[AZTheta]

Originally Posted by coveredinpaint

I posted earlier about rushing twice, so you can guess by the title I wasn't able to join a sorority.

Now, it isn't necessarily to say I went through the whole thing. I found out the second day of events that both my parents and my cousin were having two separate weddings (weddings which I would be highly involved in and would be required to travel the entirety of the summer.) So in the grand scheme of things, my parents' needs trumped my wanting to be in a sorority. Plus, I also was surprised with a puppy so that took up all of my time.

Afterwards, I tried to tell myself that maybe sorority life wasn't for me--life certainly didn't stop getting in the way--but I'm sure you ladies could understand how it felt for me. However, recently, I found out that a sorority is colonizing at my school next fall, and all the feelings I was repressing came back.

Now I'm back where I started: pining to be part of sisterhood and also fearing missing out on my youth.

I know I should probably actually try out formal, but with the increasing popularity of rush at my school, they're taking less and less upperclassmen (Some sororities on campus allegedly don't take juniors and up during formal, and I'm already "technically" at senior standing, though with two years to go.) I don't know if I should just cut my losses and go for the colony since I've read here they tend to want upperclassmen girls just as much as underclassmen. I've also technically been through recruitment twice (albeit both were crapshoots) so I imagine I have that against me as well. (Heaven knows the fact I'm an art student is already one factor against me.)

In addition, I read up on the colonizing sorority and absolutely agreed with everything they believed in and loved everything about it. I also like the idea of having more leadership opportunities from the get-go (I'm already a VP of a fairly successful club on campus but I like being involved.)

I know it's a mutual-selection, and they have to like me as much as I like them, but I adore what they stand for and that resonated with me enough that I'm this willing to look like a "dingus" in front of my peers for trying Greek life a third time. (Peer pressure is real, y'all.) All I can hope for is that the sorority would like me as much as I like them.

So as a person trying to be a part of Greek Life for the third time, should I check out the colony and give one last go?

(Clarification: I'm not checking it out because I think rushing a colony is easier, I'm checking it out because I have always wanted to be a part of a sisterhood and this seems like it could be what I've been waiting for.)

Originally Posted by coveredinpaint

Hi, I'm second semester sophomore and last year I rushed at informal sorority recruitment at my west coast school. It's almost informal recruitment again and I'm really wondering if I should rush again.

I should probably give you some background to what happened last year: That year, my best friend and I were super stoked about going through rush together, especially since we had taken some time to really get used to college. However, I wasn't really in a good place emotionally or mentally since I just went through a horrible break up. That being said, it was really easy for my friends to convince me they'd rather want me to rush XYZ (which is what they wanted) rather than ABC which I absolutely loved. As my best friend said, "I really hope we could all be sisters." (Lets be real though, I know that girl and I know it was because I was driving that week.) All in all, it was a stupid choice because I listened to my friends than myself.

Because my friends didn't want to rush ABC and wanted to rush XYZ, I instead went to all of XYZ's events and only 1 of ABC's because I had to drive both of them to the events (and they really didn't want to rush ABC with me.)

Obviously, because of that, ABC didn't pref me, but XYZ did, but honestly I knew in my heart I didn't want to be XYZ after pref night and I was so relieved in not getting a bid. (As for my friends, my best friend didn't get a bid while my other friend did.)

So the next semester I focused on my school like I always do, I got more secure in myself, and I became an officer in a very involved arts/departmental club on campus. (Involved to the point where we get prominent people [directors and stuff] to come talk to the students.) If I rush now I know I'm in it for the right reasons and not just because I'm lonely or desperate.

So here I am, again wondering if I should do it again. Idk how bad it'd be for a girl to re-rush or if people would remember. Idk what I'd do if I was asked about last time, but most importantly would it be worth it for me to do it?

Please do not base your decision on what you read about any sorority on its website. You are not joining the website, you are joining a group of women.

Being an art student is not a negative.

A colony will take some upperclassmen, BUT the majority of members will be freshmen and sophomores, simply because they need the continuity of members for more than one or two years for the colony to succeed and grow.

My advice: register for formal, and see where that goes. And definitely participate in the colony recruitment. What have you got to lose?