Philanthropy round wasn't super memorable for any of the houses. It's hard to think of activites to have rushee's do, I guess. I won't divulge too much information, because it will give the philanthropies away.
Each house had a space in the Student Union (McIntosh), so it was air conditioned and we didn't have to walk far. We were still allowed to wear casual clothing.
Cleveland was first. I loved their philanthropy and the fundraisers they did throughout the year that benefited the philanthropy org, as well as the community. The girl I was paired with was another girl from the same rival high school that Monica went to. More talk of mutual friends, and our hometown area. I really enjoyed myself! I knew I would be coming back.
Dayton came next. Sadly, this was when I knew Dayton and I would be parting ways. I was paired with a girl who was very dull, and patronizing at that. I could tell she wasn't happy to be there, and she spent more time talking to the sister next to her. It's not because of this that I dropped them, we just didn't click. The craft we made was also dumb. Mine was horrible, and worth chucking into the trash, which was when my Dayton girl became patronizing... "oh... that's so good, you're really creative." Are you kidding me? Barf. I knew Dayton was home to many great girls (like my RA, who was amazing, I loved her), but it just wasn't for me. I didn't feel comfortable.
Toledo was third. I don't really remember much, and there's not much in my notes, but I did enjoy the girl I was paired with. We had the same major, and we sat next to Amanda and her Toledo girl when we made our crafts. The 4 of us girls had a great time. Their philanthropy was a good one, and their fundraisers during the year were very Toledo-focused. Amanda still loved Toledo.
Columbus was last. Their philanthropy was one I wasn't very familiar with, but the craft activity made me feel like I was doing something worthwhile. They also had some really impressive fund raisers during the year, really fun ones that involved a lot of the campus and town community. Again, I was really impressed by this beautiful group of girls. The girl I was paired with had the same first name as I and was a theatre major, so she was not what I was accustomed to. But she was incredibly nice.
So, I had to rank at the end of this round and drop one chapter.
1. Cleveland
2. Columbus
3. Toledo
4. Dayton (drop)
I received notice the next day that I got invites to return back to all of my top 3.
Skit/second round was the following Friday. I HATED having to wait a whole week. I did know girls who got dropped by their favorites right away, and I knew girls who only received invites back to one or two houses for second round. I was very fortunate!
Amanda and Julie both dropped Cleveland, and were invited back to Columbus, Toledo and Dayton. The other girls I cared about... NIcole KNEW she was going to be a Cleveland. She was a legacy, and her long time boyfriend was a member of the fraternity that the Clevelands were very close to. Melissa didn't really know, but she really liked Dayton and Columbus. Ann was like me and also dropped Dayton, and was leaning towards Cleveland.
So, after living with my roomate for about 2-3 weeks by now... I KNEW things were not going to work out. She was up by 5:00 am every single day, and she was not quiet about it. (I usually rolled out of bed at 7:45 in time to get to my 8:00 class). She would make herself espresso (LOUD), and she would call her mom, who had to be up at 5:00am also. She also was in bed at 8pm and asleep by 9pm. EVERY SINGLE DAY. I am not a morning person in the slightest. I go to bed at 2 am, and I'm up between 7 and 8am (even to this day), but I'm not functional until after 10am. Well, my roomate thought it was incredibly dumb of me to be going through rush. She thought I should be hanging out with her. I tried to bring her with us when we went to the frat houses, and she came one time. But she left. Straight up disappeared about 30 minutes after we got there. I panicked, thinking horrible things... nope, she went back to our room, didnt tell anyone. I was not happy. She would tell me horrible stories, like about her infected pierced belly-button and yeast infections. Then she invited me to go to the athletic center to go SWIMMING... and since I didnt have a suit of my own, I could borrow one of hers!!!!!!!!!!!!! REALLY????? After telling me all about your horrible yeast infections???? I gagged. Anyway, she made rush really difficult. Even though all the girls in the room around her were doing it, she felt the need to let us know it was dumb. I ended up having to say something to my RA, who spoke to my roomie about how the girls in our wing were uncomfortable with her outspoken opinions of greek life. That shut her up, but only for a little bit.