re-rushing as a sophomore @ UF
 

I'm planning on re-rushing as a sophomore this year @ UF. Last year during rush I had to miss a rush party because of a mandatory work meeting (I didn't realize this was mandatory before I began rush). Even though I missed a party I ended up pref-ing at one house, but I just didn't feel like it was the house for me.

Will the house of the party I missed last year have me on some sort of black-list because I missed their party?

Will other houses not want to take me because I have been through the rush process before and they dropped me?

Seriously, you need to ask yourself what has changed that will make you, as a sophomore, more attractive to all the houses that dropped you as a freshman?

Thank you for the advice. I'm really excited to go through the recruitment process again.

THINGS THAT HAVE CHANGED SINCE LAST YEAR's RECRUITMENT:
-I will not miss a rush party this year
-I have brought up my GPA and gotten involved in intramural soccer
-also, I have been practicing recruitment conversations with my older brother who has been really supportive of me

I guess I just really want to belong to a sorority because my mother found lifelong friends in her sorority sisters. She was diagnosed with cancer two years ago and it was so touching to see all her sorority sisters cheering her up at the hospital, and how their friendship had withstood the test of time.

I saw in another thread someone was talking about being "too tan". Is that really an issue? I tan really easily so should I stay out of the sun before rush? Last year I didn't spray tan, but I did lay out before...but with my coloring I think it looks fine.

Do you think that I shouldn't mention my mom's cancer? She's just such a big part of my life I can't imagine meeting people and not talking about her. I mean, I don't get weepy or anything when I mention the cancer, she's in remission now and looking great!

naturally tan and fake tan are entirely different things.

if your mother's cancer and remission(hooray for that!!!wishes of continued good health to her) come up in the course of recruitment conversation, go with it. just realize that some people have not had a lot of experience dealing with grave illnesses and will not know what to say, which can make for awkward situations.

do you have recommendations for all the houses?

I'd stay out of the sun because I'm concerned about sunburns and skin damage, regardless of how it makes me look. My personal thing is to avoid tanning (real or fake) because I believe I look amazing the way I already am, even if there wasn't a health risk involved I wouldn't do it. I don't color my hair or wear colored contacts either because it just doesn't jive with my personality or how I want to present myself to the world.

I don't often mention the cancer that took my relatives as sometimes the emotions take over and I can't control it. I have only mentioned it in relation to why I wasn't in school or why I changed schools, and then move on with the conversation.

throw out the possibility of skin cancer and skin damage for a minute. uf15 is in florida, and lots of kids are tan. being tan doesn't look as out of place as other parts of the country, especially if she is prone to tan just from participating in outdoor activities. while i wouldn't go out of my way to get a tan, and i surely would not get a fake tan, a natural tan will not hurt her chances, as long as she doesn't look like the old lady i saw on the beach the other day, whose skin looked like leather.

That's why I said that it is my personal preference. I lived and worked outside the majority of last summer, I go outside a lot (rafting, hiking, camping, skiing, walking) and make a conscious effort to protect myself, and thus have no skin damage.

I have seen unfortunate incidents of people intending to tan then falling asleep outside (or overdoing it inside) and getting a burn which was uncomfortable and not very attractive, or self tanning that looked horrible and started to run or stained clothing. It may not "hurt" her chances but I'm the type of person to lower my risk and I'd rather not go through rush orange, bright red, streaking, or peeling; so therefore I'd just eliminate the issue all together.

It's an issue if you look like an Oompa Loompa. (I think that happens more with self tanners or spray tan.) You also don't want your skin to be dry or peeling. A little color is fine, but don't get so much that you totally have to change up your makeup and don't know what you're doing as far as that's concerned right before rush.

http://estb.msn.com/i/C4/307F5BA9444...6484F158C3.jpg

This picture is a good example of what not to do at rush, tan, clothing, and jewelry.

LOL!! heed this warning!

ITA with this post^^

Florida is a different and young people do tan. I have heard the comments time and time again with young active sisters - "come back with a tan" or "make sure you work on your tan for recruitment". You don't have to have one for recruitment, but many young women will have had their entire summer and probably a large amount will have a little glow from the sun. It has been this way for years whether it is good for you or not. Be safe and make good judgements is what I say!

If you really are opposed to laying out in the sun (I tan pretty easily, but see waaaay too many people my age forming wrinkles—and I'm 22!—so I usually rock an SPF30) but still want a tan, spray tanning is actually pretty easy. Make sure you're taking care of your skin before you do it. Get enough water, moisturize, exfoliate, etc. Half the time people turn orange or streak it's because their skin is too dry.

If I'm getting a spray tan from a machine, I will ONLY use the Mystic brand, and then their MyTan machines. Make sure you get the kind that goes on clear, because that bronzer stuff just looks nasty. Also, don't get sprayed right before your event if you're worried about being too tan. Go like two days before, just to ensure 1)you're used to it and 2)if it does come out orangey for some reason, it has time to fade. If you take care of your skin it should last about 10 days or so.

You could also always get someone to airbrush you; when a person is in control of the color thing you're less likely to become a tangerine.

Wow, good thing I live in an area with four seasons and am an alumna. No way in hell I'd get a tan for recruitment. Clothes and jewelry sure, but I'm not going to risk skin cancer or wrinkles, or chance a rash from the spray because my sisters tell me to. I find it so fascinating sororities have programming on body image (eating disorders for example) binge drinking, drug use, dating safety, risk management as a whole, but we completely ignore, or encourage/require from your story other actions that have health risks.

If you were allergic to spray tans, nobody would force you to get one. In fact, if you were opposed to getting a tan by any method, you wouldn't be forced to. I can't speak for other schools or other chapters, but our VP: Membership did include having a tan as part of our recruitment apparel; while this was the expectation it was more a part of the "whole picture" of looking your best. Most girls look their best with a healthy color, not pasty white skin. If girls in our chapter were naturally ivory-skinned (as some were!), they were not expected to have a "tan." Most girls in the South tan of their own accord anyway, whether at a tanning bed or just laying out. So it's not so much an encouragement to do something unhealthy, just to look your best for recruitment.