Of course that wasn't the end.
After Bid Day I was invited to COB parties with the organization that didn't have a house yet. I didn't know anything about that, either. I was certainly a blank slate! By that point classes had started, and my time was filling up. I enjoyed the ice cream social, etc, and getting into an organization right at the start definitely was appealing, but at the same time it wasn't on the same footing as the other houses. (That organization isn't represented at the school anymore, by the way.) So, I didn't accept the COB offer.
While I was at college I met so many amazing women!
I worked with an Alpha Chi Omega and a Delta Sigma Theta, and we made a great team. They were both so warm, and such strong, capable women!
The Sigma Kappas were super sweet, and I'm still friends with some of them today.
I considered participating in recruitment again as a sophomore, but I was really involved with my area housing association and a service organization. As a junior I already started my graduate-level education studies, so time was in short supply from then on, and rushing that late was really no longer an option.
And with all of this, I continued to occasionally participate with my mother's alumnae club back home. The Sisters were comfortable and supportive, and I wished I had that as my own, not just on my mother's coattails. Collegiates from my mom's school would come to things during breaks, too, and every event was better and better - even if half the women were twice my age or more.
As I'm sure you already realized, my legacy organization is one of those which have Alumnae Initiation. I didn't think of it while I was at school - and I probably didn't know about it at the time - but the Sisters in the alum club absolutely were discussing it. The moment I graduated from college, their plans became clear. One woman had kept her pledge pin (shocking!) and they pinned it on me at the next annual luncheon and invited me to join.