[beebee21]

Do you all remember that feeling of walking to get your schedule for the first time on the second day of rush? I felt more like I was floating than walking - I was totally mindless. Not to mention, the top I was wearing had a really tight line under the bust, so there were a few reasons I couldn't breathe. I had been so nervous. I felt like I charmed the houses I cared the most about, but who could be so sure? All of my friends that I knew who had gone through rush in the fall or in previous years ended up getting cut from the houses they originally loved, so I was pretty sure my fait would be the same. I kept an open mind, though, because they all were so madly in love with where they ended up I knew I would be too.

I mentioned in my first post that we had assigned seats in our ballroom. Well, in the morning, our name tags were placed on the chairs with our tiny schedules slipped inside. I looked at my RC in hopes her face would give something away, but she averted her eyes. Uh oh.

I opened up the list and scanned to see how many had asked me back. 7 out of a possible 7. What a relief! As I searched my list, I saw that to my relief, Lime was no longer on there. However, Watermelon still was. I had to scan a few times more to figure out who I was missing from my list of 7. Ah hah! Of course. Tangerine. At first, I felt a tinge of disappointment. I didn't believe that my boy's ex could have something to do with it, so I just thought over and over of what I did to turn them off. I was still thrilled, though, because I still had Raspberry and Blueberry which had been my favorite two of the first day.

I walked into the bathroom to touch up my make-up and saw gaggles of crying girls. I instantly felt silly for caring that ONE house I wasn't even sold on anyway had cut me. One girl I knew was crying about getting cut from three of the houses she liked, and I felt even worse for having cared as much about the one house. I was about to have a great day and learn more about some amazing girls!

So here's what I had left for day 2 (PHILANTHROPY DAY!) in order of my favs from the day before:
Raspberry
Blueberry
Banana
Kiwi
Apple
Blackberry
Watermelon

First up was Blackberry. The girls had on jeans and t-shirts again this time with information about their symbols and their philanthropy on them. The girl who greeted me was a girl I had heard of before but never actually met. She was extremely bubbly and cute and was someone I immediately wanted to be friends with. She was really outgoing and had the kind of "love me or hate me" attitude I admired and envied. She seemed kind of like a badass but in the best way possible, a total older sister like figure. She told me how she lived in a house with 7 other girls in the geek system, and they represented 3 or 4 different sororities. I thought that was pretty amazing. We talked about the philanthropy and did a craft that she seemed to be really proud of. I felt completely differently about these girls than I had the day before, and was so glad I didn't cut them. I left happy about such a great start to the day.

The next party was Kiwi. I was greeted by a really outgoing girl who reminded me a lot of the girl from the first party. She too had that kind of badass I don't care what you think of me mentality and I admired it. We started talking about philanthropy, but the topic quickly switched to dance and working out, things we were both very interested in. She told me about Zumba classes in the area and some of her friends came over and joined our conversation. When she was bumped, she told me how much she hoped to see me again and I felt really good. When the party was over, I left very smiley, knowing I just made a good impression and really enjoyed these girls. I saw myself as a sister in their chapter.

Next, it was back to Banana. They had once again dressed really tastefully and classy and I loved the ambience of their room. It sort of felt like I was in a high society country club without the snootiness. I spent the vast majority of the time talking to one girl. At first, I really liked her. She told me all about how she was a transfer and how being a Banana really helped her adjust and love the school. We turned the topic to dance and she talked about her training and how she had originally gone to school to major in dance. When I told her about my dance experience in high school and how I had considered trying out for the dance team at our school, she scoffed and essentially told me I wouldn't make the team. It was way too competitive. It seemed like she didn't even believe I was a dancer, which I found insulting and extremely odd. When I left, I was pretty sure I wouldn't ever be comfortable in their chapter.

I was thrilled that the next party was Raspberry because I was sure it would wash out the bad taste I had gotten in my last party. The girl who greeted me was striking and I was immediately intimidated. As soon as we sat down, though, and they stopped singing and dancing (I absolutely LOVED this song/dance) we sat down and talked. Turned out she was from my area and we immediately talked about our love for In N Out and how much we missed the beach and how crazy the weather was. Our conversation flowed so well there was never an awkward or quiet moment. Her little and little little came over and introduced themselves and I sat talking to their whole family. They told me about the things they did together and I felt like they were my family already. The girl from the first day came over to me and said how happy she was to see me, and I felt amazing. Someone stopped all of the conversations to explain the philanthropy. I had known about it before thanks to some research, but I didn't feel like it was as important as some of the other philanthropies, though it took me a second to realize the connection and significance it had within my family. I couldn't believe how fast the time flied and I left hoping so much that I'd get to see all of them the next day. As I walked out, my friend from orientation who was in my RC group looked at me and said, "wow, you look so happy!" "It went REALLY well," I replied.

Next was Watermelon. Even though I had cut them, I remained positive and put my best foot forward. I knew quite a bit about their philanthropy because of my Watermelon friends at other schools. It was also a generally high profile cause, and one I cared deeply about. I was very intrigued by their theme for the day because it coincided really perfectly with their philanthropy. We talked a lot about art and I told them how envious I was of their artistic abilities. I gushed about their door and found that I was talking to the girl who had designed it. We talked about classes and a little about their boyfriends (I was shocked at how often this was coming up!) and a lot about their philanthropy and how important a cause it was. The next girl I talked to was really sweet, but clearly shy, and our conversation did have a lull at a few points. As sweet as these girls were, and as much as I could tell they really loved one another, I didn't feel any kind of rush or excitement about them. I didn't see myself being their sister, but I definitely hoped to be able to stay in touch with some of them after rush.

Next was Apple. I hadn't been very impressed with them the day before, but after seeing how much my opinions changed that day, I was more than willing to give them another chance to change my mind. I was practically bombarded by girls in this one. They all seemed to have heard great things about me and wanted to talk. The president came back over again too and lingered for a while. The girls were great. Smart and funny and full of life and love. Their philanthropy was another cause I believed in greatly, and I really enjoyed their presentation. At the end of the party, I was on the fence about them. I managed to keep good conversations going the whole time, but I still wasn't sold. I didn't necessarily see myself as a part of their sisterhood yet. But that wasn't enough to keep me from wanting to keep trying.

Last of the day was Blueberry. I loved their outfits. They corresponded really well to their big fall philanthropy event and when we talked about the foundation they supported, I was really thrilled. One of my favorite teachers I ever had in high school benefited from this philanthropy, and when I told her story to the sisters, they looked like they were going to tear up. I could tell they had already heard so many sad stories being involved in this philanthropy, and to see how genuinely they seemed to care about it made me really adore the sisters. They all seemed so close and like real sisters. They were all just genuinely happy to be together going through recruitment and to be welcoming new members in a few days. All of the girls mentioned the thing about the sister who had lived in my dorm room the year before. Everyone seemed to get a huge kick out of that story and continued to tell me it was fate that I was there. This was such a great party to end the day on. I left feeling like I could absolutely see myself as a sister in this chapter and felt really proud.

It was pretty easy for me to make my cuts at the end of the day. We were supposed to pick 5 sororities to keep (unranked) and our bottom 2 (ranked). The next day we would return to a maximum of 5 parties.

Even though my top 5 were unranked, I'll rank them for you anyway.
Raspberry
Blueberry
Blackberry
Apple
Kiwi

1. Banana
2. Watermelon

I left that day feeling really good. I knew that even if I didn't end up in certain chapters, there were so many girls I would look to keep in touch with. It was clear that there really was unity among the greeks at my school, and I felt really lucky.