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Day Two
At that time, day two of recruitment was Philanthropy Day. Each chapter had some sort of craft or activity related to their philanthropy. We were told to wear fun casual, which I interpreted to mean one step up from Open House. I wore a black wool sweater with camel colored side button pants. This was my favorite outfit of all of recruitment week and with my great schedule in hand, I felt like a million bucks.
First house on my list was:
New York - I was picked up by a member who I had a class with first semester. Ordinarily that would have been a good thing, but I found this girl to be really annoying in class. Always asking questions, even when she didn't have a legit question, just to be the professor's favorite. She took me to a table towards the back of the room and sat me facing a wall (which made me nervous that they didn't want me). We do the craft, which I can't remember much about, and then watch a short video. After the video, the sister excused herself and just left me sitting at the table all by my lonesome. I tried to look calm and comfortable, but she didn't come back until they started chanting us out. I was not a happy camper and felt like there was no way I'd be invited back, but I couldn't figure out what I had done wrong here.
Los Angeles - I was picked up again by the girl from my high school, but was really quickly bumped by someone I had a class with first semester. I didn't know this girl very well and she was a bit shy, but I was so excited to be back because of this house's reputation. The craft involved painting and I remember that I was really embarassed by how bad mine turned out -- I'm normally pretty creative, but I guess I was too nervous or something. They had a cute little song instead of a video and I got to meet tons of sisters when we were done with the craft. At the end of the party, they chanted us out with a really fun and exciting song. I left feeling like I definitely wanted to come back and know more.
Atlanta - The chapter came out with a great song and picked us up individually, which made me feel really welcome. We went in and did another non-descript craft, but we had more in depth conversations than any of the previous chapters I had been to that day. My rusher was a girl I had met at some parties first semester. She was extremely engaging and asked me lots of questions about what I was looking for in a sorority. I gave her the usual answers -- a place where I can be myself, have a lot of fun and feel like I am giving back. She introduced me to the chapter's president which I was really honored by and told me that she hoped I would be back to see their skit tomorrow night. I was on cloud nine!
Chicago - I was really surprised I was invited back because I didn't fit their stereotype. Again, I was picked up by another brunette and she took me to do their craft which was very short and more like a party activity than anything else. Once we finished about five seconds later, there was a crazy level of energy and we were bumped from one girl to the next. Again, all their questions seemed genuine and I had an awesome time. I was so surprised that there were so many girls in this chapter like me. I definitely wanted to see their skit.
Boston - I was paired here again with an upperclassman that I didn't know all too well. She took me in to do the craft and we spent most of our time sitting together and chatting. I wasn't really feeling it at all. Everything we talked about seemed to just fall flat and I was so disappointed because this had been one of my faves the entire previous semester.
Miami - I had hoped that yesterday's experience wouldn't be repeated, and that I would enjoy myself here. But, a lot of people had released Miami the night before, and that made me a little hesitant to really enjoy the party. The girls came out of the house in a super cute formation, and walked down the front steps while singing to pick us up. I was picked up by someone I had never met, but she was ADORABLE! She introduced me to everyone she could find and really rushed me hard. I met the president, recruitment chairs, and got to talk to my neighbor who was a Miami. We didn't even go in to do the craft until way after everyone else. While I was trying to craft, we were bombarded by more sisters stopping by to say hi. I was the last rushee out of the house!
At this point, I was feeling very cocky about recruitment. I thought it was such a breeze and I was trying to evaluate what I would do if I got all my invites back from today since we could only go to four events tomorrow. I was pretty certain that New York would be out, but I didn't know what other house I would regret. Maybe Boston because the party wasn't that fun today? Maybe Miami because so many other rushees had released them? What to do?
Accept/regret wasn't scheduled for that night, instead it was the next morning. I could not stop analyzing and trying to make decisions. A lot of my friends who had been cut, had been cut by Boston, which made me feel honored that I got to go back. Conversely, a lot of my friends who seemed to be having good rushes had either already released Miami or were thinking they would release Miami at their next opportunity. I was pretty torn, without even knowing whether I needed to be or not, and was pretty sure that whichever chapters I chose to regret, I would regret with interest, in case I made the wrong decision.
The next morning, I walked to accept/regret and was feeling pretty confident. My name was called and I went over to my Rho Chi, who remember I thought was likely a Boston.
She read my invite list back to me:
Chicago
New York
Boston
Los Angeles
Miami
Atlanta
All six back again! I regretted with interest New York right away and then without much more thought, I regretted with interest Miami. I had had fun, but I really wanted to be in a top chapter and I just couldn't justify releasing a top chapter Boston over Miami. Plus, I loved my Rho Chi and I was pretty certain she was a Boston and I didn't want to release her chapter.
I went back to my room, shared the good news with my mom, and by the time I hung up with her, most of the girls on my hall were back and tons were in tears. Apparently, there had been a lot of cuts and some were pretty harsh. Girls being cut for grades from houses they had best friends from home in. New York released a triple legacy whose mother was involved with her GLO's nationals! Many, many scandalous cuts had gone down and I was happy I wasn't a part of any of them, but heartbroken for my friends.
We went out to lunch together to try and stay positive and then came back to the dorms to get ready for skit night.
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