Gosh, that was me. Rushee from Hell. I was a horrible rushee, I am ashamed to say.
I grew up about 20 minutes from where I went to college so I spent a lot of my junior and senior years of high school going to parties and bars (shhh, don't tell my mom
) there. I had done lots of recon work so by the start of my freshman year I already knew that I either wanted to be a Delta Zeta or a Chi Omega. The sisters I had met were all gorgeous, they seemed really nice and the fraternity guys were falling all over them. Yes, looking back, that seems to be pretty flimsy criteria to base a lifelong decision on and yes, I was stupid to do that! But I was 18 and I didn't have all my buddies at GreekChat to help out!!! Noooo, I just had Pooch the SAE brother telling me "Oh man, the DZ's are SO HOT" lol
Anyhoo....
Rush started and I got invited back to all 12 sororities and I cut all but DZ, Chi-O and Tri-Delt (my heart was set on the first two, but I was assured that Tri-Delt was one of the big three so I didn't want to put all my eggs in one basket, or two baskets as it turns out) I was so awful; I didn't even pretend to be interested at the other 9 houses. I'm not even sure why I got invited back by them, if I'd been a sister, I would have cut my rude a$$ after the first round.
I kept going back to DZ, XO and DDD until it was preference parties round and then I went to DZ and XO parties. They both rushed me really hard and I loved both places and knew that, socially, I couldn't go wrong with either one. But the preference ceremony really touched me at DZ and I found myself getting teary eyed there. It was my first inkling that maybe there really IS something to this sisterhood thing beyond going to parties together and borrowing each other's fabulous clothes.
So I put DZ first and Chi-O second and the next day I opened my envelope and read that I was cordially invited to join the sisterhood of Delta Zeta
I was the happiest of happy campers! I looked around at my pledge sisters, a uniform group with pretty faces, adorable figures and great clothes and thought "Let the fun begin!"
Then reality set in. I had a pledge mom who expected me to actually memorize things like our founders, our creed, the greek alphabet, etc. We had study hours for pete's sake; what was THAT all about??? I just wanted to party with all the cute guys who were suddenly panting after me! Yes, I was an obnoxious pledge
We all were, I guess. We were just thinking about our letters, not the commitment behind them.
Our Founders Day is in October and my first Founders Day is what helped to open my eyes as to the true meaning of being in a sorority. Alumnae came from all over to celebrate with us, including an 80 year old sister who had been president of our chapter in 1927! Talking to these women and watching them interact with one another, watching everyone during the ceremony, it helped me realize that there was so much more to Delta Zeta than I had been getting from it. I still don't know exactly how it happened, but I grew up that day and from then on, I resolved to be the best pledge/sister I could be, and to always be a credit to my sorority. Luckily, my pledge sisters also took the opportunity to shape up, too! Most of us eventually held Executive Board or Panhel positions.
The only thing I still regret, is what an utter witch I was during rush. When I became active with Panhel, and even in my classes and on the newspaper staff I had the opportunity to actually get to know some of the girls I had shunned during rush. And know what? They were nice girls. Really, really nice, some of them. Either they didn't remember me from rush or they were too classy to say "hey you stuck up freak, don't even THINK of talking to me NOW". Either way, that was a large dose of humility for me.
I wouldn't recommend that anyone go through rush with the attitude I did. First of all, I acted like a horse's behind and second of all, I could very easily have landed myself in a house that was all show and no true sisterhood. I was very, very,
very, lucky that the house I thought I wanted ended up being where I truly belonged. I mean, it's been 15 years since I initiated and I am as devoted to my sorority as I've ever been. So I guess things worked out in spite of myself!
So, that's my rush story, ugly but true!