That 70s Rush!

[OldAOPi]

I knew it! Hot Rollers!

[AXi1257]

I need this wrapped up so I can go on with the rest of my life! I'm loving this thread. I was born in the early '70's so I guess I'm not as 'seasoned' as others on GC. I love all of the old greek lingo since that's what I had when I went through Rush!

[That_70s_Rush!]

Oh, you want some more Pref Night details?


Jackie – The sisters are all standing in rows on each side of the walkway in front of the house and singing. Liz takes me by the hand as I walk up and escorts me in. There’s an enormous ice sculpture of the sorority’s symbol in the foyer, and it has alternating flashing lights in their colors pointed at it. The rest of the room as well as the main room are dim and lit by candles. The walls are draped with fabric in their colors. There are flowers everywhere. The place smells a little like a mortuary (heh heh.) Everything is so elegant and beautiful, just like the girls here. They’re all wearing matching dresses in the sorority’s colors. I can already tell this is going to be a different experience from the previous parties. Everything seems so serious.

The ceremony is beautiful. They sing a song about their sisterhood and I am amazed at how beautiful their voices are. I had been in chorus from grammar school through high school, so this stuff really mattered to me. A few sisters read letters they’ve written about their experiences in the sorority, and how it has helped them through good times and bad. Afterwards, we have some dessert and Liz tells me how special it is to have me there. Then she reads me a letter that tells me that she’s known me since I was a girl and hopes that she can also be by my side as I become a woman in her sisterhood. This is heady stuff and not what I expected at all!

Liz hands me a personalized box, and inside it is something that would give away this group. She has me make a wish as I toss it into a fountain. Once I’ve done that, she tells me that she hopes my wish was the same as hers was and that I’d be back to get the item tomorrow. She gives me a big hug. I start to cry as we walk out the door together. My wish at that moment was to be a Jackie, and I was hoping that’s what she was wishing for as well. I clutch the pretty box in my hand, and hate to give it to the RC to hold when it comes time to go into the next house. (Yes, girls, we were allowed to accept gifts back in the stone age!) As we walk to the next house, I am certain I will pledge Jackie and there’s really no reason to go to any other party that night.

[That_70s_Rush!]

Fez– The girls are lined up along the walkway and singing softly. They are all holding lit candles (yes, girls, real live candles!), except for the ones who have been assigned a rushee for the night. “Mortuary girl” picks me up and leads me up the walkway that is lined by the candle holding sisters. I’ve got to say, this was a really beautiful way to start and really impressed me. The main room is full of huge vases filled with their flower, which also happens to be one of my favorites. The girls are all wearing the same sophisticated black dresses and jeweled lavaliers. Compared to them, I now feel a bit little girlish in my high school dress.

We have a little dessert and the plate has my name written in contrasting icing on it. I get a chance to talk to mortuary girl a bit more while eating, and then the lights go dim and more candles are lit. The ceremony starts right after that and is also solemn and beautiful. More seniors sharing what life there has meant to them and more songs, a little ritual and candlelight. Then my rusher hangs her lavalier around my neck for a few minutes and talks about how much it has meant to her to wear these letters. Right now she wants me to know what that could feel like. And I AM feeling it. I also admit that I feel pretty full of myself that the Fezs have picked me out of all the other girls they have dropped over the week. They must see something in me that I don’t know if I see in myself. But I’m also not quite convinced I can live up to their image. Part of me feels like an imposter, like if they really knew me, there would be no way I would have been invited to this party. Yet I DO NOT want her to remove the lavalier from my neck, and I realize I’m starting to cry. Ack! MORE CRYING! And I am not a crier! I, the girl who rushed as a lark and didn’t really care much about sorority life, COULD BE A FEZ!

At the end, she gave me a little bouquet of flowers and we did another wishing type activity. My rusher tells me she hopes my wish is the same as hers was. WHAT???!!! Does everyone do this? It throws me for a loop and I really begin to doubt the sincerity of this little exercise. I was so darned sure once I left Jackie ……… and now this. Now the idea of becoming a Fez is intoxicating.

[ZTA72]

I am soooo loving this. I can't put my laptop down!
This brings back some great memories.

[When Doves Cry]

Originally Posted by That_70s_Rush!

Jackie – She has me make a wish as I toss it into a fountain. Once I’ve done that, she tells me that she hopes my wish was the same as hers was and that I’d be back to get the item tomorrow.

We used to do that same thing! But not with a box. And we would tell the girls that same thing too

[lovespink88]

I see you're online still....I'm hoping that means you're writing more!! I love this thread!!

[TriDPrincess]

Can't wait to hear where you end up... my guess is Donna!

[lovespink88]

I can't WAIT to hear the end!!!!

[violetpretty]

Wow! How do you choose when you have 3 pref parties like that?

[sthrnsweetie007]

Please continue. I would like to know where you ended up at.

[twocutetx]

*waits anxiously*

These stories are great!

[Buttonz]

More please!

[That_70s_Rush!]

Pref Night Continued
The parties are over and we walk silently back to the activity center. We are required to remain silent from the time we leave the last party until we fill out our bid cards and leave the activity center. I see Lisa and Tina on opposite ends of the room. Neither of them looks particularly happy and they both complete their cards quickly and leave. I really want to talk to them! Most of all I really want to talk to my mom and dad. But tonight the decision is all mine, and I feel like I am making the first adult decision of my life.

My parents had been very surprised when I called them and asked them if I could rush. Like many who were familiar with Greek life only from the things others said to them about it while they were in college, they thought sororities were elitist organizations. Many years later, my mother said she had worried a lot about my decision to rush, because I had always been a girl who was friendly with many people and traveled fluidly amongst cliques as opposed to being in one particular group. She and my father were concerned that being with one particular group would change the way I viewed the world and turn me into a much more socially cautious person.

But who am I really? Do I belong in the sorority with so many people I know who are from similar backgrounds? Everything would be much easier that way? Do I want the sorority where I know no one yet everyone is so impressed I am still in the running? Or do I pick the sorority where I know quite a few people but there are plenty of others I don’t know? What about GPAs? What about the physical houses? What about their social life and what the fraternities think of them? (Yeah, I know, I’m eighteen. So shoot me!)

I’m really agonizing here. I’m certain I could be happy in any of my choices. My RC is no help at all. She just tells me to pick whatever feels right. But what if they all feel right? I seriously consider doing eenie meenie minee moe. And then, like a lightening bolt it hits me. I know who my number one choice should be. I should go to the place that feels like home. Where they already know me and appreciate me for who I am and not who I possibly could be. Where I won’t feel like I am always trying to impress people or live up to some sort of ideal about what a member of that chapter is like. There was only one place where I truly felt this. I click my ruby red platform shoes and fill out my card...........

[puglover]

This is a really good rush story and I cant wait to hear more!