My recruitment story...maybe?
 

Ok, so let's start with last summer... I took classes at my school and was loving it. I knew I was going to go greek...I went to a few info sessions over the summer, and one at the beginning of fall semester. The deadline for recruitment registration was looming ahead though, and I began to get worried that I would not be able to handle pledging, let alone the recruitment process at my school which is about 2 weeks long. I also began to worry that I would not be able to balance working, classes, and a long-distance relationship all as a freshman...
and unfortunately, I chickened out and did not register for fall recruitment.

I saw a lot of my classmates going through recruitment and how excited they all were, but I also saw them climbing the giant hill between the residence halls the sororities are housed in in heels and dresses and the wind whipping their hair...and I was torn. Half glad I didn't put myself through the extra stress, half upset that they were having fun without me and I missed out on an opportunity I had wanted for a very long time.

I ended up remembering hearing about a sorority that did not require you live in residence halls, and I remembered meeting them at the involvement fair. They were great girls, but I couldnt remember anything but the first letter of their org. and their colors. My roommate and I flipped through the "Go GreeK' booklet we had received over and over and over but we couldn't find this organization.

Then one night, by chance, my roommate came home from a club meeting saying she met a girl in the sorority I was looking for and there was a rush/info event in 5 minutes...I sprinted in a sweats and a tshirt just because I was afraid I wouldnt make it if I took time to change. When I got there, there were two sororities having events! I feel like I made a blank choice at which one to go into, considering nothing at all.

The girls I met at the sorority I choose were great and I felt like I really hit it off enough to go to their other rush events. I learned that they are a service sorority, not required to live on campus at all, and were very involved in the community. They were really great girls.

To make a long story short, I ended up pledging this sorority because I wanted very badly to be in a sorority without knowing much about it. I went to the meetings, met the girls, and did some 'pledge' (though they don't call them that but I'm trying not to give them away)

All the time I was having an okay time but I really felt like I was going through the motions. I never really bonded with my pledge class, maybe a few people here or there but my pledge class was huge (47 girls I think by the end) and I wasn't finding my fit.

Big-Little Week came around and OF course I was so excited, who isn't? And it turns out that I LOVE my big. She is fantastic, and was my 'buddy' at my introduction to pledging ceremony. It was a good day when I found out who she was and I thought things were finally falling into place.

I ended up realizing over the next semester though that even though I liked the girls, I felt like this was more of a club for me and I wasn't feeling the sisterhood that I had hoped to gain. And I was still wishing I had gone through panhellenic recruitment.

So here we are, and I am still wishing that I had done panhellenic recruitment last year, but at the same time glad I didn't. I am torn between the two, but I don't want to give up my service sorority, let's call them Daisies, for a social sorority.
So, I have made the decision that I will be doing recruitment with the intent of keeping my social sorority as well. Since we are not panhel. affiliated, the only problem I'm worried about is balancing them.
This so this is where my story starts, and my "maybe" in the thread title comes in. I still have not fully decided to register. I will let you know. But I am leaning towards trying to do both (with some encouragement maybe ;-) from some of you who think I can do it)

Thannnkkkksss!
I'll let you know as soon as I register and as soon as my recruitment itself begins at the beginning of Sept. I just wanted to get my background story out there

Although I'm also only a PNM (!!!!! keep that in mind), I've read numerous posts on here from PNMs asking if they should rush or not, and the answer they always get from sorority sisters are JUST DO IT if you want to. No one is going to say "Yeah, you should definitely do it! You'll get a bid!" because 1. they don't know you 2. they don't know the NPC sororities at your campus or how they choose new members.

Just my two cents from what I've been reading on here. Please, if anyone disagrees with me that is actually in a sorority, correct me. I just wanted to post what I've seen as the most common response. Please let me know if I stepped out of line.

Moral of the story? Do it if you want. No one is going to say yes or no. Ultimately, it is YOUR DECISION. This is YOUR RECRUITMENT at YOUR COLLEGE.



[off my soapbox]

no, no, no you misunderstood me
i want to do recruitment.
i would like encouragement from anyone that has done 2 sororities (service and social) that it is possible! and encouragement that i can manage my time
i dont want anyone telling me yes you have to do panhel. or no dont do panhel....just 'good luck!'

Are there any members of the service sorority that are also in a panhellenic sorority? You may want to speak with them to see how they handle the balance.

There were many people in my sorority chapter that were in other groups, clubs, service organizations and professional sororities and fraternities. All learned to balance and prioritize.

There actually aren't any...
That's the other thing...the girls in the service sorority...some are open, but a lot of girls are very anti-panhel...
soo I'm going out on a limb here other than one other girl is going to do informal but she is not very dedicated to our service org

I think AngelPhiSig is in Gamma Sigma Sigma AND Phi Sigma Sigma, a service and social...try PMing her.

A lot of girls in my (social sorority) chapter are also involved in a service fraternity on campus! One of our girls is on our chapter council (a VP) and on the executive board for the service fraternity. So it is possible to do. It's all a matter of how much of a time commitment you're personally willing to make. Best of luck in making your decision!

While not the same, I am a member of both a professional fraternity and a panhellenic sorority. I will warn you that doing both takes a lot of time commitment, and I have to be super organized about how I spend my time. Balancing school (which should be #1 no matter what), my professional fraternity (I'm on the exec board so that's extra time), sigma kappa, plus trying to fit some fun in there sometimes can be enough to drive a girl crazy!

Is it worth it? For me I say yes, I wouldn't want my life to be any other way right now :)! So go for it if it's something you want! You can definitely do it if you really set your mind to it.

perfectinpurple is right. Two girls in my professional fraternity were also in a panhel sorority (one was a Sigma Kappa and the other a Theta). They balanced both and didn't seem like they were completely consumed, so it's possible.

I think it's like anything else. We had varsity athletes, band members and other very busy members in our sorority. Not all of their coaches were thrilled that they were in a sorority, but they did it--it's all about time management.

Good luck!

She was not in GSS until after she graduated so that would be different than this situation.

There are all degrees of service sororities and fraternities...some do function mainly as clubs (with all the members being OK with that) and some function practically like a social sorority and demand to be their members' main focus. It sounds like the group you are in is the latter.

Theoretically it is possible, but be aware that you might get the cold shoulder from the group you are in, and if you don't get into an NPC, you'll be kind of SOL.

Thanks for all the help so far...it's good to see other balancing things...
Here are my thoughts so far...
I am afraid at my school that any social sororities will not be thrilled about having a service sorority member...I mean there are some I think that won't care but some will and I don't want them if they can't accept me as I am...
As for my service org...Yeah I think I may get the cold shoulder from the older girls that are due to graduate soon, but a lot of the new girls are very open and that's who I am gonna be with for the next few years...and I think that someone needs to open this door so that other people realize it is an option and so that it will be more accepted.

Gamma Sig (my service org) is not very widely accepted on my campus because it does end up with a lot of bigger girls who got turned away from phc recruitment, and I think some of the older girls may be resentful towards social sororities because of that among other reasons. Even if these older girls are not totally happy about it... the last 2 pledge classes we have had are over 50 girls. They make up probably almost if not over half of the sorority's total right now... so my thought is, if they care about me as a person, they will just accept it, and if not then oh well.
I'm going to give it a shot

most sororities want their members to be involved in other things on campus besides their own chapter. in fact, in my sorority, some national awards require a large percentage of the chapter membership be involved in another campus organzation and a certain percentage of those to hold leadership positions in those orgs.

be sure to post your recruitment story for us to read in the recruitment stories forum. good luck!!