The following day, I woke up and spent the morning working on schoolwork. We didn’t go over to the student union to begin bid day activities until around 2:30 or 3 (I think).
When I did get to the student union, those of us who were there for bid day were milling around the lobby, and I began talking with one of the girls that was going through recruitment. As we were called into the Great Hall, she and I continued to talk quietly and wound up standing next to each other.
We were handed large manila envelopes as we walked in the room and were told to stand in a circle and then sit on our bids. (Yes, they tortured us!
) Most of the details of all that we did escape me, but we watched a video montage of pictures from the different chapters. The Rho Chi’s did their reveal (BTW, mine was a
GFB), and one of the chapters had not had a Rho Chi that recruitment, so a chapter member had been sent over to collect their new members and was standing on the side for that point.
The moment had finally arrived…..I opened my manila envelope and pulled out a smaller white envelope…..which I opened and pulled out the bid card.
As you pretty much already know from my signature, it read something along the lines (since I *think* the Panhellenic Association did all the bid cards – I’d have to go through boxes of my stuff to determine differently):
“The Panhellenic Association of Valparaiso University is pleased to extend you a bid to Alpha Delta Pi”
The girl I had been talking to was looking at her bid, and we shared with one another – we had BOTH been extended bids to
ADP! We shrieked and gave each other the hugest hugs, and ran over to our chapter representative. Before the newest members left the Great Hall, we were introducing ourselves to our fellow new members and learning different cheers to sing on our way back to the dorm.
The roar in the
ADP chapter room when we walked in was so overwhelming – they were screaming and cheering and giving us hugs all over the place! This was the largest new member class our chapter had taken since their chartering, and everyone was super excited.
We spent the night playing a number of getting to know you games, meeting our New Member Coordinator, and just beginning the lifelong bond.
As I continued my education at Valpo, I learned that although I may not have joined the same sisterhood as ALL my friends from freshman year, I still remained very close with many of them, and I began to grow into the person I am today. While I still hold the KD’s at VU in the highest regard, I know that I was supposed to be an
ADP – I had many opportunities to hold leadership positions and go through the crazy ride that was my experience that may not have been available had I joined any other chapter on campus.
Yes, my chapter did close after I had graduated
But I still hold every second of my time in the chapter as some of my greatest memories from college, and the women I met there continue to be very important in my life. For example:
My bid day buddy turned into my roommate the following year, and we studied overseas together and I stood up in her wedding two years after I graduated from school.
My New Member Coordinator is still a good friend, sister, and one of my favorite GCers
I still talk occasionally with the girl who first met me at
ADP on the first day of recruitment – and for the next few years after I joined, we still talked about how nervous *I* was on that first day, and the Formal Recruitment Chair just took one look at me (in her nervousness) and knew that I would be a sister by the end of the week.
Thanks for letting me get this all out – if I had known about GC when I went through recruitment, I probably would’ve fed you the story then!