I hadn't intended to rush when I got to school - but for the first few days I was on campus, about the only thing to do -was- rush, so I figured I'd give it a chance.
I went through rounds one and two, and had a great time. But after round two, knowing that the sororities were thinking very carefully about whom to invite to pref, I thought very carefully about which sorority/ies I could see myself in, and the answer was - none of them. Rush had totally sold me on the idea of sisterhood, but I couldn't see myself suddenly calling 90-100 people "sister". So I dropped out of rush.
I'd made some friends before getting to school and met other freshmen during rush, and I did feel a little left out on bid day when they came running up to me in their new t-shirts saying "Guess what! I'm an XYZ! What sorority did you join?" I was rooming with 2 other women, each of whom had joined a different sorority, and it bothered me when I came back to our room to see elaborate door decorations from each sorority.
A new local sorority was holding its first-ever rush during the week following formal rush. I happened to see a poster advertising it, when there were about 15 minutes left for their first party, so I went over to the student center just to express my interest and ask when the next party was. I wasn't really expecting anything to come of it since I was sooo late, but I wound up staying for over an hour and talking to all the sisters. I went to their other parties (on time, LOL) and in the end they offered me a bid!
My sorority had only 7 sisters at the time, and by the time rush was over I knew I could truly call each of these women "sister". I had 4 pledge sisters, all of whom I'd also met over the course of rush. It meant a lot to me that when I signed, I knew everyone's name, year, major, and something about them (hobbies, etc.).
Another story... One year when I was rushing on the other side, a woman came through formal rush whom we all absolutely adored and who, we thought, liked us. Suddenly she didn't show up to a party. We discovered later that she decided she couldn't take the stress of formal rush, so she dropped out. A few of us kept in touch with her, and the next semester we invited her to informal rush (assuring her that it was -nothing- like formal rush
) and offered her a bid, which she accepted.
BlazerCheer... Joining a sorority may not have been the right decision for you right now. You must have been under tons of pressure, between the stress of formal rush and all of us on GC looking over your shoulder
, but you made the decision that's right for you. Take care.