A Week in the life
 

I am most likely going to go through sorority recruitment at my school in the fall, and I was just wondering how much time every week pledges and active members spend doing something sorority-related and what they do every week. Such as monday- 3 hours at chapter, thursday- did something for philanthropy... you get the idea.

I'm starting to have a hard time buying you as an upcoming sophomore at a school in Birmingham, AL, that is as unknowledgeable about all things greek as your posts have indicated.

You've been at school all year, haven't you met anyone in a sorority that can give you some of this information firsthand that is specific to your school?

I have social anxiety disorder and I didn't make any friends my first year.

Yeah, you started off your other thread with that little nugget of info. And then you never visited the thread again. But you did come start another thread. Right-o.

Ah play nice now.

Boy arent we the critic today. lol Not knowledgeable about the school, sounds like a southern problem. Southern ideals have always differed from us Northerners esp during their little headache in the 1860s...doh!

Would someone please refer the poster, whom only has 11 posts, to what happens when the northerners and southerners cross paths.

Read my signature. It explains all.

I know what happens. We fight and we win...all over again. Then we plant the Union flag on southern soil, count up our losses, and impose our laws on them. ha ha ha ha!:D j/k

Whoa whoa, if you want to get technical and all, the South would whip ass in present day. But we're nice, we'll keep our nice Southern culture, and all is well.

I dont think so. If NORAD and our missle silos were in the South, then maybe, but considering they are not the ass whoop issue would be over in a matter of minutes for southerners. :D:p God bless NY and Ohio infantry units and CT and RI artillery units. Long live the 54th Massachusetts!

Hm...well lets see, have fun in the north with no oil. so you're planes and infantry aren't going to get very far sorry. and want to tap into a strategic oil reserve? oh sorry we have all those too.

You can't keep using the SAD card as a cop out.

Seriously, I hope you read the advice given to you in the other thread. Seek medical attention if you have to. Recruitment's one thing, but getting help to improve your life is what's most important and valuable.

Thats not true at all. We have oil refineries in Cali, Oregon, Washington State, and we have the Alaska Pipeline (which has more oil then any other of these states). We also have oil companies in Canada. We also have the largest amount of bio and alternative fuel depots as well in the North! Fuel, men, and material are unlimited here as they were in the 1860's! LOL j/k:D

Nathan is too arrogant to realize anything beyond his tiny universe. I crack up when he acuses me of being Allona and his aliases.

Now, back to the SAD story. I agree with Nittany, the OP has been on campus for an entire year and should know basically how much time a sorority will take. If she doesn't, she isn't utilizing her resources. SAD or not, living in a bubble won't help her chances during recruitment.

Benzgirl has a conspiracy going around here.

Yes sir, and I bring an army of sisters with me. Including those you continue to badger on GC. Now, let's get back on topic.

Getting back on topic...

Before I post more, please realize that I'm usually the Susie Sunshine who will tell you anything you need to know about going greek. Ask the others, if you don't believe me.

You say that you're going to be a sophmore a small college in Alabama. If so, you must remember what last year was like, and have an idea that sorority is a lot more than a club where you can come and go as you please. You will have new member meetings, new member projects, new member quizzes and tests, and you will need to prove that you're an asset to the chapter in many ways, including socially, intellectually, philanthropically and more.

Before you consider spending the time and money on Recruitment, do yourself a favor, and talk to the doctor you see concerning your disorder. He or she can advise you better on whether this will help or hurt your health than every one of us on Greek Chat.

Good luck with your future.

Where did she say "University of Alabama"? Her first post (in the other thread) said "small college with a large Greek population" which, to me, counts out Alabama and the rest of the SEC.

ETA: To the OP, when I was a collegiate member, there was something on the calendar almost every day of the week. There was a big difference in what was actually mandatory and what was optional. We were on a point system; in order to go to social events, you had to have a certain number of points from attending events. It all really depends on how much you're willing to put in. However, things might be different at your campus.

MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY. Although I can think of 1-2 schools in Alabama that might fit the bill.

I think some of you are seriously overreacting. People who grew up in Birmingham CAN go to school in other states.

ETA: She has also said nothing, in my opinion, that would indicate she is not already getting treatment for her SAD, which is what everyone is harping about.

wow, out of like 19 replies THREE people actually tried to answer my question... I am seeing a personal counselor for my disorder and may begin taking medication soon. I am not at an SEC school. I started a new thread because I was hoping to get different type of feedback. I want to know what sororities/Greek life is all about. I spent my first year completely out of the social scene at my school, partly because I have SAD but partly because I live in the same city as my school so I spent most of my time at home and my boyfriend's house. I know it is my fault that I don't have any friends to help me out with this, I was just wondering what sororities, in general, spend their time doing.

That's actually not all that bad...considering. A few baseless accusations, a North vs South debate, and three actual responses is pretty much par for the course on Greekchat. ;)

I've read both of your threads and I hope I can help a bit. As someone who also has social anxiety (as well as some other "fun" things) your situation sounds very familiar to me. It makes perfect sense to me that you don't yet know much about sororities and how they work.

As honeychile mentioned, when you're a New Member of a sorority you'll have weekly meetings with your pledge educator as well as projects, parties, possibly a retreat, etc. If the sororities are housed, you will more than likely have dinner at the house on the nights that the sisters have their meetings. You might also have required study hours. It will be the most intense and time consuming at the beginning. Depending on the sorority, your New Member period will last about 6 weeks.

Philanthropy projects will not be done on a weekly basis. Again, depending on the sorority, there might be one big event once a year or a number of smaller events throughout the year. You'll also be expected to show up for a number of philanthropy events put on by the other sororities and fraternities on campus.

Once you've been initiated, there will be weekly meetings (usually held on Monday nights) which could last about 2 to 3 hours depending on what's going on. Socials/mixers/exchanges (or whatever they call them on your campus) with a fraternity might happen every other week or every 3 weeks. Sometimes these are mandatory. (They used to be back in my day.)

There will be times during the school year when you can expect to spend a considerable amount of time with your sorority. One of those will be during Recruitment. This could be a full week of preparations beforehand in addition to the actual week of Recruitment which doesn't end when the parties do. Meetings held afterwards when you're doing Membership Selection can and often do last until the wee hours of the morning.

Other busy times will be Homecoming and Greek Week when you'll be busy getting to know the members of the fraternity with which you're paired, building floats, working on talent shows or whatever. Most events will be mandatory.

A typical week is hard to define. Some weeks you might only have dinner and chapter meeting on Monday and nothing else the rest of the week. Most weeks will be a bit more busy. For example it might be dinner and meeting on Monday for 3 hours, Wednesday night ice-skating with the pledges, Friday night mixer with XYZ fraternity, Saturday sisterhood retreat all day. It will vary.

All in all, it's busy but doable. Many members of sororities have no problem being very active while maintaining extremely high GPAs. Academics are not given the short end of the stick. On the contrary, it will be expected of you to maintain high grades. Failure to do so can lead to academic probation, meaning you will not be in good standing with the sorority.

Being in a sorority can be a lot of work but it will be an experience unlike any other. It's a great opportunity for personal growth. I can't say that someone with SAD will have the easiest time with all of it. It will take a lot of effort on your part. The good thing is that if you find a sorority where you feel comfortable you'll end up gaining a large support group that will care about you and understand your difficulties. I highly recommend that you get yourself prepared and give Recruitment a try. I can't imagine what my college years would have been like without my sorority.

As for treating your condition, (I think you mentioned medications in your other thread) please feel free to PM me. I have an excellent resource for you where you can learn about the different medications used as well as support groups to help you get through the tough times.

I wish you all the best. :)

<hijack>

Leslie Anne, I love your signature. After Loyola, I think I should get myself a similar one.

</hijack>

To the OP, I know that you're kind of trying to get a general picture here, but let me say that "So, tell me what a typical week is like for you in your sorority. What kinds of things do you do together?" is a GREAT conversation starter during recruitment. It'll give the woman rushing you a chance to tell you about what sets her house apart from the others. Plus, she'll likely start blabbing for several minutes, which will give you a chance to get more comfortable in your surroundings during the party.

Hilarious! And true.