My degree in
Journalism with an emphasis in French and Film Analysis and I thank you. And what, you may ask, does that qualify me to be? Pretentious.
I'm just out of bed (remember, I'm 9 time zones east of Central standard time) so I'll see if I can get this posted in 1 or 2 more entries. Oh, and just FYI, I started writing this while my husband and I were watching the movies back to back (as I said) and didn't realize it had gotten so late. When the movie ended, I went off to bed with the story incomplete and could NOT sleep. I finally got up at 4 AM to take a sleeping pill because I was so wired about this! I seriously could not remember when DG and Pi Phi cut me. The only thing I remember with certainty is that I had a full schedule up until Preference. And that is the sort of thing that will induce an anxiety attack in me. In the morning, I got up and had to graph out the houses and check off when each house cut me and who I had left at the end so that I could get it as accurate as possible.
And Dove, I'm sure you could figure out many of these, even though you went through virtually the same houses 20 years later.
So here we go!
Skit day was fun, but the only thing of note was that I talked to a girl at Belatrix who changed everything. She knew my sister was in another house. She pushed me for which, so I believe I finally gave in, but I made it clear that I wasn’t necessarily going to pledge her house. We just weren’t that close and I was going to make my own decisions. Then we got talking about the opportunities available to me at Belatrix. They were a bit smaller on campus, and the opportunities for leadership were much more likely than at the big houses. THAT was cool. Plus, I must have said something about not liking the idea that the houses are sitting around all night talking about me (something Cho had also shared with me). She assured me in no uncertain terms that “we don’t talk about rushees.” “but…” “no buts. We don’t talk about rushees. Period.” And my rush was over. I’d found my home.
OK, one other note. I was a few minutes late to the Mad Eye house, and rushing in, they welcomed me, I got seated and the party continued as normal. I realized upon leaving that I didn’t have my nametag on. I was very impressed that they’d all remembered my name.
I was cut from Neville, and Mad Eye, but I still had a full schedule.
On RSVP day, 2 things happened. 1-I became completely exhausted and SICK TO DEATH of rush. 2-my roommates moved in. My first roommate McGonigle was a barrel of laughs. She was loud (seriously loud) but funny, welcoming, tons of friends, that kind of girl. I look back on her and wonder why I didn’t try to COB her, except that I wanted such separation from that room that I probably threw McGonigle out with the Umbridge water. Umbridge was a prissy byatch who put on airs. I’m still confused about why she didn’t go through rush because I’m sure she could have found a home at the shallower end of the pool. But she is also the kind of person who wouldn’t have been able to take the rejection. She was ALSO the first person in my life to try to peer-pressure me into smoking pot. Do it, don’t do it, whatever. I wasn’t opposed to it as a concept or habit, but I certainly wasn’t going to give in to miss perfect. McGonigle smoked pot because it was fun and I’m sure Umbridge felt like she had to to fit in. But I didn’t have to do anything to make Umbridge happy and I’m sure that annoyed the crap out of her.
The parties on RSVP day had a couple hours break in the afternoon, and right about the time I was getting ready, McGonigle and Umbridge start drinking in the room. This is something I was definitely not opposed to, and in order to build my motivation to get through the day, I had a drink or two with them. Note to college girls: DO NOT DO THIS. Not only did I show up to Ginny late, I’m sure I smelled of alcohol. On the good side, we sat outside on their lovely deck at nearing sunset. On the bad side, in retrospect I might have been relegated to the outside.
At Hagrid I was really starting to feel a connection. They served these daiquiri-like drinks in tall glasses with long skewers of frozen fruit. They were VERY cute and the fruit was nice, except that there was no way to eat it. I mean, if you’re hanging out with your friends, you’d grab a napkin and go to down on that sucker. But we didn’t have plates, and no way to remove the semi-frozen pineapple chunks off the skewer in any way that might be called lady-like. And you couldn’t really drink the drink with the skewer full of fruit sticking out of the glass. We did have a good chuckle over that. I believe we decided I would eat the fruit and then she’d hold the stick.
Hermione was the last house of my RSVP day. When I went into the house, 2 things were different today. When I was asked if I wanted to talk to someone I knew already or didn’t (strange question on their part), I think I said something along the lines of, “oh, let me speak to someone I already know this time. Make it easier.” So yes, that really screams I WANT TO BE YOUR SISTER. The other relates to the bag I’d carried all week. It was a sadly fake Gucci bag that my Mom had brought home from a trip to the Philippines. The bags she bought there cost like $1 a piece, so she brought home a whole huge box. When they’d break (as they did; they were cheaper than crap and the vinyl straps couldn’t hold up to the cold of a Midwestern winter) we’d just throw it out and get another one out of Mom’s closet. We did this for YEARS. Anyway, my girl at Hermione (like many others had during the week) commented on my bag. Today I decided to tell her the truth instead of just thanking her and moving on. It’s a fake. Here’s how you can tell, etc. This was a day that we were in the girls’ rooms being heart sold (pre-pref… hmmmm), but we just talked about regular stuff.
So again, surprise surprise, I was cut from Ginny, Hagrid and Hermione, my legacy chapter. I was sad about Hagrid and sort of sad about Ginny, but I figured Hermione just made it easier on my. My sister was mad but no longer an active so she didn’t have any say, and apparently her friends were REALLY mad. What I was told is that they said they didn’t think I would be an enthusiastic sister. They told me what was said in member selection? Whatever. In addition to not caring about being cut, it again brought up my desire to be in a house that doesn’t talk about rushees. This would pay off in SPADES over the next three years, when we were done with voting each night in about 2 hours, and the partying would begin! Because it was summer, the Harrys and us would both have our windows open. So we sat around drinking beer listening to the Harrys across the alley fight all night over member selection. But I digress.
So next comes Preference!
