Quote:
Originally Posted by ClassicBeauty
I'm going to try to keep an open mind about the colonizing sorority. It sounds really exciting, but I'm afraid if I drop out of formal rush or something, that I wont experience a true sorority with the big/lil and other activities.
I think just reading one story where this one girl prepared all summer but got heavily cut the first day and eventually dropped out. I'll just try to not think about it much.
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Definitely keep an open mind about the colonizing sorority. Don't get me wrong-- there are things you do miss out on, but I think there are other experiences that you only get as a charter member that make up for it. For instance, it's amazing looking at what my chapter does now and realizing how big of a hand I had in it. The fuss that Panhellenic and the entire Greek community makes over you is amazing. I still have pictures of huge signs displayed outside of houses welcoming us.
The sorority definitely makes a huge fuss as well. Our chapter received presents from chapters and alumnae associations all over the country. Our initiation was gigantic! Not only were we a big chapter from the beginning, we had members of five other chapters at our initiation and pretty much all the fraternity council. I got to meet the then-president of Kappa. I really feel like I got a much better veiw of the fraternity as a whole than most new members or actives get.
We also got to make a lot of the decisions really impacting our chapter. Most sororities have traditions. We got to create traditions to follow our chapter through the years. All in all, it was a great experience. Definitely go through formal recruitment and think about all the other availible chapters, but definitely don't rule out the colonizing chapter. Honestly, in a lot of ways I'm really glad I had the active experience I did and wouldn't change it for the world.
Don't let formal recruitment stress you out too much. Try to take a deep breath and keep things in perspective. Go in prepared, yes, but I personally think it's best not to look at it as I must do this or I will die. You'll just stress yourself out. As someone who joined her chapter later in college, I can tell you that being greek is not the only way to enjoy college. Even if the worst happens, you will recover, get involved in other things, and enjoy life.
The upside of your situation is that even if formal recruitment does not go as well as hoped, there still is that new chapter to consider, too.
Good luck with recruitment and keep us updated.