A 10 year anniversary retro thread

[chesney214]

Seeing as it will be the 10 year anniversary of when I went through Recruitment (yikes), and as there has been a sudden resurgence of retro Recruitment threads, I thought I'd post mine for anyone who's interested. As a bit of background, I have been on GC for a couple years and am writing under a different name so as not to give away the ending.

As a high school senior I didn't know much about sororities (except what I had seen on Beverly Hills 90210 or in the movie Dying to Belong – which was of course completely accurate), but I knew I wanted to join a sorority. I loved the social aspect, the ability to make a bunch of new friends, and the thought of being involved in a national organization. The school I attended had a Greek preview of sorts which I went to in the spring, and of course I fell in love with a particular house...as well as found a couple other houses I liked.

Rush, as it was still called when I went through, took place a couple weeks before school began and you could either live in the dorms or commute from home. I wanted to live in the dorms, but my parents wouldn't pay for that and I couldn’t afford it on my own. I ended up staying with my aunt and uncle, where I could easily take the bus to the university.

Now onto the good stuff - the schedule was a full week.
Day 1 - Orientation
Days 2 & 3 - Open House (visit 8 sororities each day, a total of 16 - each one performing a song during the party)
Days 4 & 5 - House Tours (tour up to 5 sororities each day, a total of 10)
Day 6 - Skit Day (visit up to 6 sororities and see a skit they presented)
Day 7 - Preference (visit up to 3 sororities for their pref ceremonies)
Day 8 - Bid Day

The sororities on my campus were:

Alpha Chi Omega
Alpha Delta Pi
Alpha Gamma Delta
Alpha Phi
Alpha Xi Delta
Chi Omega
Delta Delta Delta
Delta Gamma
Delta Zeta
Gamma Phi Beta
Kappa Alpha Theta
Kappa Delta
Kappa Kappa Gamma
Pi Beta Phi
Sigma Kappa
Zeta Tau Alpha

I'll name all the sororities after NFL teams

Dolphins
Rams
Bengals
Patriots
Packers
Bears
Colts
Ravens
Raiders
Cowboys
Giants
Eagles
Jets
Saints
Titans
Panthers

I don't remember all of the details of every day, but I'll post as much as I do remember.

[DreamfulSpirit]

I love the code names! Going for my favorite team, which is also my hometown team...GO PANTHERS!!!!

[gee_ess]

Yippee! Bring it on..

[ree-Xi]

GO PATRIOTS! (But also go AXiD!)

[twinkle555]

DAAAA Bears!

[LucyKKG]

Holy Pahellenic, Batman! That's a lot of sororities! I'll root for the Packers since the 49ers aren't on there.

[violetpretty]

I hope Sigma Kappa isn't the Ravens, Patriots or the Cowboys. Since my team is not on there, I'll cheer for the Giants.

[BlueHenTheta]

I'm rooting for Theta of course, but since I don't know which one that is I'm going to have to go with my hometown team - the Eagles!

[spirited*pnm]

(except what I had seen on Beverly Hills 90210 or in the movie Dying to Belong – which was of course completely accurate)

I saw Dying to Belong a few years ago on Lifetime. Not a funny movie by any means, but there was one line where a character got annoyed with someone and said, "JUST DROP IT!" which was actually quite morbidly ironic/eerily humorous considering what happens in the film.

Also, go Titans!!!!!

[chesney214]

Day 1 - Orientation
All the girls signed up for Rush (about 500 of us) met up in a big hall on campus and were addressed by the girls on Panhellenic. We were then divided into our rush groups, where we met our Rho Chi's (there were two per group). There were one or two girls in my group that I clicked with, but most of the girls I was weary of. They seemed in another league than me (in terms of the way they dressed, wore their hair and makeup, etc). I should say that I was totally clueless appearance wise. I didn't wear much makeup, I didn't know how to dress, and I didn't wax or pluck my eyebrows (which looking back now I desperately needed to). After orientation I was pretty nervous, but very excited.

Next up...the first day of Recruitment!

[piphiangel314]

Oh this is exciting!

Let's go Cowboys!

[baci]

Let's go!!!

[luv n tpa]

Considering my Giants won the Superbowl this year, I'm rooting for them to win over the OP, too! =)

BTW, I can't imagine going through recruitment with 16 chapters! I thought having a Round Robin with 4 (small) sororities in one giant room was overwhelming.

[honeychile]

Hmm... not sure if I can participate without a Steelers sorority!

[chesney214]

Days 2 & 3 - Open House
I don't remember much about which houses I visited on which day, but I do remember bits and pieces about conversations from most houses. I'll do my best.

We met in our rush groups and our Rho Chi's took us to our first house. They grouped us together in a certain spot in front of the Ravens and they had us count down from ten to the beginning of the first party. We were just about to "1" and all of a sudden there was a bunch of screaming coming from down the street. I looked that way and then my head snapped straight forward as there was also screaming and chanting coming from the Ravens. I was completely taken aback and it took me a couple seconds to realize they were doing a song of sorts (I seriously wonder who thought up door chants and if they realized how scary and intimidating they are to people who have no idea what’s going on).

When they were done they invited us in and our Rho Chi's had to urge us to go up to the house. A chapter member picked me up at the door and took me to a place in their living room. We talked about how we both had younger brothers and all the crazy things they put us through. Then about ten or so minutes into our conversation another girl came over and the first girl left. I was somewhat prepared for the bumping due to attending the Greek preview in the spring, so it didn’t seem too strange. I talked to one or two other girls, then there was a ding on the piano and some girls came out and performed a little song. After that it was time to leave. The girls started singing as we exited the house and shouted a song once all of us were out. Then the door closed and our Rho Chi's took us to the next house.

Here is what I remember from each house (where door chants and a song were performed at each chapter):

Dolphins - The girls I talked to were very friendly, and they had a fun song that was a take-off of an ABBA song, but I didn't feel like I really clicked with anyone.

Bengals - This was the house I feel in love with during the Greek preview. I loved the girls I spoke with – they seemed very down to earth and super relaxed, but well put together at the same time. For their song a bunch of girls got up and went into a kind of choir formation and sung a fun song with lots of harmonies. I was really impressed – I had always wanted to do choir in high school, but it conflicted with other classes I was taking. I felt like I really belonged here and left feeling very happy.

Colts - I had visited this chapter from Greek preview as well and I didn't click at all with the girls. They were nice, but very different than I was. I was also asked what my parents did for a living at this chapter, which at the time I didn't think was weird at all, but looking back it seems a little shady. (My mom was a postal worker and my dad was a vice principal - I'm sure that was impressive). However the conversation with the girl who asked me that was strained so she could have just been stretching to find something to talk about.

Raiders - I really liked the girls in this house. I spoke with one girl most of the time and others floated in and out. I remember having a conversation about the Spice Girls at this house as my high school friends and I had a Spice Girls party and dressed up as our own spices (a little weird, I know). One of the girls who floated in was very into the Spice Girls as well and we bonded over that. I felt really good about this house.

Cowboys - This house was nice, but these girls were in a different league than me. All very pretty and well put together. I remember sitting near the piano - actually, we were kind of sitting under it as the room was so crowded. It was a bit uncomfortable, as was the conversation. I spoke with the same girl the whole time and while she seemed nice, she was a little too breezy and (what came off as) fake-giggly for me and I didn't click with her.

Giants - some of these girls were friendly and quite classy, but the girl who picked me up at the door was pretty quiet and kind of hard to talk to. Again, didn't really click.

Eagles - Here I was picked up by a girl who I totally clicked with. We talked about NKOTB and a bunch of other random things. At one point I was so into the conversation I didn't realize how loud I was getting and I laughed really loudly (I am a naturally loud person and have been told I have a “hearty” laugh – just what every girl wants to hear, that she sounds “hearty”). The rush party got very quiet and I noticed a bunch of girls looking at me - whoops! I quieted down and went back to the conversation I was having with this great girl. I met a couple other girls I enjoyed talking to. I really liked the Eagles.

Jets – The only things that stick out about this chapter are how tired I was and how difficult it was for me to carry on a conversation here (due to exhaustion). They performed their song early on in the party and during the song one of the girls fake tripped, which I thought was real but then realized it wasn’t. After the song ended I kept saying how funny it was that the girl faked tripped because I could not think of a single other thing to talk about. I'm sure I came off as a complete moron. Overall these girls were friendly, but I just didn’t feel at home in this house.

Bears - At this house two of us were picked up by one member. The conversation was for the most part very awkward. We did speak with one girl who was super bubbly and friendly that I sort of clicked with – she ended up being in the entertainment though and I didn’t get to talk to her for very long. This house was okay, but I didn't like having to share a conversation with another rushee. I remember after this party the girl who was in my conversation trio kept saying "that was weird, I totally didn't like that house." I just kind of nodded, even though I wasn’t sure if I agreed. I was still in a sort of shell shock from the whole process.

Titans - I liked this house a lot. I met a woman who had a small nose piercing (a tiny pearl stud) and I thought it looked so cool. I spoke with two girls I really liked and felt comfortable with. They seemed very classy and genuinely nice.

Panthers - I had heard this house was kind of a party house (stupid, stupid tent talk). I was a little worried about this as I was not a partier at all, but when I met the girls I really clicked with them. They were very friendly and seemed down to earth. I was surprised that I liked this house as much as I did.

Patriots & Packers- I had visited both of these houses at Greek preview and liked them okay. The girls seemed nice enough. Nothing stood out to me though.

Saints - This was the very last house I visited on the second day of the first round. The girl that picked me up hardly said two words to me. I think she may have just been really tired, but it was very strange and a little offensive. I would not have been sad to not go back to this house.

After the last party we regrouped with our Rho Chi's who told us to be there early the next morning to get our invitations. We would then accept as many invitations as we could and would come back later in the day to attend our parties. Home to my aunt and uncle’s house I went to try and get some sleep after an exhausting first two days.