[AuburnMom]

Since I've already revealed where she's rushing, I have been purposely vague (or non existent) about any details about her. I will continue to be cautious as I don't want to compromise her rush at all, but I think a few general details may be helpful to her story….

Kate is from the North. She is one of the few from our area that chose to attend a southern University. Most of her friends went to other “northern” schools that are close to where we live and even though a good amount of them are rushing, very few are going through the type of rush that Auburn has. Luckily, having heard about traditional rushes at Southern schools, we started doing research about Auburn rush and we worked hard to ensure that Kate was prepared and had the recommendations (and the rush wardrobe!) that she needed.

(More about obtaining recommendations later as that is an amusing story in itself!)

A disadvantage for Kate is that she isn’t attending rush with a lot of high school friends, and she doesn’t have generations of family that have attended Auburn or been Greek. She mentioned to me today that the girls she has met are very, very friendly to her but that she doesn’t have her best friend’s older sister in a sorority like her suitemate or she isn’t a double legacy to a sorority like her roommate. A lot of the PNM’s actually know actives; unfortunately, since we are from so far away, Kate does not.

An advantage for her is because she’s not from the south, she came to rush with no preconceived notions about any of the sororities and is truly forming her own opinion as she goes.

I keep encouraging Kate to be friendly, out-going, and to keep an open mind. I am proud of her as she seems to be following that advice.

I think we were both thrilled when she was invited back to 12 parties for this round. We know that it is hard to rush at a competitive Southern school when you aren’t from the area. We realize that the later rounds are more competitive, but I am proud of what she’s accomplished thus far!