Philanthropy Round Day 1
To say I was nervous when going to meet the Rho Chis is the world’s biggest understatement. I spent 10 minutes staring at myself in the mirror telling myself that this list is zero reflection on who I am. Each party during this round is 35 minutes long and we have 15 minutes between each. When I got my schedule I was really surprised, but found 8 houses!! Whooha!
Jesse
Buzz
Sarge
Barbie
Bo
Rex
Etch
Woody
This I could completely handle but what I had a really hard time handling is the girls around me freaking out about the reality that was staring them in the face. I hate seeing people upset and really just wanted to hand my schedule to one girl and say “here you can have it.” MANY tears were flowing, cell phones were calling moms, etc. I texted my mom and told her who I had and she was really happy for me. She has really been a mess (so my sisters says, she seems ok to me). I have no idea what makes a chapter choose one girl over another. Many girls around me seem put together, they have to be smart enough or wouldn’t be here, and seem sweet. Who knows, but I do know I am happy with my list but really disappointed that not everyone is happy. Guess it is just like toys in the box…sometimes people always want the same one. With that said first party was:
Rex: This was one of the houses I was really looking forward to going to. The house was decorated so cute and I actually was not looking too forward to this round in general because philanthropies to me are something you should be passionate about to do quality work. There are some chapters that have charities that I can really relate too, but this chapter’s philanthropic work was a big question mark for me. After watching the video they showed, I honestly got it. And what really moved me is they do make a difference in the lives of some very special people. Because of their local affiliation, they can do this everyday if they could find the time. I was rushed by a different girl than yesterday, and she too was in an honors program, but not the same as mine. We had a really nice conversation and I got an opportunity to meet the President of the House and the VP of Membership. I left here feeling really good about this house. But at the same time I took a deep breath and realized that I need to make a good showing everywhere else.
Jesse: This time I did not know who I was paired with and for most of the party I was talking with two actives. They had told me my friend in the house said really nice things about me. There were a few awkward moments in our conversation but mainly because it was just so loud I honestly could not hear the question. I feel like I said “can you repeat that" too many times, but not as bad as giving what ends up being a dumb answer to a question you thought it was. I enjoyed hearing about their philanthropy although I have never known anyone to need the services of the charities they honor. I can see them being in my top 6.
Buzz-Really love this chapter's philanthropy and they were really big at my sister’s SEC school, but I think they struggle for an identity here. All the girls are nice, mostly pretty and seem to love each other but it seems very forced. Like that little kid that says, play with me! play with me! The girl rushing me literally kept telling me over and over how happy they were that I there (where else was I going to be? Kirby Lane having pancakes maybe??) I had forgotten how I felt at this house the day before and when I looked at my notes it said “tried too hard.” If everything goes well at the other houses, I could see this house being in my bottom 2.
Etch-This house sure has so much spirit you can tell they love doing what they do. This would be considered one of the very top houses and part of me sees why and the other half just doesn’t get it. Or maybe I don’t get what “top” is all about. But that is a story for another time. I was paired with a girl that is on cheer for UT at this house and we of course talked about Cheerleading. I have to say for me cheerleading is something I did because I was good at it, but not because of the lifestyle that people perceive cheerleaders to live. It was just one of those things I knew I would do, but my school work was really important too and I knew I would not pursue Cheer in college. If anything, I wanted to get away from it. So Miss Peppy Patty was a little over the top for me and when she found something we had in common she would do a little clap that cheerleader types do and I really think I rolled my eyes.
I tried to control it, but I have no idea if I was successful. I was passed to another girl I loved but I have no idea how much damage was done at this point, so they probably are not headed for the bottom of my list but I would not be surprised if I was on the bottom of theirs. Not my most shining moment.
Woody-Last but not least today was Woody. I really can see how these girls share a really bonded sisterhood. Their philanthropy is really awesome and I enjoyed learning about it. I really like the two girls I talked to and I met the President and Director of Recruitment here. They were very nice to me and said how they wanted to get to know me better. I had a really great time here and don’t want to say too much to give the house away but I know they will be in my top 6.
Okay, well it is bed for me soon and I have three parties tomorrow. I was going to update them all at the same time but didn’t want anyone to get cranky by skipping today's update. On a different note, the weather has been really nice. A week ago temps were well into the 100s and yet this week, the mid 90s. For Texas that is really good and of course no rain because we don’t know what that is here.