Thanks for the comments everyone
I'm posting one part a day because if I tried to post it all at once it'd be a huge post. I thought breaking it up might be easier to read.
The next day was the second day of set 1. The first house we went to after our morning meeting was
Emerald House. I was looking forward to this one, since I had an acquaintance in here and wanted to see her. I ended up having some shallow-level conversations with a few weird pauses, but not too bad overall. I really did enjoy my time here, except that one of the girls I talked to used the slang word "sick" instead of "cool." Every time I would say something, like my major or anything at all, the answer was "That's so sick!" "Sick!" "Wow! Sick!" Etc. Aside from that, I had a pretty good time overall except that I felt unmemorable at all, like I hadn't really 'clicked' with any of the girls.
Right after Emerald we headed to
Obsidian House. Once we got seated, I had two really great conversations and I felt like I connected well with those two members, but the third girl I talked to felt very distant and I couldn't connect with her at all. Overall I enjoyed myself though, and two good conversations was enough to balance out one awkward one. Since I was starting fresh this year, I decided that I really enjoyed myself and felt like I could get along here.
After a break, my group went to
Amethyst House. Throughout my conversations here, I did not feel an immediate bond of sisterhood, but I certainly did have a chance to touch on some good topics, even though I felt once again that the conversations were very shallow. Overall, I enjoyed my time at this house as well, but I wasn't sure if I felt very strongly about it... It was a nice house, but if I couldn't connect with the girls, maybe it wasn't for me.
Ruby House was after lunch. I was looking forward to this house most of all-- especially because the woman I met to write my rec was really amazing and impressed me a lot! (Not to mention that this house was my favorite last year, which I couldn't make myself forget entirely.) My first conversation when we went inside was really good, and I really clicked with my first girl. Then I got bumped, and find out that I have some things in common with the second girl too, and I really felt like I clicked with her also. We shared some uncommon hobbies, and ended up having a really nice conversation. I felt a real connection. My last conversation flowed naturally but I didn't really feel like I had a connection with her. When I left this house I was very happy about it, and once again I wanted a callback here more than anywhere else. Then I realized I hadn't gotten along as well with the last girl, and what if I only felt like I connected with the other girls because that was what I wanted? I wasn't sure what to think. I did want to believe that I fit in with the actives, but what if I was just wanting this house because I wanted it last year?
I was also looking forward to
Topaz House a lot, even though it was the last house of the set. I was impressed from the minute I walked in, because the house had a really good vibe and I felt like they had a vibrant sisterhood, but my conversations weren't anything special. They were nice, but they didn't stand out as particularly memorable. I definitely liked this house, though. I was feeling pretty good about this house and wanted to go back and learn more about the sisterhood.
After this, we went to rank the houses and I agonized over my decisions. I had enjoyed all of the houses, and I didn't really 'hate' or even dislike any of them, so I had a really, really hard time deciding. In the end, with some help from my RC, I made a decision and got my votes in.
1.
Tourmaline House
1.
Tanzanite House
1.
Topaz House
1.
Ruby House
1.
Obsidian House
1.
Lapis Lazuli House
1.
Sapphire House
1.
Peridot House
2.
Emerald House
3.
Garnet House
4.
Amethyst House
I spent the rest of the day worrying about my callbacks and was absolutely sure I wouldn't get any. Going over my conversations that I could remember, I felt worried because it seemed like at a lot of chapters, I had only had shallow conversations like What's your major, where are you living, how do you like campus so far, etc. Sometimes I thought about a house and felt like I had clicked with the girls, but I doubted myself. What if they didn't feel the same way? Why had I had so many conversations that seemed 'blah' when I spent the entire year obsessively preparing just to get through recruitment? Finally I decided that I decided to go through again because I had to join a sorority, and I wasn't about to give up. I'd just wait and see.