this past winter during formal recruitment, we took an incredibly enthusiastic, fun, dedicated, loyal new sister - that happened to be a junior - and happened to have been through rush about three times... the first time she decided not to go anywhere - didn't sign her bid card... the second through fall informal - she thought she knew where she'd go and didn't get a bid (they took a really small class so she rushed again in the winter), and the third she suicided the same place and didn't go anywhere cause she heard they thought she was 'too old' or whatnot. all the while she had been friends with quite a few of our sisters, but hadn't considered us b/c we hadn't rushed her as hard as the other group (strange, huh? lapse on our part :/ ). so this past fall we started to invite her to casual sisterhood events, and just hang out with her and we ran her out with our new alpha class this winter. i'm so happy to have her as a sister, and i know that she says she fits in and feels more comfortable with us than she ever did rushing the other sorority - and she had been afraid at first before she got her bid that we didn't want her cause she hadn't preffed us, etc, before! ha! we were able to recognize how special she is... and because she's older, she knows how the greek system works, wasn't intimidated at all and has already made an impact with our chapter, taking on leadership roles - and recruiting already for fall informal rush
don't let an opportunity to become a part of a great sisterhood pass you by. don't worry what anyone thinks of you. be confident in who you are and what you want and i'm sure that someday you will be a wonderful asset to that special sisterhood.