[TAPchica09]

Hey, I'm not in a sorority but I am in a professional fraternity, have you tried that route? I know that when I was a freshman I was really shy and unfortunately, I never ended up joining a sorority for the most part because of my shyness and the large work load that I was taking - I was interested in becoming a double major my freshman year and did an overload of classes (and the fact that I got engaged during my sophomore year didn't really help in the matter when I went through formal recruitment that year). Some of my friends in sororities encouraged me to rush again this semester for formal recruitment (I'm a 3rd year student but I have senior standing this year, even though I'm not graduating until next year) - but I never did (and it's something that I admit that I regret, and I definitely do not want you to feel that way).

Anyway, sorry for going off topic, like I was saying when I was a freshman, I was thinking about becoming a Theatre major and doubling up with my Business major (I really liked doing backstage work, and I was hoping that perhaps if I did some acting then it would help me over come my shyness.) and that's how I met a few of the people in my fraternity, through my involvement in the theatre. They really helped me out and embraced me because we shared a common interest - which was theatre. That's one of the wonderful aspects about being in a professional fraternity, instead of looking for something that you have in common with people, you know that you already share at least one interest (most of the time it's your major, but in my fraternity as long as you have a proven interest in Theatre - i.e. taken classes, worked backstage or onstage, etc then we can give you an application for membership - and even if you haven't done a lot of theatre work, but seem really interested in it/passionate about it...we can offer you a bid).

Now I'm not saying that you should just join a professional fraternity and that's it. On the contrary, our fraternity really takes pride in the fact that we have diverse members in terms of the activities that they do, the different majors in the fraternity, pretty much everything you can think of. Plus our fraternity is co-ed, which I also really like - I've met a lot of cool new guy friends because of it. Three of the girls in my fraternity are in Kappa Alpha Theta, another is in Alpha Phi, and another is in Tri-Delta, and since our fraternity is co-ed, we also have a guy that's in Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. We also have a girl on the field hockey team, a girl the water polo team, a guy who is pledging is in Hawaii club, another pledge started her own club called Artistic Connections (which is for people of all majors as long as you have some interest in the arts), and a bunch of psychology majors are also in my fraternity. My big and I are both business majors. One of my littles is a junior in Tri-Beta, (the biology fraternity) and when he started pledging this semester I found out that he loves to cook as well as play video games (and so do I) so we got even closer than we were before. So joining a professional fraternity can also help you meet other people who share multiple interests with you, and most likely you will find someone who is involved in social greek life through a professional fraternity that you will grow close with. Now another person in my fraternity just recently got engaged, so we're going to go to bridal shows and what not together (I'm having a long engagement - getting married after college).

But like sunnyhibiscus and Thetagirl218 were saying there are tons of organizations on a campus (my school is pretty small, I think that we have about 4,000 undergrads - that's it) and we have tons of clubs/organizations, definitely way more than I can list/remember, and I know a lot of them are always happy to see a new face around (and yes you don't necessarily have to apply for membership for all of those), in my fraternity we're always excited to meet new people - that's one of the reasons why I love it so much is because we're so welcoming to new people. A couple of the freshman that are pledging this year have been telling me that they felt a lot more comfortable on campus/it was easier to settle in because we were there to help them out and that really makes me feel wonderful, I'm always happy to help someone out! Oh also, like Fleur de Lis said, definitely get out there and share your interests with everyone! You said that you were in French Honor Society in high school right? Why don't you share that with some of the lovely women that you meet who are a part of sororities on campus? My other little (our fraternity is co-ed by the way) who is also pledging TAP this semester and just recently got initiated into Kappa Alpha Theta, is a huge language buff, she's taken French, Latin, Japanes, etc....and I know that she shared those things with the sisters over there - as well as our fraternity, because that's who she is - and of course it's part of our bonding process and what not.

But hopefully I don't sound mean or weird or anything (sorry and excuse me if I come off that way), I really want to help you out, because I definitely understand your situation. Also sorry that this is so long, but I hope that this helps. If you ever need anything - feel free to PM me. ^_^