And after having some more time to write, here is the rest of my recruitment story!
The next day, I my Pi Chi gave me my invites for theme night and I had
Rory
Rose
Donna
I was so happy to see Rory and Rose, and intrigued by Donna. I wasn't sad too Mickey and Amy go, and I wondered if I had been paired with a different sister at Martha if things would have been different. Some of the girls in my Pi Chi group were not so happy with their cuts, and two from my group dropped out at the point, and I know that happened all across the pi chi groups.
First up that night was my party with
DONNA, and it was like being with a whole different chapter then the weirdly quiet girls I had talked to the other night. I talked to a ton of different sisters and found myself clicking with everyone that I talked to. We laughed and joked around, and I hardly wanted to leave when the party was over.
Next was my party with
ROSE, and I was really excited to go back. I was hoping to see the sister I had the previous night, but I didn't see her there. We did a lot of activities that had to do with Rose's philanthropy, and at the end everyone got in a big circle and they asked PNMs to step forward and say what they thought sisterhood would mean to them. I wanted to be remembered, and volunteered to go first, and talked about body image and how I thought sisterhood would help with that, a couple sisters came up to me after and said they were impressed with me. I felt so good about Rose when I left!
And then finally, last again was
RORY. I was so eager to go back! My first impression was... not as good as it had been. Their outfits were super FRUMPY, which, idk just turned me off. Then the chanting stopped and I turned to the sister who was rushing me and... nothing. She had nothing to say to me AT ALL. She wouldn't even look at me. It was so uncomfortable. Finally we were sat down to watch a skit, and while it was cute, but I wanted to be getting to know the sisters, not missing out on inside jokes and learning general sorority facts. I left Rory with my thoughts turned on their head. All of a sudden my favorite sorority had become my least favorite!
So I filled out my card that night
1.
Donna
1.
Rose
2.
Rory
I was SO SURE I would get invited back to Donna and Rose for pref night I wasn't even thinking about Rory anymore, until...
Pref night came, my Pi Chi handed me my parties list and all I saw was
RORY.
I blinked at the little slip of paper, sure I had been handed the wrong one. But no, Donna and Rose had cut me, and suddenly I wanted to drop out. My hand shot up to talk to my pi chi, and I joined the small stream of girls leaving the auditorium because they were also unhappy about their pref night parties. When my pi chi couldn't get through to me, she brought over one of the panhellenic women (we'll call her
the Doctor) to talk to me-- she made me commit to going to Rory's party, and then I would call her right after and she would come talk to me. We went to the bathroom to dry my eyes and touch up my makeup, and I joined the line for Rory's party.
Rory's party was very ritual-like, and the girl who pref'd me was the girl I had talked to on Philanthropy night, the girl who had helped me fall in love with Rory in the first place. But I didn't care. I was trying the whole time not to just burst into tears again and storm out. I sat through their beautiful ceremony like a toddler having a temper tantrum. When I left the party, I didn't know how to feel. I called
the Doctor and we met to talk. I was still tearing up a little, but she caught me smiling a little too.
The Doctor called me out on my smiling (in a friendly, teasing way) and that made me smile more. She asked me if I really wanted the sorority experience, or if I only wanted to experience a certain sorority. I thought back to how I had felt after meeting all the sororities and agreed to go sign my bid agreement. I walked away feeling awful still, cried some more when I got back to my dorm, and ate greasy food with my friends.
Bid Day came, and everyone was excited-- except me. What was their to be excited about? I hadn't gotten a call from my Pi Chi, which meant I had a bid, and of course I knew who it was from. Our Pi Chi handed us our envelopes, we watched a short video (which was actually very moving) and then everyone tore open their bids. I opened mine slowly and stared at it, and it was what I knew it was going to be--
Rory. Two other girls in my group got bids to Rory, one was happy and the other girl was like me. One of the girls I had befriended got a bid to Rose, I was jealous.
We went to the gym to meet our new sisters, and I walked with my two new sisters, suddenly trying to console the upset girl, telling her all the things that the Doctor had told me. I found my spirits beginning to lift as we got closer to all the cheering girls lined up around the entrance to the gym. I found my gaze not forlornly going to Rose or Donna, but going to the excited Rory girls with a bit of hope.
One at a entire pledge classes were called down, then it was announced what chapter they were going home to, and all the girls from that chapter would rush forward screaming and hugging. When it happened for us, I hugged the girls from my floor who were going to be Rorys too... and they were HAPPY TEARS. The bid day party was great, I sat with great girls, and suddenly I was so, so glad I hadn't dropped out of the process.
Fast forward to now, the semester over, and I am now a fully initiated sister of
RORY, or should I say...
PHI MU. <33333
Phi Mu has changed my life, for the BEST, and I have never been happier. All along, Phi Mu was the place for me, and I had become momentarily blinded by it by one off experience. And for extra kicks, "Rose" the place I thought I had fallen in love with? Got in trouble this semester for hazing. Go figure. :P