Alex and I both woke up on bid day at 6 am. We had absolutely nothing to do, so we both took showers, straightened our hair, then decided we both wanted to curl it, and finally ended up straightening it again... and then we still had an hour to kill. I honestly think that last hour may have been one of the longest in my life! 8:00 came and went, and still no knock. We were under strict orders not to leave until we had our bid, so we couldn't even roam around and see if anyone else had received theirs yet. It was 8:30 when we FINALLY got that knock. She tripped over my legs to get to the door, where our Rho Gamma stood holding two envelopes. She handed them to us, and we opened them together. Alex opened hers to find an invitation to join
PURPLE. I was a little disappointed, given my bumpy start with them. My hands were shaking so bad that I had a little trouble getting my envelope open, but it didn't really matter, because with the first tear of the envelope, I saw all I needed to see....
...the sorority colors of
ORANGE. My legacy chapter. The one I wasn't supposed to join, my runner-up sorority. I didn't even bother reading the rest of my bid. I think a part of me had known during pref that I wasn't going to join
LIME. Of course, they say hindsight is 20/20, so who knows? My Gamma Chi had already congratulated Alex, so she pulled me outside and hugged me and asked me if I was okay. I didn't want her to see my disappointment. I knew I had to just suck it up and live with
ORANGE. I celebrated with Alex for a little while-- I think she could tell I was hurt, but very wisely chose not to push me for more information. I went to a private little nook at the end of our hall and called my aunt, the same one who was an
ORANGE herself. I couldn't even get the words out. I can't even describe the mixture of emotions-- anger and hurt towards
LIME, sadness that the sorority I had wanted for so long had rejected me, but also so much relief that at least I finally knew where my new "home" was, and also excitement because I knew that the girls of
ORANGE really did love me, and I had really grown to care about them, as well. I also remember feeling so much guilt for being so bitterly disappointed. I
wanted to want to be an
ORANGE; I just
couldn't.
I calmed my nerves and talked things through with my aunt, who suggested I at least go through pledging. COB/Snap Bidding, or whatever you want to call it was very rare at our school, and wasn't even an option for me, so we decided the best thing to do would be to be a "big girl" and go through pledging, which was a semester long (apparently a school rule, because all of the sororities are like that).
Bid Day consists of girls wearing jeans and a white t-shirt, then lining up with all of the other new sorority members in a huge old building on campus. Outside the building, all of the sororities are gathered, wearing ridiculous outfits and make-up and screaming and chanting while they wait for the new girls to "run out." Which is actually what bid day is called-- "run out." The new girls in their white t-shirts run out one by one to their new sorority, who has no idea which new girls it got. When the new girl runs into the crowd of her new sorority, she is met with girls who "shirt" her with her letters and often cover her with silly string and glitter and all sorts of craziness. It's a really fun tradition. A lot of family members come to watch, too. In my case, my aunt and uncle were there, as well as my mom and stepdad. There was so much excitement in the air, but I felt like crying. I wanted to be running out to
LIME, not
ORANGE. Hearing
LIME'S shouts and cheers certainly wasn't making me feel any better. So as soon as I lined up outside and spotted my family, I started crying. With tears streaming down my face, I ran into the arms of
ORANGE. I got my new jersey and hugs from everyone... I thought I would suffocate in the middle of their large group. They either didn't notice my tears, or were gracious enough to not mention it. I hope more than anything that they just didn't notice....
Bid Day Part 2, coming early tomorrow morning/late tonight
