[elle1776]

We didn’t have any parties the day after Sisterhood because of a religious holiday so I waited patiently, and nervously, for two days until it was finally time to head over to campus and see what invites I would be receiving for Preference. I knew that I really wanted to see STRAWBERRY and WATERMELON on my schedule but, as I had learned from recruitment at my previous school, anything was possible. I knew that if I had ORANGE or GREEN APPLE I would be happy to be in either of these chapters, but I also knew that it would sting to lose my favorites. I drove to campus and walked to my Rho Chi. Girls in my group were already there comparing their invite slips with each other which made me even more anxious to have that piece of paper in my hand. My Rho Chi handed me it and it said….
































































STRAWBERRY
WATERMELON




I absolutely ecstatic!!! I had my top 2 back!! The top two that I had been so in love with all week!! I felt so much more relaxed as I headed over to STRAWBERRY. I knew that no matter what happened tonight, I would definitely be happy with whatever chapter I ended up in the next day.

STRAWBERRY: Standing in line at STRAWBERRY, I recognized so many other PNMs that had been invited back as well. I kept reminding myself to look around at the girls next to me, these women could be my future pledge sisters!! It was finally time for the party to begin and the president came out and welcomed us to their house. She then went back inside and the doors were shut by two pretty alumnae. The actives then opened the doors and individually invited us inside of the house. I waited in line excitedly thinking about who could be the girl that picked me up at the door. The door then opened for me and I was so happy to see the girl I had talked to on the very first day. She was my first impression of STRAWBERRY and we had really connected. She gave me a big hug and led me through their foyer. There was white tulle and small, white twinkling lights that covered the entire entrance to their living room. Actives were on the other side of the tulle tunnel, singing one of their songs about STRAWBERRY(except you couldn’t see them at all. It was magical). It honestly felt like going through a fairy’s winter wonderland. I then reached the entrance to the living room and was announced to all of the actives. They welcomed me back at STRAWBERRY all at once and I was then led to my table. The tables were decorated absolutely beautifully with elaborate flower centerpieces and gold glitter sprinkled throughout. There was a letter written for me with a rose dipped in gold glitter. The living room was covered in white tulle and lattice with beautiful flowers wrapped through. Even on the ceiling there was lattice with flowers! It was really impressive! My active told me to read my letter while she and the other actives stood to greet other PNMs coming in. My letter was so sweet and beautiful. A girl I had talked to the day prior wrote it for me and I teared up a little bit reading it. Once all the PNMs were seated a glass was rang (kind of like at a wedding) and the party began. My active handed me a little menu and told me to select which cookies and ice cream combination I wanted. The menu was so cute and there were so many options! I chose snickerdoodle and vanilla and my active chose the same as another active came by to grab our selections. We started just talking about our day when the active came back with our desserts in the cutest martini glasses with mini gold spoons to eat with. It was absolutely the cutest thing and I loved that we got to choose. My active and I just started talking about everything under the sun. How stressful recruitment is, the chapter’s sisterhood, how close we were with our moms. I even opened up on how transferring from a different school had been a really hard decision and how my car accident had affected my mental health there. We hit it off like we had known each other for years and I felt so comfortable with her. Then she asked me what other chapter I was preferencing that night. I felt a little uncomfortable knowing that this was not necessarily a question you should ask someone and knowing that this chapter had been fined in previous years for dirty rushing on preference night. I told her WATERMELON and she told me that she had the same two houses on her pref night (these two houses compete with each other) and how happy she had been to choose STRAWBERRY. I knew she was just trying to sell me on the final benefits of her chapter, but I felt like it could’ve been started a different way. She then led me outside to their patio where another active gave a speech about how she had lost a family member the year prior and how the girls of STRAWBERRY gave her the strength to continue with school. It was a very moving speech but as I looked around to the other actives, I noticed that I didn’t recognize very many of them. We were then led out as four women sang a beautiful song about sisterhood. My active gave me a huge hug and wished me luck and love as I left the house.


Walking over to STRAWBERRY I knew that they had set the bar extremely high for my decisions. I had such a wonderful time there and couldn’t wait to experience WATERMELON’s pref. A bunch of girls from STRAWBERRY walked over to WATERMELON together and got in line.

WATERMELON: WATERMELON’s doors opened and the president gave a speech very similar to STRAWBERRY’s as they began to welcome us in two at a time. It was finally my turn and my active came forward and called my name. I was so excited it would be her preffing me. We had met on philanthropy day and had totally connected, both of us were junior transfers and I saw her as role model from the second I met her. She gave me a token to wear throughout the party and led me in to the living room as other actives greated me along the way. She sat me down and told me to read my letter while she greeted more PNMs coming in. The room was decorated all black, including the actives dresses. The centerpieces of the tables were white and blue lilies with beautiful ribbons wrapped around the large vases. There were candles placed all around the table and it felt very mysterious (but in a good way). My letter was written by another girl that I had met the first day of recruitment. She was involved in a program that I wanted to be involved in and she said that no matter what I decided after this night, she hoped to see me in that school’s program with her. I really liked that idea that these girls would be my friends even if I didn’t decide to join this house. Once all the PNMS were in my active showed me the macarons on the table and sparkling apple cider that was for me. The macarons were so delicious and we laughed together on how many crumbs were getting everywhere and I felt totally comfortable enough to not worry about how I was eating those pesky macarons. We talked about the same things that I had talked about in STRAWBERRY but with my active here I felt more of a down to earth vibe from her. We talked about the struggles of being older and joining a new school and I once again opened up my rough time the year prior. The girl that wrote my letter stopped by and gave me a big hug saying that so many women wanted to pref me that night and that my active was so lucky. I felt so special and really felt at home here. Another active stood up and gave a similar speech to STRAWBERRY’s that had the entire room, including myself, in tears. We were then all led outside and surrounded a totem of the sorority. Another moving speech was given and we each walked up one by one, placing our token on the totem. The actives were quietly singing all around us and after I placed mine, I looked around the patio and recognized so many faces. I remembered so many girls that I had wonderful conversations with throughout the week and really didn't want this party to end. But, alas, it was time to go and we were led to the front door through a tunnel of actives holding candles. My active gave me the biggest hug saying that she hoped to see me the next day. We stood outside in a group as the actives paused at the door, still signing their farewell song, before blowing out their candles simultaneously and shutting the doors. I got chills.



I walked over to voting and quietly thought about my decision. I felt so conflicted and knew that I would love to be a part of either chapter. I looked through my notes in my PNM handbook and noticed that I had enjoyed WATERMELON a little bit more each day (except for one where STRAWBERRY had beaten them out slightly) I also noticed I had met so many more girls in WATERMELON than I had in STRAWBERRY. Girls came by each day to say hello if I had met them before and I could actually remember their names and what we talked about exactly. With STRAWBERRY, eventhough I had loved my time at their house this week, I hadn’t met as many women and of the women I met, I couldn’t really remember their names as well. While I LOVED the girl that preffed me in STRAWBERRY, she was the only girl I had really remembered. While the girls in STRAWBERRY were similar to me, I saw the women in WATERMELON as leaders and role models, the women that I knew would push me to be my very best and would be there during the highs and lows. I went to my Rho Chi and confidently ranked…

1. WATERMELON
2. STRAWBERRY