[ebdelt]

As soon as I was accepted into this school I knew I was going there. After touring and loving the people and campus, getting a hefty scholarship, knowing my grandfather was on the basketball team way back when, and just having a strong intuition it was where I "belonged" I was ready to start ASAP. I was a straight-laced kid in high school and had never been big into the party scene, but I knew I wanted to meet lots of people and make some great friendships with other guys in college, so therefore I thought...why not give rushing a fraternity a try? I had heard my school had a bustling Greek community. So I registered, albeit a bit late into the summer, but not extraordinarily late. It wasn't like I was doing anything that summer.

The previous summer I had a humbling experience working at Quizno's and after that misery swore I'd never return. This summer I was mainly hanging out with friends, dwelling by the pool, and being a lazy teenage guy (much to the discrestion of my mom who frequently pestered me to find a new job).

Now this school isn't in the SEC, but it is VERY greek. Over 50% of the students are affiliated, and as a smaller private college it seems you've seen everyone at least once on campus. No one in my family had ever been Greek. My sister dropped out of recruitment at after her favorite sorority dropped her before bid day and ended up being apart of her school's equestrian team and loved it while earning a full athletic scholarship (imagine having to follow that up!). Even then she wasn't a great guide to fraternity rush, as she had dated her high school sweetheart, who was attending the Air Force Academy, all throughout college and they eventually got married. So literally I had no idea what to do.

It was a slow start but the phone calls started coming. It seemed each day I was getting a phone call from a fraternity asking me if I wanted to come out to their party, or a lunch, or a weekend trip, or whatever to meet their guys. Of course I was flattered, but I remembered thinking..."These events are an hour away and I don't want to drive!" As a teenager with little money of my own, the one thing I dreaded more than anything was having to pay to fill up my own tank of gas. So I'd find an excuse to say why I couldn't go or just not answer the phone calls. I also didn't feel comfortable going out to these weekend excursions seeing as I was sure there would be lots of partying, and for me I just wasn't big into that scene. I wasn't too worried, I was confident that when it came time for formal rush I would really shine, and all this informal summer business wouldn't matter. Well needless to say, I would be in a big surprise come August.