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Activities Day
I just got my kids to bed so I figured I better get the Activities Day description posted before someone wakes up.
Activities Day did not start out as not a good day for me. I opened up my invite list and again found that I did not have a full schedule. I had invites to only four houses, not five. On top of that, I had lost the supposed “top houses”, Nothing Compares 2 U and Rub You the Right Way, and my favorite, Poison. I had invites back to Vogue, From a Distance, Hold On and Pump Up the Jam. The only one that I had much interest in at this point was Hold On, though it hadn’t previously been one of my leaders due to the hotel theme from the first day. I was pretty devastated and thought about dropping out of recruitment at this point. My recruitment counselor (the one with the anchor earrings) convinced me to attend the Activities Day parties and make my decision about dropping after that. To this day, I can’t thank her enough for talking me into doing that.
This wasn’t a great day for my friends Heather or Amy either. Heather, like myself, did not have a full schedule and wasn’t left with many, if any, houses in which she had an interest. I can’t remember if Amy had a full schedule, but I think she had a few houses still on her schedule that she liked.
Activities Day was the most casual of all the rounds, and nearly every house did a skit of some sort. I recall wearing gray leggings with a gray and white striped shirt that came to the mid-thigh and cinched at the low waste. Sounds awful, and it was, but it was a popular look at the time. Here is how the day went:
Vogue: This house was such a pleasant surprise on this day. I was paired with a woman who I really clicked with. I can’t remember much about the decorations or skit, but I remember I had a blast. The conversation went really well, and I recall thinking that the member and I could be good friends. However, I still had concerns about this house having a reputation as the struggling house. I have a definite recollection of speaking with a PNM outside this house and that she told me that she either had or was going to intentionally behave in such a way that she would not get an invite back to this house. I think she may have said she intentionally spilled a drink. I was shocked that anyone would do something like that. We were required to attend all houses we were invited back to and could only not return to a house if we dropped them because we had an otherwise full schedule of our preferred choices. However, I couldn’t believe anyone would be such a B in an effort to not have to return. After all, we were not obligated to put any house down after Preference Night.
From a Distance: I can’t remember much about the specifics of this party. I remember thinking the women in this house seemed very genuine and that I would feel comfortable in this house.
Hold On: This is another house where I had a great time during Activities Day. I believe the house had a camp theme, and the skit was cute. The member I was paired with was so outgoing, and we had a great conversation. I also spent more time with one of the members that I had been paired with during tours. I noticed how diverse the women were and felt that the members I spoke with were very sincere in their interest in me. Despite the negative first impression I had from the hotel theme on the first day, Hold On was my new favorite after Activities Day. I wanted an invite back for their preference, but tried not to get my hopes up as I had already had some disappointment during recruitment.
Pump Up the Jam: I can remember absolutely nothing about this party which probably says something about how I felt about this house. This was my step-mother’s house at another university but that was not enough to make me feel that I could make Pump UP the Jam my home. These women seemed very nice, but things just weren’t clicking.
For Preference Night, we could return to three houses. I had attended four parties on After Activities Day, so I marked down Vogue as the house I wanted to drop before Preference Night. I am not proud of myself for doing that, and if I could do this all over again, I would have put down Pump Up the Jam as the house I wanted to drop. After all, I had a great time at Vogue but Pump Up the Jam was not very memorable. I am embarrassed to admit that my decision to choose Vogue to drop was entirely motivated by the reputation this house had as the struggling house on campus. To future and current PNMs, “Do as I say, not as I do.” Follow your heart.
I can’t remember anything about Heather’s favorites after Activities Day. I do remember that Amy had a clear favorite- From a Distance.
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