[AOEforme]

Second Rounds:

Her schedule:

1. Wisconsin
2. Iowa
3. Break
4. Michigan State
5. Penn State
6. Illinois
7. Break

WHERE is Michigan? She was nearly close to tears. She called me. I told her to breathe, and look at the positives. She could change her opinions on chapters and she still was lucky enough to have 5 chapters, some of which she had really liked.

So, with less than a stellar attitude, she went off to Wisconsin.

Wisconsin- Maybe it was her attitude or maybe it was just the girls she met with but her opinion of Wisconsin totally changed. She no longer liked the house and was determined to drop it.

Iowa- The girl rushing her was "spacy" and seemed to concentrate on material things. She asked my sister where she got her cute skirt and when my sister replied "Johnson Creek" (a popular outlet store near our school), the rusher wrinkled her nose before moving on. AOEforme Jr. said the next girl she interacted with was very kind but the first girl had spoiled Iowa for her. Addie still adored Iowa however.

Break- She called me again and complained about the choices she had left. I was not kind to her. I told her to stop being rude and enjoy rush. These houses had liked her enough to invite her back and she should look at them with an open mind.

Michigan State- She again felt neither positive or negative things about Michigan State. She saw it for what it is (an amazing chapter) but she didn't believe she would fit in it. Addie was with her at this house and Addie was in love.

Penn State- Again, she got that vibe of trying too hard. She didn't feel she could stay in this house and be happy.

Illinois- At her last house of the day, she finally felt she enjoyed it. The girls were very kind, the house was beautiful, and she had a fun time. "I was really uncomfortable though," she said, "and I don't know why. I think I was just nervous that they will drop me."

She recounted all of the last three parties to me at what was actually an informal recruitment event for my chapter. One of my sisters was becoming close with AOEforme Jr. and had invited her just to hang out and enjoy free food.

As I walked her back to the dorm, she mentioned that she hoped she felt as comfortable with her future sorority as she did with my current group. She wanted a tight-knit group who she could be herself with. "Sitting there watching TV tonight made me want to drop out of Formal and join your chapter," she said.

I was surprised. I would adore to have my biological sister as a sister, but I wanted her to get parts of the sorority experience that I was missing as a small, new group. I wanted her to be able to go to any store and buy her letters, to live in a house, and enjoy the century-old legacy most chapters at my school have.

And that's when I stopped myself. Who was going through recruitment? Me or her? And wouldn't I love her to have the sisterhood I have?

I told her basically what I had typed out above. It was truly her choice. I gave her what I saw the pros and cons of being in a smaller, new, non-NPC sorority. "Duh! I know those. I've watched you," she replied.

I told her to take the weekend and think about it. There was no way she could attend both Formal Recruitment's Pref Party and our Pref Party. (They were at the same time, which is never a conflict because girls going through formal don't go through our Early Recruitment Period.) If she was truly unhappy after preference, she could leave her bid card unsigned and go through our informal recruitment in September.

"I'll think about it. I just want to feel at home like I do with you guys." (I pointed out that this takes time, but you know how freshman are!)