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ROUND THREE:
When I arrived at the meeting place for preferences day, I was once again extremely blessed to have a full schedule. ELLE, Marie Claire, and Glamour had cordially invited me back to their preferences parties. I wasn’t too sad to see the loss of Vogue, because it just meant that that house was not for me. I’d been trying to go through the recruitment process with the idea of “you’ll end up where you’re meant to be”, which is also how I went through my college application process. That had worked out wonderfully, so now I was hoping the same would happen here.
Glamour was up first. You could tell today was going to be more serious because, rather than cheering our arrival, the sisters were serenading us as we were led in. I was picked up by the girl I loved from the previous day and was so excited to see her again. We had a genuine conversation, just about our lives (including our dogs, which was a huge bonding point because I consider my dog like my child). She was the only person I spoke to at that party, which meant a lot, mostly because to me it meant that she had seriously just wanted to talk to me, and it made me honestly feel really special. The actual preferences ceremony was beautiful, some letters were read to seniors, some songs were sung, and then I signed their preferences book to show I had attended the ceremony and did a smaller ritual with the girl who preffed me. I left with a really great feeling, knowing I could totally picture myself in this sorority if every girl was like this one.
Marie Claire came after, and I was picked up once again by the girl I had loved the day before. The sisters were all dressed in really unique outfits, but they went with the theme of their sorority so it wasn’t weird it was honestly quite beautiful. The first girl and I were having a really good conversation, and two girls who I had spoken to during the first round came to tell me how happy they were that I was back for preferences and they had been looking forward to seeing me again. One of those girls then took the place of my first rusher to show me some photos about her life so far in the sorority and how much it meant to her. They were so sweet, and you could tell that she truly loved her sisters, her pledge family, and everything about her experience in Greek Life. She was also the one who led me through the preferences ceremony. A senior spoke about how the sorority had been there for her, in good times and bad, and then we were shown photos about the sorority as they all sang a song about choosing their sorority. I’m probably not doing this ceremony enough justice, because it was beautiful. I was nearly in tears by the end of it (one of the two who were getting super emotional) and just had that moment like the one I had when I was college hunting: I knew I had found my home. When I left this party, the girl who had just preffed me hugged me goodbye and I hugged her back because I just didn’t want to let go.
But I still had one more party to attend, which was ELLE. This had been my number one choice the day before, so I was interested to see how it would compare to the extremely emotional experience I had just had. I was completely surprised to be picked up by a girl I did not remember at all, and whom I could tell right from the start I had no connection with. She asked me if I had any questions about the sorority, and past that didn’t really have anything to say. It was so completely awkward, I had no idea what to do. My first two preference parties had been so wonderful that I was just confused as to how a chapter I had loved the two days had suddenly become one where I felt extremely uncomfortable in. I spoke to one other girl, but she didn’t really leave an impression on me. For the actual ceremony, the sisters took turns reading part of their sorority’s creed, and while the words themselves were beautiful, I had no connection to them either. While I knew that this house would end up with a wonderful group of people, I knew in my heart that it wasn’t for me.
As soon as I got back to the meeting area, I ran to one of my gamma chis because I wanted to do my rankings before I started questioning my feelings. She was a little surprised, because I was definitely someone who had needed to talk things out in previous days, but as soon as she had finished talking to the girl she was working with, let me come over again to do my rankings.
My final card went:
1. Marie Claire
2. Glamour
3. ELLE
And then it was time to go back to my room and freak out.
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