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After picking up our nametags, we were briefed on what was to happen. Due to the number of girls going through recruitment, there were four parties that night, meaning there would be a break somewhere in there for all of us. We were then lined up into a giant alphabetical line, and then separated into our groups from that alphabetical group. Dancing Darcy’s last name and my last name were similar, and we were very close together in line- even in the same group! This was comforting for me, as I was very nervous. Our break was during the first party, which was nice because we didn’t have to walk to the houses and back more than necessary- it was quite a distance between the meeting houses (no living in on my campus) and our meeting spot.
After some typical, and kind of awkward, conversations with some other PNMs who I didn’t know, it was finally time for the walk across campus. My first party was at Glinda.
Glinda: As we walked in, there was an abundance of singing and clapping. I had not been warned about this- and it was scary! I was picked up by a girl who had given me a tour of the theatre department, so it was nice to kind of know her. After we were seated, they did a song. I don’t remember what it was, but I do remember lots of head bobbing. You know the one- the side to side that you see in a lot of recruitment songs? That one. It was perfectly in sync, and while I had a nice, pleasant mask, inside I was freaking out. There was just something about it that freaked me out! To this day, I don’t know what it was. The active was perfectly nice- we had a good, but fairly forgettable conversation. If I remember right, I wasn’t ever bumped at this party. After some chatting, we watched a video about their chapter. There was a narrator who had a thick Australian accent, and most of the material talked about their philanthropy and their social gatherings. There were a lot of pictures taken at parties- I could tell from the costumes (the fraternities throw a lot of theme parties) and the backgrounds. That kind of turned me off, because it didn’t seem like these girls really did much else. After the video was finished, it was time to go. Overall, it was a nice party, I suppose- but I knew that it wasn’t for me.
As we lined up for our next party, I discovered that I wasn’t alone in being a bit freaked out by them. I think it was the sheer fact that I was a very unprepared PNM- I had no idea what would happen, and it just freaked me out at first. But I still knew that this wasn’t a good fit for me. Later that night, I still hoped I’d get an invite back- mostly because I thought that maybe I was just too freaked out to click with anyone. I also began musing to Darcy that maybe I wouldn’t fit in anywhere. Maybe this was all pointless, and I’d just be miserable the entire night. Finally, it was time to go back in. This time, we were entering into Elphaba.
Elphaba: We walked into a song here too- but it wasn’t quite as scary as Glinda’s. I met with a girl that I didn’t know, but we clicked right off the bat. She was very sweet, and I remember sharing a lot of interests with her. I was bumped from her (very naturally too- just smooth) to a girl I had met the day before at dinner. We had talked about our height at dinner (we’re both extremely short!) and we both looked at each other’s heels. Just a fun fun conversation. We then sat down for a song: it was something about fraternity boys, and while I’m not sure what it had to do with Elphaba, it was still cute and fun. I think I was bumped once more here, but I don’t remember what we talked about or who the girl was. What I do remember is that this felt right. The conversation was easy, there was a vibe that I loved, and it just felt good. I remember one girl saying they were more of the “jeans and sweatshirt” house. I understood that, and I loved it.
My friends loved this chapter too. We chatted while we lined up for the next house, and it was almost unanimous about our feelings. The girls made a very good impression on everyone. There was a girl in front of me in line- “Musical Mary”. Darcy, Mary, and myself had many conversations, but I specifically remember one right before we went into the next house. She told us about the reps she had heard about from the fraternity boys she knew. Glinda was the “slutty” house, Elphaba was the “goofy” house, and Nessarose was the “nice” house (can you tell I did a lot of tent talking? I feel terrible about that now…). She personally had her heart set on Nessarose, as she had a good friend in the house. Just after we discussed this, it was time to go into Nessarose.
Nessarose: They sang as we walked in, I think. I have no strong memory of this. Here, I was double rushed, with two PNMs to one active. The majority of the group was, I noticed- obviously a smaller house. I remember talking to the active, and for some reason, I got no vibe. Nothing positive, nothing negative, just… nothing. I actually asked the active why she chose this house, as I just wasn’t picking up anything. I was bumped- I don’t remember the other conversations. We watched a slide show, and our active explained the pictures to us as we went. It wasn’t a very well done slide show- I picked up on this as I’m a bit of a computer geek. I left without a good or negative impression. Just… blah. It was really weird.
As we walked back, I was almost postive of my rankings. I knew which house I loved, but I debated between my other two. Should I rank up the house where I didn’t get anything, or the house where I felt something? It didn’t take me too long to decide though:
1. Elphaba
2. Nessarose
3. Glinda
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