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When I talked to Cousin the night before she went back to school for rush, she was 90% sure she was going to transfer. After the first round of parties, she said “It was really really good! I was definitely pleasantly surprised!” Looked like things were turning around!
Cousin was a little nervous to have STILT WALKERS first because she had liked their vibe, and thought that they’d be near the top of her list going into recruitment and she didn’t want too much pressure at her first party, but she said the girls instantly made her feel comfortable. She said they were awesome and really put her at ease. She asked the active about her first semester at College, and the Stilt Walker had a similar story to Cousin’s: wanting to make more friends, not used to the school so far, having second thoughts. Cousin was glad she could be open with this Stilt Walker and that she could relate to her situation. The active made her feel like going through recruitment was a good idea and that someone else had felt like she does.
Cousin’s resident advisor and orientation leader are members of TUNNEL OF LOVE, and she really loved those girls, but she didn’t feel the same way about this house as a whole. Cousin was a HUGE tom boy growing up (and is still quite sporty, but also girly at the same time) and felt like these girls were more the type that she would play sports with, rather than hang out all the time with in any context. Something she was concerned about was that they didn’t seem to joke around with each other, or have that comfortable, sisterly vibe with each other that she had felt at STILT WALKERS.
First semester, Cousin had some interaction with sisters in MILK BOTTLE TOSS. Actually, the recruitment chair had approached Cousin and her room mate at a theme party, and criticized their outfits (apparently she thought that they were “too” dressed to theme, and had no qualms about going up to them and telling them flat out, then stumbling away after asking for their first and last names). However, Cousin was pleasantly surprised by the Milk Bottle Tossers. She said there was a fun energy at Milk Bottle Toss, and it just “clicked” and “worked.” She said she didn’t expect that at all, but it felt good. Although she was “unsure first semester,” she left “really surprised and very pleased.”
At FUNHOUSE MIRRORS, Cousin said she only talked to one active the entire time and they just did not connect. She said the conversation was very serious, not very fun, that the sister looked like she didn’t take care of herself. It just felt a little “off.” The active kept going on about a movie that Cousin hadn’t seen, and even after Cousin tried to graciously change the subject, the active kept droning on about the details of this movie Cousin admitted she had not seen. She wanted to keep an open mind and meet more Funhouse Mirrors, but this experience didn’t give her a positive vibe.
Cousin said that at DUNK TANK she led the conversation the entire time, it was dull and the Dunk Tank couldn’t hold a conversation.
Cousin had heard snobby stereotypes about BALLOON ANIMALS, but she said it was awesome (Cousin is the farthest from snobby and in high school had lots of friends from different groups and generally gets along with everyone). She clicked with all the Balloon Animals she met. She met an active with the same major, same extracurriculars, she found a funny hometown connection, etc. She said it was the only chapter that asked her if she had any questions about the sorority (I read in another recent recruitment story that a PNM didn’t like that the actives asked if she had questions about the chapter and preferred the actives to ask her questions about herself—just goes to show different PNMs like different things!). Cousin was a leader in high school and super-involved and really wants to be in a leadership position. She actually confessed to me before starting college that she would love to be a sorority president. Anywho, she said that the conversation with the Balloon Animals (I crack myself up) was the most serious in terms of what she wants to get out of Greek life and what she wants to contribute to her sorority. She said that the primary sister she was talking to would introduce her and say “This is Cousin, she is already so involved with X, Y, Z, clubs and activities and is so accomplished, etc.” Cousin felt like whoa.
At the end of the first round, this was Cousin’s ranking (the first 5 are actually all number 1 after the first day, but this was her order in her mind):
1 MILK BOTTLE TOSS
2 BALLOON ANIMALS
3 STILT WALKERS
4 TUNNEL OF LOVE
5 FUNHOUSE MIRRORS
6 (ranked) DUNK TANK
I was also ecstatic to hear Cousin say that she was going to stick it out all the way because she was having a lot of fun meeting new people! Yayyyy
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