[ZetaGirl22]

The second day I arrived at our designated meeting spot at 11am. I was a little less intimidated now, knowing what to expect. I wore another pair of Express jeans and a cute light blue knit top. I still felt a little silly though since I didn't even OWN a navy blue peacoat. It was definitely easy for me to find my coat at the end of the parties though. I remember a lot of PNMs getting their coats mixed up. Today as I waited for the parties to start, I noticed that A LOT of girls from my Scholars program were going though, probably almost HALF of them! I had also gotten to know a fellow PNM in my group, Lynn, a sophomore, the day before. At our Rho Chi meeting, Lynn was asking Megan if we could skip any parties. Megan told her definitely not. Later Lynn told me that she had been to events in the fall at The Smashing Pumpkins and they were total “bitches”. She complained the ENTIRE day that she did NOT want to go to the party at The Smashing Pumpkins. Well now I was intrigued. I couldn't WAIT to meet these Smashing Pumpkins girls and see if they really WERE bitches! So we set off on our day of meeting the final 7 chapters.

The Cure: Well this party just started OFF on an awkward foot. The President and Recruitment Chairs came out and introduced themselves, just like at every other chapter. The difference was, they were wearing business suits, which I just thought was weird, because everyone else so far had been wearing matching letters. I started hearing the grumblings and outright LAUGHING from the other PNMs in my group. I later learned this was the smallest chapter on campus. I didn't really care too much. The thought of a small, tightly connected group really appealed to me. It was further strange because as I entered the house, all the OTHER sisters were wearing letters and jeans, just like everyone else. Why did the President and Recruitment Chair have on different clothes? Once we got inside, we were paired up 2 PNMs to a sister. I remember everyone I met here was very nice, and the conversation hadn't been terrible. I just couldn't shake how DIFFERENT this party was from everyone else.

The Pixies: Oh, The Pixies. Their cheering and excitement was INFECTIOUS. I was led inside and met by Leah, who led me into the kitchen and took my coat. As she did so she kind of laughed and I gave her a puzzled look. Then she said, “I am sure you are thinking just what I did when I rushed, 'What the hell am I doing here?'” She then proceeded to tell me that she showed up to recruitment just a year earlier wearing a bright red parka too. Oh my gosh! I felt a HUGE weight lift off my shoulders!
Finally, someone I could relate to! She proceeded to tell me that she thought “the sorority girl uniform” was pretty ridiculous, and who you were on the inside was what mattered. Then she handed me off to talk to none other than Beth from my class from first semester! Beth seemed THRILLED to see me and exclaimed, “You should have TOLD me you were rushing, I could have helped you plan!” At that moment, I wish I had too, because clearly I hadn't planned. I left this chapter positively beaming!

Alice In Chains: My first thought..........this is the most AMAZING incredible house I have ever seen! I was led inside and taken on a tour. The member leading me, Jess, started asking me where I was from. She told me that there were several members there that had gone to high school with me. When she said the names, I was kind of awestruck. The two names she mentioned, Lauren and Patience had been two years ahead of me in high school. Both were cheerleaders, and generally recognized as perfect, especially Patience. She and her boyfriend had been basically royalty at my high school. She also mentioned that the chapter was HUGE. That really turned me off, honestly. I wondered how you could actually be friends with so many people. As she led me out of the room, we ran into Patience and Jess introduced me and mentioned I was two years behind her in high school. She said hi in a very warm way, but I could tell she didn't know me from a hole in the wall. I didn't expect her to. Her crowd and mine were polar opposites. I wrote, “too big” in my rush book.

Live: I was met by Andrea here. This was the second of the two that I remember their theme for Tours. It wasn't because she was so standoffish, like the sister from Blind Melon had been, but she was SO painfully shy. The conversation was boring, and it was like pulling teeth to get her to talk. Their theme was “Winter Wonderland”, and half the time I found myself staring off at the snowflakes hanging from the ceiling. I didn't hold it against them, though. I myself at one time had been VERY shy.

Weezer: I met Casey here. She was a total crack up, and I loved that! At the time, my guilty pleasure was teen movies, and this era was teen movie central. I had just seen “She's All That” and I LOVED it. We talked the whole time about that movie, and how cute it was. Then we were led into the living room to watch a sisterhood video. This was the only chapter to do this, and it really stood out to me. I LOVED this chapter.

Pearl Jam: The day was really starting to wear on me as we entered the house. It was lucky because this house was a whirlwind of energy. This was the ONLY chapter that did bump groups during Tours. Some I talked to maybe one or two other sisters, but here I talked to 5. In 25 minutes! My head was spinning from trying to remember all the names. It was kind of overwhelming, but I absolutely LOVED every single sister I met. They were all incredibly funny. I definitely wanted to return here.

The Smashing Pumpkins: Dun dun dun..................the bitches. Lynn was practically crawling out of her skin as we walked toward the house. The more she talked about them, the more intrigued I got. I figured there HAD to be at least ONE “bitchy” sorority as the doors opened. The first thing I noticed was that the president was African American. That impressed me. My group of friends in high school was VERY racially diverse, and I hadn't seen one African American girl yet. UMD sororities are VERY diverse now, but when I first joined, they weren't really at all. I walked in, wondering if Lynn was right. I met both Kara and Alyse here. Both were seniors, and both were incredibly friendly and down to earth. I was starting to question Lynn a lot, and questioned her even MORE as I left the house. On my way out, I saw Kari, who had been my OA (Orientation Advisor) over the summer. She waved at me. I had LOVED Kari. She had really allayed a lot of my fears about being a commuter student over the summer, and got me SO excited to start classes in the fall. It appeared that Lynn had been quite wrong, but still I wondered what had happened to give her such a bad taste.

That night, my family went out to dinner at Barnaby's, a British style pub that was close to home and a family favorite place, even though it technically was a bar. It was the first time in a LONG time we had been out to dinner. My dad wanted to know all about it. And I told him after today, my second day favorites were: The Pixies, Weezer, and The Smashing Pumpkins.