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Spring semester ’08…
One afternoon while checking my school email account I got a little email from the White Sox, the chapter that would be colonizing (re-colonizing actually). It was an invitation to come to the ice cream social that they were having, in order to help raise interest for the chapter. I read the invitation and was a bit intrigued. They were looking to re-colonize and would be recruiting an entire chapter in the fall, not just a pledge class consisting of mostly freshmen, and hence why they were getting the word out now. Interesting, I thought… I clicked out the email, but didn’t delete it, I would have to think about what I was going to do.
After putting a little bit of thought into it, the idea of being a re-colonizing member of a sorority excited me. I mean, the way I saw it you have the potential to be a big factor in shaping your sorority. It seemed like a really awesome opportunity to get involved and to make friends at the same time. I decided it wouldn’t hurt to go to the ice cream social…
So I changed my work schedule so that I could attend, got ready and made my way there. I was the second person to arrive, which surprised me…but I was even more surprised to see who was already there: a girl I worked with! Now I hadn’t talked to her much, but it was great to see a friendly face. (From now on she will be known as White Sox PNM 1) I grabbed a bowl of ice cream, and sat down with her and the rep from the White Sox. We chatted about us, our majors, all the typical small talk, and then about the White Sox, the organization, and how they would be recruiting and coming to campus next fall. While we were talking, a new girl, WSPNM 2, came in and joined us. She seemed a bit more reserved than me and WSPNM 1, but still nice, and it was very nice to meet her. The three of us, all sophomores at the time, had a nice time chatting for a bit. After about 45 min, I decided I was going to head out, especially because there were only 3 girls (including myself at the event L).
I left kind of nervous that only so few people showed up. Then again, it was February, so I figured there would be more events to come. A month or so later the White Sox had a bowling night. I definitely want to go and see if more girls were going to be attending. When I got there I was first to arrive. I met the same White Sox rep from the ice cream social (I found out she is going to be the one mainly involved in helping the White Sox get colonized) and another White Sox rep. We waited for some more bowlers, but only two other girls showed up, WSPNM 2, and another girl I had never met (who apparently went to the ice cream social, but after I had left). So we bowled and talked, and of course asked our questions about the White Sox. We talked about involvement opportunities and one of the things that got me really excited was the idea that since we’re going to be upper classman, we are going to have a lot of opportunities to hold an office position within the chapter (if we’re invited to pledge of course!) Overall, it was a good night, even though there were only 3 of us. I really liked the other girls I had met, and I was really excited about the potential opportunities for me within White Sox.
We had one more event before school ended which, finally, many girls showed up to. It was really interesting to see the girls who came out. There were freshmen, sophomores, and juniors, all with very different interests and backgrounds. There were some girls who seemed very shy, but like they always wanted to know what Greek life was about, but never had the nerve to go through recruitment. There were also girls who definitely gave me a bad vibe, like they’re only there because they want to wear letters. Their biggest concerns were primarily what the White Sox’s social calendar would look like (I’m not saying social calendars are a bad thing, because let’s face it, I’m definitely a social person, but it’s not my TOP concern…) But what made me happy is that there were a lot of girls that seemed like me: many of them had rushed but just could not find their home. They still wanted that involvement and that sisterhood that was missing, and like me, they were hoping that the White Sox was going to be right for them. I left this last event of the year with my mind made up that I would definitely be participating in White Sox’s recruitment process come fall.
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