My not-so-perfect rush story

[LOVEinZTA]

I give in, so if you don't like 'em, don't read 'em!

I went through formal recruitment in the Spring of 2006. A few things to set the stage for you:

-I went to a very competitive private high school where probably a good 75% of the graduates went greek. Also, about half of the faculty members had been in GLOs in college and the large majority parents were greek. That being said, I was definitely in the minority. Both my parents went to college but neither knew anything about greek life. Needless to say, I was pretty clueless and the girls I went to school with were always talking my senior year about what rush was going to be like and attempting to educate me.
-In context of the high school I attended and the college at which I would go through recruitment, my family was not very well off. I didn't own designer clothing (or even really go shopping much), go on ski trips, drive a Lexus, fake tan, or get my nails done weekly. Someone in one of the recent retro threads talked about how insecure she was, how she felt everyone was better/prettier/smarter than her, and how she knew her recruitment wouldn't go well. That was me as well, so read her intro and you'll get the gist of it!

The Beginning

As I said before, I grew up in an environment with many, many greeks around even though I didn't really know it. My first small exposure to greek life occurred when a friend went through recruitment at the school I would attend. I think I was a sophomore in high school at the time but I remember my mother calling a million parents from my school to try to get recs for her. She and I were friends but not terribly close. When I visited my future school me senior year of high school, I stayed with her and she showed me around. She graduated the spring before I started college.

When I had finally decided where I was going to school, I filled out a little card that my area Panhellenic had sent me to let them know where'd I'd be going. Within 2 weeks I had 7 people call me and ask if I wanted the to write me recommendations for the respective chapters. I really had no clue what that meant at the time so I said "Sure!" and took down their names and chapters to write thank you notes later.

Because I'm a coffee lover, I'm going to name the chapters present at my school after different coffee drinks!

Cappuccino - This was one of the 2 chapters on campus that I didn't have a rec for initially. I didn't really know anything about them - one girl that I graduated high school with joined this chapter at a different school but that was about it. My previously mentioned friend helped find someone to write me a recommendation from this chapter.
Latte - 80% of the girls I graduated HS with ended up pledging this chapter at whatever school they attended which on one hand made me want to hate them but on the other really intrigued me. From what I could tell, they seemed really put together.
Mocha - A girl a few years older than me from my high school was a member of this chapter - I didn't know her well but I had run in the fall and she was very friendly.
Americano - A couple girls about the same age as the girl I knew in Mocha from my high school were in this chapter, but I didn't know them at all. Their girls all seemed very athletic, something I wasn't!
Espresso - These girls were known for being very smart, which definitely attracted me to their chapter!
Macchiato - I believe this was the largest chapter on campus at the time and a few girls from my high school whom I DEFINITELY didn't get along with joined this sorority at different schools. As such, I probably wasn't as open to them as I should have been.
Cafe au Lait - This was my friend's old chapter. They were apparently a smaller chapter but all of their members were very, very sweet to me and they seemed to be a diverse group.
French Press - This house took every girl with a unique name, I swear. They're girls were VERY put together and were all very active overachievers.
Ristresso - I had met the recruitment chair from this chapter over the summer at orientation but I really didn't know anything about the rest of the girls or the organization.


Obligatory Disclaimer: Any opinions represented here are the first impressions of a clueless 18 year old.

More in a bit!