were finally told to go inside, line up in front of our new sisters, and then on the count of three, we would all run over to our new sororities. I went in and found the Alpha Xi's standing together, and I joined my new pledge sisters as we lined up in front of the cheering sorority. When the head Rho Chi said, we all ran to each other. I was welcomed into the sorority by the sister from my section--she gave me my bid day shirt, a gift bag, and a balloon and we took a LOT of pictures. The other English major sister tackled me. We caravanned back to the house and spent a memorable afternoon hanging out, playing ice breaker games, and just enjoying the day.

The English major sister--her name's Liz--eventually became my Big.

Nessarose--Alpha Xi Delta
Galinda--Delta Zeta
Elphaba--Zeta Tau Alpha
Fiyero--Kappa Alpha Theta

It turned out Janet was a Theta, as we had guessed...Jessica ended up being a DZ.

I hope you guys enjoyed reading my story! :D

YAY! Alpha Xi Delta!

I am so happy for you, congrats!
 

I love Alpha Xi Delta and chill quill! I liked this one as well. Great you got to be in so a great sorority and with so many band friends. That is great, what a great fit! Congrats. LOL

yea for ONU greeks!!!!! And thanks to Violet for finding this for me!

I laughed when I saw your code- I used a Wicked code when I wrote my story too! I also joined my Nessarose. :)

Congratulations!