Retro Rush Flashback! Board Game Edition
 

I rushed seventeen years ago, but it seems like yesterday. And while so many things have changed, there are a few that haven't. I've so enjoyed reading the stories of the young women going through recruitment today, I thought I'd share my own, complete with happily ever after.

Thanks for indulging me. My story will be told in parts and should begin...

Shortly.

Back in the year 1993, a year when many of this year’s PNM Class were either born, or hanging out in their Pack n Plays drooling, there was a young woman named Rushee McGee (name changed to protect the innocent).

She decided, at the urging of her parents, to go through Rush (because that’s what it was called) at her new, huge University located in the hills of the southland in her home state.

Here is what you need to know about Rushee. She was entering college with some credits, but was still a Freshman. Her HS GPA was in the mid 3.0s, she had lots of activities, and she was generally friendly – but she was also inclined to keeping to herself and was anxious about meeting new people. Her parents though Rush might bring her out to make friends. She was very determined to get into a very competitive major at her school, so she wanted to make sure she had good grades.

You should also know that Rushee loved playing board games, so she called each house by the name of a game. Only the houses relevant to her story are listed here, so not all houses on her campus are represented in this story.

The houses were:

Clue
Life
Scrabble
Checkers
Chess
Sorry
Pictionary
Monopoly
Risk
Boggle
Parcheesi
Battleship

Rushee hadn’t had much exposure to Greek Life. Her sister was a Scrabble at a different school, which she believed probably helped her. Her mother had not been in a sorority – she had gone to a 4 year Nursing school, which she had loved – and her classmates were as close as sisters, but this fact wasn’t going to help her during rush. Rushee knew a woman whom she admired that had been a Clue, but she also knew that the Clue house at Southland U was allegedly girls with “Old Money”.

So, with one legacy, one rec and some new clothes for the parties, Rushee moved into her dorm. There, she met her new roommate, Silly Oldschool. Silly was a quadruple legacy at the Risk house, and that’s where she seemed destined to pledge. Silly had opinions about the “good” houses and the ones that weren’t. Rushee didn’t set much store by Silly’s opinion, and decided that if she pledged a house, it wouldn’t be the same one as Silly.

What she really believed going into rush is that she would do it to meet people, and probably wouldn’t pledge anywhere. She repeated this mantra (to herself) often.

Coming soon...Round One.

This sounds good!

Indeed!!!

Oooooo!
________

I think this may be my favorite opening to a recruitment story... ever. Please continue!

Round One

There isn’t much you need to know about Round One. Rushee met her Rho Chi. She met her Rush Group. Parties were held. She wasn’t expecting the singing at each house and that startled her. Water was offered, accepted. One house bent the rules and served Clearly Canadian instead of tap water. For those of you who don't know what Clearly Canadian is, it was a popular flavored sparkly water back in the 90s. After 2 days of tap water, it was like candy. The next year, they cracked down on all houses.

Rushee tried to make a good impression, but probably came off as intense; she asked about grades and studying at a few houses, which didn’t prove to be a popular topic. Word started to spread about which the “best” houses were – and they ended up being the ones she liked least. Still, Rushee had always marched to the beat of a different drum and she didn’t worry.

There were only three houses Rushee simply didn’t like. Parcheesi, where her hostess left her standing alone for five minutes (which made Rushee feel pretty lame). Boggle, where she didn’t seem to connect with anyone. And then, Silly’s beloved Risk, where the people she talked to appeared to be scanning the room for someone more interesting to talk to.

There were several houses Rushee really enjoyed – Pictionary, Monopoly, and of course, Clue. She liked the women at Scrabble, where she was a legacy, but didn’t think it was a great fit for her.

At Battleship and at Life, Rushee really connected with her hostesses – they listened to her, answered her questions and seem glad to meet her.

After two water-logged days, Rushee ranked her choices. She had visited eighteen houses – the next round would dwindle her down to twelve.

Back in those days, you just turned in a list on a scantron (do they still use those?) numbered 1-18 and went home for the day.

Stay Tuned!

Even though they aren't Eurogames, I'm loving the theme! The story is fun (& easy to follow) so I'm game :D

I'm enjoying this too! I'm trying to figure out if I could remember enough details to make a 1984 rush story interesting.

First - thank you all for your support and for indulging me on this nostalgic post! :)

But let's get down to business, shall we?


Round Two:
On the morning of Round Two, Rushee headed to meet her Rho Chi to see what the day would bring. Her sheet came back with eight parties. Rushee thought this was pretty good.


Back in 1993, Rushee had more self-esteem than any girl really needed, so the fact that more than half the houses on campus cut her didn't even occur to her. She was just thrilled that eight houses, all ones she had ranked high, had invited her to their houses.


But Rushee's Rho Chi hadn't been trained to deal with happy, self-confident Freshman, so she came to check in with Rushee. She asked if Rushee was OK, and was surprised when Rushee said, “This is great! I don’t have to go back to any of the houses I didn’t like!”

Rho Chi’s jaw dropped and her eyebrows went up. :eek: She went off to comfort a girl with frosty blue eyeshadow and a tight perm who was devastated that she wasn’t hitting 12 parties.

Since Rushee didn't have a full schedule, she had a few hours before she had to be ready for her first party. Rushee saw this as an opportunity to rest up.

Here was Rushee’s party list:
Checkers
Chess
Sorry
Life
Pictionary
Clue
Scrabble
Monopoly

Rushee had been cut from only one house that surprised her – Battleship.
Still, her top picks – Clue, Life, Checkers and Monopoly were on the list.
Round two was skits, which was right up Rushee’s alley. Her Rho Chi had told the group to expect refreshments and lots of fun skits and singing.
She really enjoyed the Clue house again – and thought that she would be a good fit there – Old Money or no.


Checkers and Chess had really nice members and seemed to be very attentive to her.

Rushee was surprised that Scrabble had invited her back, but understood that was a courtesy to her sister as much as anything. She loved their skit, thought they were very fun, but again – didn’t see herself there. She was pretty sure they didn't see her there, either. But Scrabble was a "good" house, so Rushee just decided to be herself and let the day play out.

At the Monopoly house, Rushee saw a few girls who had graduated frrom her High School, and said hello to them. They seemed glad to see her and she really liked their skit.

The sisters of Pictionary sang and were very friendly. This wasn’t Rushee’s top choice, but she liked them a lot. They seemed friendly and accessible.

Next to Clue, Life was Rushee’s favorite house, and she was very nervous there – her hostess was friendly. Rushee ended up making a joke about serving the live goldfish they used as table decorations as dinner and the hostess looked confused. Rushee felt pretty sure they wouldn’t ask her back after that.

Sorry had a fun skit but Rushee didn’t seem to connect with anyone. She wouldn’t mind going back, but decided they weren’t at the top of her list.

She ranked Clue, Life and Monopoly at the top. Since she would lose two houses going into round three, she put Scrabble and Sorry at the bottom.

Not that it matters, but most of the houses served Coca-Cola in the little glass bottles, and Rushee really liked that. Eating a slab of cheesecake at 9AM and a bag of popcorn at 10:30 AM …not so much.
(More soon... we'll also check in on Rushee's Roommate - Silly Oldschool)

Why oh why can't we keep that confidence? I knew at 18 that I could do or be anything I wanted. Period. I guess getting smacked down by life once or twice does take its toll.

I wish I knew. If I could bottle the confidence I had back then and take a dose of it every morning... I could take on the world!

What, no Pente?

I'm loving this rush story -- great writing, great attitude. How can we bottle it up so that it's there when we are older and need it ???

The only games I ever play are Life, Monopoly, and Sorry. My husband likes Scrabble though and plays it at his parent's home. Rush is like playing a game -- you have to play to see who wins and where you end up on the board.
Play On!:)

I haven't thought of Clearly Canadian in ages!!