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Day 1 of Round 1-
Pandas- This was the first house I went to. The chants didn’t really phase me (I was used to hearing them practice every day so it didn’t have the same effect on me that it would a freshman) but standing in line was nerve-wracking. When it was my turn to be called in I stood with a nervous smile pasted onto my face while an enormous amount of girls stared at me from the inside. I wondered if I looked ridiculous in my rush shirt, which was so long it almost reached my knees. Oh well. I was escorted in by a gorgeous girl to a sitting room that was buzzing with conversation. I was excited to actually see inside and look at some of the girls in this house, because this was one of the few sororities in which I had no acquaintances, and because during my entire freshman year, I had seen maybe 10 or less girls wearing their letters. I never saw them around on campus and therefore had no opinion of them, which in my mind made Pandas a good house to start with. The conversation was so faced paced I felt like my mind was racing to come up with responses. I felt like any break in the dialogue would mean sudden death. When I left Pandas I thought I did a good job. After, however, I realized I was so intent on the verbal gymnastics I was doing that I didn’t notice the actual quality of the conversation. The girls seemed disinterested, one started past me instead of at me, one couldn’t think of anything to say (“You won a laptop from a poetry competition? That is so cool! That is sooooooo cool. Wow. That’s………like……so……cool!”) and in the end I was as unsure as ever of my opinion of Pandas and decided that I’d probably have to go back to even begin to form an idea of whether or not I liked them.
Nutria- I was very excited to meet the girls in Nutria. I had a Nutria for my lab partner in science class last year and met several others in some of my classes. I also had a friend who DA-d because of “drama”. Overall, based on what I’d seen around campus, I had a pretty good opinion of them. This time I got called in with my line buddy to the front of me. We talked a bit while walking and I discovered quickly that she was a genuinely sweet girl. Once we sat down however, she completely froze. Completely. The rusher started talking to me and I tried to swing the conversation around so my line buddy could answer questions, but she only gave one word answers. After a while some of the Nutria even ignored her, which I thought was rude. One girl didn’t ask us any questions at all, and simply talked about how great HER experience was in Nutria. All I could think was, that’s fantastic, but don’t want to know my name or major? I left with a bad taste in my mouth.
Panthers- By this time my voice hurt from the amount of talking. I never noticed before, but girls talk a mile a minute! I got called in solo. The conversation was…meh. It was refreshing in that the pace between my rusher and me slowed down and we had a deeper conversation than the basic “why are you rushing as a sophomore?” spiel, but we just didn’t click. Meh.
Ducks- This is one of the 2 chapters that my boys wanted me to get into, presumably because of the hotness of the ladies. I was interested for a different reason- I had 2 good friends who were Ducks, but one DA-ed after one term. I got called in solo again. This was the first house I went to where I actually got excited about the conversation. We talked endlessly about football and the upcoming game and how buttered toast was exceptionally good. I was so sad when she had to switch and I got another girl. But then I got into another excellent conversation with her! I was so sad to leave, which was the first time I felt that feeling thus far. That was definitely my new favorite.
Tasmanian Devils- By this time I was dead tired and hungry and didn’t put as much effort as I should have into the conversations there. I got called in with my line buddy to the back, who was a rush maniac. The weird thing was, when we walked from place to place, she spoke normally and was pretty cool. Once we got inside, however, I swear she adopted a valley girl accent, opened her eyes creepily wide, and pasted on a smile that looked painful to hold. I was weirded out. I intended to go through rush as myself and no one else and see where I would fit best. My line buddy’s 180 was off putting and it showed during my time here. Naturally, she dominated the conversation and even cut during questions directed to me. I gave up and admired the general splendor of the décor. I left knowing I probably wouldn’t get invited back.
Day 2 in a bit.
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