[daisy7289]

Preference

Pref was on a saturday, so I spent most of the day fretting about my hair. I also checked out the national websites of the different sororities. Coke and Sprite's pages had impressive statistics about the number of chapters they had, and they also both had chapters at the college in my hometown (I went to school pretty far away from home). Pepsi's national website was FILLED with photos of the girls from the chapter at my school! I also noticed that they had about half the number of chapters nationally that Coke and Sprite had.
I called my mom that day and told her all about Pepsi. She went to a Big 10 school with TONS of GLOs on campus, and she didn't think she had heard of them before. She asked if they were really a national sorority. With hesitation in her voice about Pepsi, she wished me luck tonight.

We were told earlier that we would get a phone call telling us when our parties would start. I knew that I would only be going back to two sororities tonight. Part of me hoped that it was Pepsi and Sprite, not Pepsi and Coke, so my decision would be easier! My Rho Chi called me in the afternoon. Her message said: "Hey Daisy! It's Rachel your Rho Chi! Just calling to let you know that your party starts at 6:30, so be in the Student Center at 6:00 ready to go! Bye!"

My mind starts racing. Did she just say party, singular, not parties, plural?! I convinced myself that she meant parties, plural. People make mistakes, right? So I walked over to the Student Center a little before six with thoughts of Pepsi in my head! I played over and over in my head the conversation I had with the last girl I talked to, and I was so sure that I would be going to Pepsi tonight. She did say "See you tomorrow!" When I get there, we wait a little and finally we get our envelopes with our invitations in them. I opened mine and saw that I was invited to:
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Sprite.

I immediatley shoved it back into the envelope, opened it again, and it still said Sprite! I was pissed. I went over to my friend in the other Rho Chi group and said "I'm only going back to Sprite! Ugh!" I then walked back to my Rho Chi and asked her politely to please double-check my invitation. She said, "Yep! You're going to Sprite!" with a big smile. After I fumed for a few minutes, it was time to go to Pref. A few girls in my Rho Chi group had already run out of the room - the whispers said they only got Sprite too. The anger in me was slowly becoming sadness - how could that girl have told me she would see me today if she was going to go let Pepsi cut me that night? I told myself to gain my composure, and it was time to be announced at the Sprite pref ceremony.

Sprite

We were announced individually as we walked in, and the girl who picked me up was the girl I met earlier in the week whose name was also Daisy. I noticed the room looked a lot nicer tonight than all the other nights - it was also divided in half by a partition. She took me to the table where she gave me a note she wrote. It said "Daisy - It was so great to meet you this week. I think you have the amazing qualities that we are looking for here in Sprite. I would be proud to call you my sister". The letter makes me a little choked up, but remember that i've also been crying outside the door! We talk, and I lie and say my eyes are red because my allergies are acting up because I've been sitting outside. She explains to me what Sprite has come to mean to her - she is also pretty far from home, and she described the sisterhood she found here at Sprite. I mentioned offhand that this was my only party for the night, and her eyes lit up and she said "Well, I hope you feel like you've found your place here, because we feel that you would be an amazing fit" - SO sweet! The food is amazing too - red velvet cake! I was a little sad that I didn't get to finish my huge slice before it was time for the ceremony.

There were about twenty rushees at this party tonight. We sat in chairs while the sisters stood before us. They sang a song, and the seniors gave testimonials about Sprite. One girl's grandfather had died this summer, and she said how much it meant for her that sisters drove from all over the country to come be with her after it happened. It made me so emotional! I was crying, but I had no tissue and my nose started to run - SO embarrasing! I was now upset because I realized this was my only chance to join a sorority - it was Sprite or nothing - and I thought I was blowing it because I was such a mess! I couldn't wait for the ceremony to be over so I could get a tissue! It was very touching, and as I walked out the door I apologized profusely to the other Daisy and explained that my allergies, combined with the sweetness of the preference ceremony, has really set me off! She told me that she hoped she would see me tomorrow as I walked out the door.

All of a sudden the waterworks came. I ran to the bathroom, luckily it was just outside Sprite's room. My Rho Chi bolted after me! I was sobbing like a baby. She was very worried about me. I told her I was so touched by the ceremony and I felt like I needed a cry. She basically revealed her affiliation then and there with the look on her face - she was so happy that it moved me, I knew she had to be a Sprite. We went out to fill out my Preference card. Those of us who only went to the first party that night were seated and given the instructions about the binding part, etc. And then the dis-affiliated Panhellenic girl said that if they didn't fill out a card, they were eligible for Snap Bids from the other chapters they did not visit. As soon as she was finished, at least fifteen girls who came from Sprite got up, threw their papers in the trash, and left. Remember that only about 20 went to their party! I sat and watched as everyone else filled out their card and turned it in and I started crying again. The Panhellenic girl came over to console me, and I finally told her about Pepsi telling me they would see me tomorrow. She looked at me like I was crazy, then completely steered the subject back to how amazing Sprite girls are, and if I wanted to join a sorority for sure then I should write down Sprite. I was flabbergasted that she didn't even listen to me!

This is where I got a little crazy. I happily wrote down Sprite, handed it to my Rho Chi, and then told the Panhellenic girl with a smile that I was glad I didn't go back to Pepsi tonight and that I was also glad that I wouldn't see her tomorrow with all the other fake Pepsi girls.

Bid Day

My girls and I walked to the Student Center with a skip in our step - no one would get the dreaded phone call and we would all be getting bids! We sat facing the wall as we were individually brought into the Panhellenic office to open our bids. We were given the choice to accept, decline, or take 24 hours. I happily accepted my bid to Sprite!

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Many other girls did not accept their bid. Quota was 26, and Sprite only extended 18 bids. Of those, three declined, and four never showed up for the pledging ceremony after going to the bid day party. It was hard to see all the other girls happily run to Coke and Pepsi on bid day and the Sprite girls just walk. It was a hard year for Sprite because the "Tent Talk" was not squashed by the Rho Chis, and Panhellenic mistakenly told girls they would probably get snap bids if they dropped out of rush. All in all a lot of mistakes and confusion happened on the Panhellenic side of things, but Sprite was not totally blameless - they had to double rush all nights except Pref, which really hurt the PNMs opinion of them.

One of my friends went Pepsi, the other went Coke. I haven't kept up with my friend in Pepsi since she pledged, and my friend in Coke dropped after her first year because she needed to "find herself". I am currently in charge of the New Members for my chapter and couldn't be happier! This year Sprite extended bids to quota and is almost at Chapter Total, more than making up for last year's numbers. And my entire pledge class is still active members of Sprite. Things are better than ever and I am so glad that I did not walk away from Sprite like so many others did.

*And the Pepsi Panhellenic girl? I found out that she was "excused" from membership shortly after all the recruitment infractions went through - there were a lot that year. She was protecting her chapter, but she went too far and majorly broke the rules - I don't know or want to know the details. I should never have said what I said to her, because the Pepsi girls really are very nice. Unfortunately they were told by alums to "seal the deal every night", leading to more broken hearts than just mine.