[kelcaopi]

Rush began on a Friday afternoon at 5. I didn’t get out of class until 3:30 so I was frantically trying to get ready. I was completely stressed out and just a ball of nerves because I hate running late for things and not feeling prepared. I still felt like I didn’t have a good grasp about what I had to do during rush and was nervous that I wouldn’t have anything to talk about. I’ve never been great at small talk so I was panicked that I wouldn’t be able to carry on a conversation and all the houses would wonder what hole I had just crawled out of. I was absolutely convinced that I would get cut from every house.

But I tried to suck it up and be friendly and bubbly and just make every effort to appear like I belonged in a sorority. I wore a cute Lilly skirt, a polo shirt, sandals and pearls.

My first house of the day was Bordeaux and I was excited to go there first. I had been warned about the singing but I was so unprepared for the chanting at the top of their lungs that I was like a deer in the headlights. The girl that picked me up was probably the bubbliest person I’ve ever talked to and she seemed genuinely interested in me. She asked me about 1000 questions so I never had to worry about awkward silences. She introduced me to a lot of people who just seemed to be hanging on my every word. I had never had anyone that interested in me before! I left loving this house.

Next was Lyon. Katie picked me up so I was happy to see a familiar face. We reminisced about high school and I asked her questions about the house. It went fine for about 15 minutes but then we just ran out of things to talk about. We made small talk but I felt pretty uncomfortable. Finally some more people came over and introduced themselves but the conversation didn’t get much better. I left feeling like I hadn’t made a very good impression.

Next was Marseille. I really enjoyed these girls. I met a girl who was captain of the equestrian team and I had been riding since I was 5 so we talked about horses and the team and shows. There were a few other riders in the house so immediately when we realized we had that in common she grabbed them and we all had a lot of fun talking. Overall I really liked this house and decided not to worry about what I had heard about them.

Finally I went to Giverny. I really didn’t know how to feel about this house and found myself scoping out the actives judging them on how they looked. I know that sounds bad but I was insecure and didn’t want to be labeled the nerdy girl. I thought overall they seemed cute so that made me feel a little better. The girl that picked me up had a really strong southern accent and was so excited because she was best friends with a girl that I had gone to high school with. She showed me their scrapbook and I met a few other girls. I felt comfortable here and was surprised at how easily the conversation flowed. I never found myself thinking "what am I going to talk about next."

Overall I was thrilled with how well I had done on the first day but I still didn't want to get my hopes up too much.