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my first experience with rush was a nightmare. i grew up in nyc and was really unfamiliar with greek life. i never would have thought about rushing except that the only person i knew who had already graduated from my college raved about her sorority. she got me interested and so i went to school i went to all the greek life info sessions. my high school was a tiny, close-knit community and i felt lost in a huge university. i was so excited for rush.
i signed up for rush september of freshman year with a friend from my dorm (she was from the south, really understood the rush process, also more outgoing than me, not the best confidence builder). at all the info sessions the panhellenic vp assured everyone that the number of bids given out was dependent on the number of girls rushing, so everybody would get a bid. in reality she meant everyone who made it to pref would get a bid. so i was totally convince that in 5 days i would be a sorority girl. not quite...
i thought rush was going great. the girls all seemed so happy and nice. (being from new york all these people running around with smiles plastered on their faces shocked me). after the second night the panhell vp announced that some people might not receive any invitations to return and that she would phone them by midnight to let them know. my friend and i waited up till midnight with basically our whole hallway even the kids who weren't rushing to see if we got phone calls. none of us did so i went to bed relieved and excited. 7 am my phone rings, "sorry you didn't get any invitations, hope you enjoyed rush, please don't come back". i was devestated. i thought that meant that no one i had met those nights liked me and basically i felt like a big loser. plus i had to explain to my friend and all interested parties that i was not going back to rush. i pretty much cried all day.
at first every time i came into contact with greek life i felt sad and almost embarrassed. i felt like i wasn't good enough for the sororities.
then i began to build up my life at college. i made great friends, started playing club soccer, and found a job teaching part time at a preschool for special needs kids. i honestly don't think i would have ever done this, especially the job, if i had pledged first term. i became less sensitive about the "sorority subject". second term another friend begged me to accompany her to a cob event. this time around i wasn't so nervous and really had things to talk about. i was more mature and ended up in a better place because i waited to pledge. the people i know who dropped out of rush and never joined a greek group, though they were upset at the time, now have sooo many friends, know as many or more people than i do, and are really happy with their activities.
blazercheer, don't let this experience dampen the excitement that happens freshman year. no matter what there are so many new opportunities for you.
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