[SLAM<3 Always]

I'm bumping this thread cause I would love to hear more rush stories and I would REALLY love to hear why you chose Sigma. My story is below...


I started college in the Fall of 2008 never expecting to go Greek! Ever! At the time I moved into the dorms, I had Marilyn colored blonde hair, a perfect tan and my entire room was filled with pink decorations, pink crown lights hanging up on the wall, rhinestones on my bedding, more high heels than school supplies, a future career plan as a trophy wife and to top it all off....a Legally Blonde poster above my desk. :-) I know exactly what your thinking....O.M.G!....or at least that's what I would have said back than as a normal response to someone! Immediately, everyone in the dorms said I had to go Greek, it's what Elle Wood's would have wanted me to do! To make matters even more interesting, there are two chapters (out of 5) on my campus with pink as their color and their entire houses are pink, inside and out! I signed up for formal recruitment with the most closed minded personality you could ever imagine! For me, there was only 1 house on campus worth joining and nothing would compare. The reason I wanted to join that house....it was painted pink. I know, I know...looking back at it, I don't know 1- how shallow I could have been 2-how little thought I actually put into it! I went to the first night of formal recruitment and the first house I went to had a great connection with me and vice versa. Houses 2,3,4 I was that girl who just acted like there was no reason to even bother with anyone in their organizations. House 5 was the one I had my heart set on and I didn't feel a huge connection with the girls, but I also didn't really care. I "needed" to be in that house! Night 2 rolled around and I was invited back to House 1 and House 3. I was so upset that House 5 didn't invite me back that I left recruitment entirely. I will never forget being told as I walked out that I would regret it for the rest of my life. I even told the person who said it they were wrong. It took me about 3 weeks to realize I was the one who was wrong and I regretted it more than I could have ever imagined. I set up an appointment with the director of FSL on my campus, read all of the PHC published manuals from cover to cover (yes, a few thousand pages combined probably) researched the colors, symbols, history, mottos, etc of all 26 PHC organizations and went into the meeting explaining why we needed to expand to 6 organizations. She told me than that they were considering bringing another house to campus in a few years and good luck with informal recruitment. That year none of the houses were able to hold a rush process due to being WAY over total, but a few had come meet the sisters nights, etc. My best friend who I met that year was affiliated to house 2 and she always encouraged me to consider going for recruitment again knowing how much I wanted to be affiliated and how many girls I knew in each house. Throughout the year I went to all of the events each house hosted, cheered with each of them during Greek Week, helped paint paddles/make lettered shirts, studied in the library for study hours, etc. I always felt like an unofficial member of Greek Life from my friends always including me on events as if I was affiliated. My sophomore year I went to formal and at the end of night one I balled my eyes out cause I wasn't able to decide how I should rank the houses! The next day I called the FSL director and told her to remove my name from recruitment and that I wanted to see if I could informally rush a house later that year or whenever the expansion occurred. My sophomore year was insane with rush events! I informally rushed 4 of the 5 houses (the house I had my heart set on my freshmen year was the only one I knew I was no longer interested in rushing cause I had no connection to any of the members) and made it to pref. night for 2 of the 4. I told my friends in all 4 that as much as I loved their organizations, I couldn't say I was home in any one particular one of them so I always walked away from the recruitment process. I started giving up hope that the campus would ever consider expanding in time for me to join and I started looking into the AI process for various organizations. I was studying abroad the term we opened for expansion and I would watch for updates on the process from 3,000 miles away, checking the FSL website every few days. When I returned to the USA my bff from house 2 told me to check out Sigma and that the consultants were on campus. It was the biggest leap of faith I ever took, being that I didn't know any of the girls rushing and I was only 30 credits from graduation. I received a text the day of preference saying that I had a bid and to show up the next day for bid day. When I got that text I cried my eyes out for at least a half hour. I finally had that "I'm home" feeling even before meeting the other sisters and my 4 years of waiting finally paid off.

I didn't tell my friends in the other organizations that I was rushing, but when I posted my bid day photos I was bombarded with texts from them congratulating me cause they knew how much it personally meant to me. I tell my sisters now, that somewhere between my sophomore and junior years while I was studying in the library with my Greek friends and we were all laughing about something, I realized what Greek Life really meant. It wasn't about the colors like I first thought. It wasn't even about the hoodies or badges I was so envious of. It was about those moments in the library at 2 am during finals week when we're all laughing about how ridiculous we are for being there that late cramming facts into our head. It was about the meaning behind the letters on the hoodies cause when you look at them, on the surface you see the fabric combos but truly what you see are the amazing memories and emotions those letters mean to the wearer. It's the look I see on my littles faces when they're together or come to me for advice. It's about the personal growth to do more and achieve more not only for yourself but for all those around you. I don't think I would have developed into the person I am today if it wasn't for the Greek Life influence on me. It's something that I am thankful to all 26 organizations, especially the 5 on my campus before Sigma for teaching me directly or indirectly cause I don't think I would have appreciated all that Sigma means to me now if it wasn't for that. Greek life shaped me into who I am today and Sigma gave me the home I have been searching for. Now I could never imagine myself in any other organization or my life without my Sigma family. Sigma made me realize somethings happen for a reason and sometimes you don't know what that reason is, but in the end everything will be exactly how it should be.

Can't wait to hear your stories, especially if there are other chartering sisters out there!