[greekmom2]

I am getting closer to the recruitment story (code is based on desserts since its Thanksgiving weekend and food has taken over my life), but as I said - this is less about the actual recruitment that what got her there, so with that said....

Over the next few months, she got sold – down the river, hook, line and sinker – pick your water metaphor. It happened in a variety of little ways. Her boyfriend in one of his numerous but more minor classless acts, used to take her to his fraternity parties and promptly dump her to hang out with the boys leaving her to fend for herself. Since she was usually the only independent in the room, it was like being the sole American tourist in Athens. By nature she is pretty reserved, so this was awkward. It did force her to be more outgoing, and occasionally she would see someone she had met, the girlfriend of one of boyfriend’s fraternity brothers, or an old high school friend. Fortunately those girls took the time talk to her and introduce her to their friends. In a short amount of time, she knew tons of girls in sororities all over campus.

It wasn’t just that though. She and boyfriend broke up. Then things got ugly. He was verbally abusive and a little scary at times.


Through all of this, the people who came through for her were in the Greek system. I can’t list all the ways this happened, and the many times they tried to help her (particularly the boys in his fraternity actually), but I will mention a couple that had an impact on her thoughts about sorority and sisterhood.


One night after a particularly ugly scene she left the fraternity crying and pretty much beside herself. An acquaintance in a sorority walked with her. She had a high school friend and another good friend who were in that same sorority, but she didn’t know this girl well. Still, she insisted that Brooke come back to the house with her and stay there that night. This was forboten (you had to give the house mother 24 hours notice for any house guest), and the girl knew she would get in trouble for it, but she did it anyway. She just didn’t want Brooke to be upset and alone (Brooke’s roommate had moved in with her boyfriend at the start of 2nd semester).


Another time, Brooke went to a party with a friend who was in yet another chapter and several of her friends whom Brooke knew but again, just barely. Ex was there. In no time he started saying some pretty nasty things about her just loud enough for her and the friends to hear. After about 10 minutes, one of the girls in this little group walked over to him and said, “If you have something to say to Brooke, try being a man and say it to her face.” Then she turned to the girls and said, “Come on, we’re out.” They all proceeded to march right past him.


Besides this her best friend on the cheer squad was in a sorority as well and quickly introduced her to her two best friends in her chapter and they became tight buddies.


By spring all she wanted to do was go through recruitment in the fall (well, August actually). Initially she thought joining a sorority would be a piece of cake since she was involved on campus, and she had tons of friends in them. Yeah…no. Brooke had yet to figure out that college wasn’t camp, and she was actually there to get an education. This lack of concern over that rather vital part of the experience was reflected in her abysmal grades. They had improved 2nd semester, but they weren’t great (this led to her not making the cheer squad when they had tryouts in the spring – one of the few times in Brooke’s life she had tried out for something and not made it which was quite the little wakeup call).


Also, it would be Pollyanna to suggest that her interactions on Greek row were all peace and love. If you have a crazy ex and you spend most of your time partying at fraternities that isn’t a likely outcome. She had girls she didn’t care for much and vice-versa. In short, she would be going through a somewhat competitive recruitment as a sophomore with low grades and some girls in various sororities she didn’t particularly like. Oh, and after a year on campus she also knew exactly which sororities interested her and which ones did not. Yep…she was an Amtrak train barreling toward an 18-wheeler stuck at the crossing and without knowing one single thing about sororities, I doubted this would go well.