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Round 3 – Sisterhood (4 houses)
I got dressed, primped alone in my room (my roommate was not going through recruitment) and found my way down to my first party, Sunflower.
Sunflower – In the line outside Sunflower there was a weird mix of energy. Some were ecstatic to be there, others were upset or mad, some looked like they were just going through the motions. In the houses, the sisters were cheering and singing again and we were eventually let in. We were sat down and watched a video on Sunshine’s sisterhood. The video brought tears to my eyes! It was a mix of pictures and testimonies and I loved it. I was then met by a new Sunflower who was an excited bubbly mess. It was clear she had cried during the video, she told me that she was a senior and that she was so excited to meet me and get a chance to talk, and not to pay any attention to any smeared makeup on her face! Her honesty made me laugh. We spoke for a few minutes, actually about make-up, and then she introduced me to another sister who I also began to love. However, during this time I saw the Sunflower that I disliked and she saw me. She gave me a pretty nasty look and then whispered something to another Sunflower that was close by. I suddenly felt like I shouldn’t be there. I felt offended and embarrassed. I tried to keep reminding myself of what my Pi Chi had said, but I just kept feeling like I was invading in on territory that I shouldn’t be. I got through the rest of the party and left knowing that I couldn’t be Sunflower, but hoped that I could remain friends with some of the girls I had met there.
I got in line at Cherry Blossom knowing that I would have a good time there. Even though I had felt like things were “off” the day before, I still liked them and before even going in I knew that I liked them more than Sunflower.
Cherry Blossom – Again we were met with cheers and songs and were sat down to watch a video on sisterhood. Like on Philanthropy day, the tv was too small to see from where I was sitting so I couldn’t really see the video. I did look around the room at the sisters. They were laughing, smiling, and teary-eyed. They looked like they really cared about each other. I knew I wanted to share something like that kind of bond I was seeing. A new Cherry Blossom came and got me and we talked, she reverted to the standard recruitment questions. I tried to steer the conversation away from the “where are you from” “what is your major” topics and asked questions about Cherry Blossom and the girl I was talking to, but I didn’t get much of a response .She introduced me to a few other Cherry Blossoms. Again, I felt like I liked the Cherry Blossoms and I could fit in with some of them, but something wasn’t there. As I was leaving, Betty came up real quick and said hi, which I appreciated.
I trekked over to Orchid and to my surprise again, Frick was in line with me she seemed friendlier when Frack wasn’t around. Everyone in line seemed to be excited to go to Orchid, which got me really excited. This time however, the loud Orchids were not banging on the walls or cheering ultra loud, their house was silent.
Orchid – The doors opened and we walked in to a beautifully decorated room and to very nice music. The Orchids seemed subdued. We were sat down and watched a video on their sisterhood. The video was touching and funny – mixed with pictures and seniors speaking about their time with Orchid. In the video, I realized how many Orchids I recognized around campus. And again, I took a minute to scan the room – the Orchids, who had probably watched this video a bunch of times by now, were still welling up, leaning on each other or cracking a smile to one another. I was picked up by an Orchid that I had had my winter term class with. She told me how excited she was to get to talk to me during recruitment. We caught up about our final class projects and spoke a little about how she was planning to study abroad in the Spring and how nervous and excited she was. She told me she especially was going to miss all the other Orchids but was going to be back just in time for graduation because she didn’t want to miss it. I introduced to two more Orchids, one of which I had known was involved in a high leadership role in another campus organization. At first I was intimidated, but I found her so easy to talk to after a few minutes. The party was over before I knew it. I left Orchid on a cloud. I thought I had found my niche.
When we were outside Frick and I realized we were both going to Lilac next so we walked together. Frick told me that she was really liked both Orchid and Lilac the most, but all of her close friends wanted to be Daffodils and she wasn’t sure she wanted to be the only one of her friends that wasn’t a Daffodil. She had went back to Daffodil today and said that it was just “so-so” for her. I tried my best to be supportive and told her that of all the sororities that I had noticed the Lilac’s and Orchid’s seem to have the most friends outside their groups and so if she became a Lilac or an Orchid, she could still be friends with her friends that were Daffodils and plus, she would have new friends too. She seemed to like my answer and we lined up and wished each other good luck.
Lilac – The Lilacs were singing and cheering as we walked in and sat down for their video. Their video was just as good as Orchids and Sunflowers, but as I looked around the room again, they didn’t seem to be very into it. I understood that they had watched it a bunch of times, but it seemed like a presentation to them. I also took note again that they all looked the same. Sure some of them had lighter color hair or a shorter haircut but there was something very similar about all of them and then I realized I kind of looked like them too - without even trying. I was picked up by a Sophmore Lilac who I hit it off with immediately. It seemed like we spoke about everything and were so similar in all of our likes and dislikes. She also took me around to meet some other Lilacs. Before I left she told me that she had had a really hard time deciding who she wanted to pref during her recruitment and that I should go with my instincts and that she wanted to be friends and hang out even if I didn’t end up with Lilac – which I thought was the best thing she could have said.
When I left the house, Frick was waiting outside for me. As the Pi Chis ushered us up to the student center, Frick and I exchanged notes. We both had some decisions to make.
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