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Day 3 was our last all day round. Classes would be resuming the next day. This was a dressy day, somewhere between a job interview and a cocktail party. I went with a white blouse kind of tank top with a black skirt, black cardigan and patterned tights. The tights were a big conversation piece and a little taste of my personal style. Why am I giving you all this detail? Well, for the PNMs reading, use this as a small piece of advice. Dress appropriately, of course, but be sure to add that little flare of your personality and style. If you feel cute and confident in what you're wearing, the girls are going to be drawn to you!
On to the story...
I got a call from my orientation/RC group friend saying she had been told by our RC not to come in until 12. She was a little freaked out and sure that she had been cut from multiple chapters. I nervously waited for my phone to ring too, but it didn't. So, I braved the cold on my own and went to the hotel. When I arrived, I saw lots of sad looking girls, especially in my RC group. The girl I sat next to was looking at her schedule and shaking her head. "I'm dropping," I heard her say. PNMs, DON'T DO THIS! Trust the system! At least finish recruitment and give the chapters a fair chance.
I opened up my schedule and found I had been asked to five (the max for the day)!
Blueberry
Blackberry
Kiwi
Apple
Raspberry
I had been asked back to the chapters I kept from the day before! I was thrilled, but I tried to contain my excitement in hopes of not further upsetting the girl next to me.
First party was Blueberry. When I walked in, I was greeted by a girl I had talked to briefly before. She told me she was so happy to see me back, and I felt bad for not remembering her name. We were seated and talked about school and our majors and then the conversation kind of delved into the social aspects of the chapter. I knew these were girls who loved to party, but consistently kept it classy and had a very high chapter GPA. These were my kind of ladies! All very impressive, the types of women you know are going to be important in the future. We watched a cute video about their sisterhood. I talked to quite a few girls that day and I left feeling like I could see myself there, still.
Next was Blackberry. These girls had on what I still consider the cutest outfits of the entire recruitment. They were all wearing short dresses in their sorority's color (can't tell you which color for obvious reasons), navy cardigans with their letters, brown boots and a brown belt. I was in love! They all looked so adorable and collegiate and they seemed so confident in their outfits. Their theme was really cute and the video went along perfectly. It was so amazing how they had formed such a strong sisterhood in only a semester. They had pictures from past events that looked really fun, and everyone seemed so proud of the video. The girl I talked to the majority of the time is a girl I knew I wanted to stay in touch with no matter what happened. She was one of the greatest girls I met in recruitment. We clicked instantly, and she really made me want to be a Blackberry. I left really loving the chapter, and feeling like I was going to have a really tough decision to make that night.
The third party was Kiwi. Because it was now half-way through recruitment, all of the chapters switched rooms so that everyone got a chance to use the bigger ballrooms. Kiwi had moved to a really large room for this day, and their theme was amazing. The way everything was decorated was truly impressive. I don't remember the video we watched very clearly, I just remember that it was brief. The girl I talked to wasn't a great recruiter. She was nice enough, but we really had nothing in common. She made it clear she took her religion very seriously, too, and while that doesn't bother me, it's not really something I am interested in or invested in, and I didn't think it was a very appropriate recruitment topic. She also talked a lot about her boyfriend. All in all, it was awkward. I talked to another girl after her who was kind of sassy. At first I liked that about her, but it got old and I found it rude by the end. I left unimpressed by the chapter, and a little disappointed, since I had had a pretty good time the first two days.
I was thrilled that Raspberry was next. It was just what I needed to get that bad taste from Kiwi out of my mouth (no pun intended :P). The room was set up with chairs in the front facing a screen, and tables to stand at in the back. I had heard earlier that day from some girls in my RC group that the Raspberries were seating the girls they were planning on inviting to pref night in the chairs and escorting the girls they were likely going to cut to the tables in the back. I wasn't sure how much truth there was behind this, but I remember being so relieved when I was seated for the video. I was greeted by the girl from the day before's little, and I was happy to see her. The video was really cute, a mix between a slide show and bits of video from events the year before. It made all of us laugh, and I liked that they hadn't gone the sappy route. After the video, I was escorted to the back tables and I got very nervous. A group of seniors came to talk to me, and I discovered that one of them knew my cousins, and I felt better once the connection had been made. Again, it was so easy to talk to these girls. We all laughed and carried on like we were old friends, and I knew I belonged. I was sad to leave the party after the 45 minutes flew by.
Last of the long day was Apple. The girl who greeted me at the door was really sweet and fun to talk to. However, we quickly ran out of topics to discuss, as it became clear we had very little in common. The president came over again to say hello, which I thought showed a lot of interest on their part, which I appreciated. We watched their video and it was sweet and sappy, but really showed how important this chapter was to all of its members. These girls were not afraid to show just how much they adored their sorority, and they wanted everyone else to feel that way too. I knew a lot of girls were liking this sorority, but I just wasn't feeling any kind of connection to it. When the party was over, I knew most of the decision making would be easy, but there was one little bump that I was going to have to figure out.
Pref night required us to drop from 5 to 2. I already knew Raspberry made that list of two, and that Apple and Kiwi did not. It came down to Blueberry and Blackberry. I had grown to really love both of them, and wasn't sure how to decide who to choose. In the end, I decided on Blueberry because while the idea of being the Beta class had its appeal, I knew I wanted more history and stability in a chapter.
The top two were unranked, but you know how I felt.
Raspberry
Blueberry
Then we ranked our bottom three.
1. Blackberry
2. Apple
3. Kiwi
That night I was happy to find my roommate was back. She was excited to hear all about how recruitment was going, and because I had not heard of GreekChat at the time, she served as my diary for all of this.
I also found out that my friend who had gotten the call not to come in until noon did still have five chapters, she just had all late parties.
The next night was pref, and I couldn't believe I would have to wait so long to find out. I already knew there was no way I was going to be able to concentrate the next day.
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