[Srmom1]

I can’t really name all of the fraternities that are at the school because he hasn’t rushed them all. But, I will assign names as his story progresses. I’m going to use characters from Animal House (one of my favorite movies and in keeping with the theme).

My son and his friends drove up to college town and went straight to the Hoover house, where the formal was going to be held. The party didn’t really get started until late (I think around 11 or so) when the actives and their dates started arriving. The party was full, not only with Hoovers and their dates, but also with high school seniors, both guys and girls (an especially large group of girls from his high school). He said the party was fun but kind of disappointing, due to the fact that, because so many of his friends were there, he was hanging with the same people that he hangs out with at home. He wanted to be doing something different!

At some point in the night, he decided to call one of his friends at Boon, the other fraternity. The guy told him to come to their party, and offered to pick him up at the Hoover house. When my son walked in to the Boon formal, he said that people looked at him like he was an alien (remember - this formal was black tie!), and it was obvious that they didn’t have a bunch of high school seniors in attendance. But, he was in good hands with the guys he knew, they introduced him to many of the actives as they showed him around the house (which was neat, because each of the rooms was decorated in a different theme). The only hitch in the evening was when he was confronted by a few Boons who were wondering who the guy in the coat and tie was! When they found out that he was a senior (aka rushee), it was all good. He ended up having a great time at the Boon formal and stayed until the wee hours, eventually sleeping on a couch at his friend’s apartment.

This was his first real exposure to the social aspects of fraternity life and it confirmed his wish to pledge in the fall.