[TrojanWoman]

Okay . . . so I am going to take a great idea from some of the other ladies on this site and post my “current life self” in another color. The rest of the impressions of the houses were written in my journal.

Today was the first day of rush and I swear it was 110 degrees outside. I never wear make-up, in fact my mom had to take me to the mall the summer before college started and buy me a make-up lesson. Don’t forget that I was pretty big into sports and kind of a tomboy. So Kate, Megan, and I all met in Kate’s room to get ready for the big day. It seemed like everyone in our dorm was rushing. It was a co-ed dorm so all of the boys were already over at the fraternity houses. After Kate did my make-up (and then I took about half of it off) we headed out to meet our Rho Chis. The groups were alphabetical so we were all in different rush groups. They were also rather big because there were more than 350 girls rushing. In retrospect, it was a good thing we were split up because we did get a chance to form our own opinions.

The first day my group went to 6 houses and the second day we went to three. (Who thought of that idea and why couldn’t it have been more even so I wasn’t so wiped out after the first really long day?) I was feeling pretty confident today because my high school boyfriend had called me last night to let me know that Carson Palmer, Mike Williams, and Matt Leinart were really excited to meet me after hearing about me from him, and according to him these were “really good places to be.” Um . . . can you say dirty rushing??? So . . .off to the houses.

Steve Smith: I was so taken aback when the entire sorority appeared in the doorway and started yelling/singing a chant at us. My rho chi had kind of prepared me for this, but I couldn’t help but laugh. Remember, I had no previous Greek experience. The girls seemed nice but the conversation was stilted. I didn’t really like how pastel everything was in the house. I didn’t feel like I had a lot in common with the girls I met here.

Carson Palmer: I was really excited to go to this house as a friend of mine from high school was a member here and my boyfriend had said they already liked me. Well, the house was beautiful, the girls were beautiful and everybody I met either seemed to be from my area or had played soccer. I thought this was a huge coincidence at the time. Now I know that they had just thoroughly read me rush app!I left the house knowing that it would be one of my top picks for the next round.

Dwayne Jarret: This party was a little awkward because the sorority house was getting redone, so we couldn’t go in the front door. Almost the whole party was spent talking about the renovations and how amazing it would be. I felt like the actives were trying to compensate for the mess of the house but not really trying to get to know me. The girls were all very nice though.

Frostee Rucker: There was also a girl that I was friends with from high school in this house. However, my boyfriend had told me that “this wasn’t a top tier house” and that he “didn’t think I belonged there.” This first party I got to talk to a lot of really nice girls, including my friend that I had known since elementary school. All of the girls seemed really genuine and excited to meet me. I felt pretty comfortable there and left feeling confused about what I should do about ranking them the next day. Unfortunately for this group of women, I really did let what others said to me get in my head.

Mike Williams: I was very excited to finally go to this house and mentally perked myself up, as I was starting to get tired. My boyfriend had already let me know they were interested AND one of my very good friends from soccer/high school was in this house. The girls were dressed beautifully, and they all seemed so friendly. This was one of the only parties where the talking was done standing up and it seemed much easier to mingle with many actives. I met the President and the Rush Chair and really felt like this was a place I could call “home” at the end of this crazy experience.

Reggie Bush: It was the end of the day and I was SO exhausted. It was dark and starting to cool off and I just wanted the party to be over. The girls seemed nice but I did not have anything in common with the women I met. It seemed like they were tired as well.

That was the end of day 1 . . . but it would all start over again the next evening.

For the 2nd day of conversation days, I again got ready with Megan and Kate. We helped pick each others outfits and talked about places we liked and disliked. They had both gone to Matt Leinart and Troy Polumalu yesterday and were excited to hear my opinions because they really liked both of these houses. So far we were pretty much in agreement about the order we would rank the houses that we had already seen but we were waiting for more detailed talk. Basically, we were all feeling positive at this point. Off to the houses.

Troy Polumalu: I was excited for this house, because again, there were a number of girls from my high school there, none that were close friends though. The girls were beautiful. Then things went downhill. I sat with a girl in the front room who wouldn’t even look me in the eye while talking. She asked me what my father did for a living, which really bothered me. Only house that this happened at. I talked with this girl for almost the whole time and only talked to one other girl at the end. This was as compared to the other houses that I talked to 3 or 4 girls. I left here feeling very dejected because my boyfriend had told me they were a “top house” and Megan and Kate had both really liked them. However, I can say that I didn’t feel like this was somewhere I could see myself for the next four years.

John David Booty: This was the only house that had one active to every 2-3 rushees. I sat with 2 other rushees and the active seemed really nervous to talk to us. Didn’t get a very positive feeling.

Matt Leinart: So this day was starting to feel like a bust, but I knew I had to perk up because my boyfriend had said they were looking forward to me coming and they “were a top house.” I was very nervous and almost felt like it was my first party all over again. The girls were gorgeous and very friendly. I talked with a lot of girls, including the rush chair, and they all seemed really genuine.

Now it was time to meet with our Rho Chis and rank the houses 1-9. We could go back to up to 6 parties the next night, so that meant we were going to be dropping at least 3 houses. Megan, Kate, and I agreed to meet at the corner of sorority row so we could walk over together and discuss how we would rank. They were both really sad that I hadn’t enjoyed Troy Polumalu but they convinced me that I should still put them 4th on my list as they “were a really good house.” I was unconvinced but finally agreed with them. They had wanted to rank Frostee Rucker in the bottom three, but I had felt good there and wanted to give them another chance, so we agreed to put Steve Smith in the bottom three instead.

So at the end of Conversation Days, our rankings were

• Mike Williams
• Carson Palmer
• Matt Leinart
• Troy Polumalu
• Dwayne Jarret
• Frostee Rucker
• Steve Smith
• Reggie Bush
• John David Booty

That night my boyfriend called and let me know that he had heard I had “done really well” and that I shouldn’t be worried. This made me feel better after two long days and I headed to sleep to rest up for another crazy day.