A very caffeinated recruitment!

EnglishRoses · #1 08-05-2011, 04:50 PM

Hey everyone!

I am a longgggg time lurker and finally decided to post my recruitment story from this past fall!

My aunt is my only relative who is Greek. My family is well-educated, it’s just that none of them wanted to go the Greek route. Needless to say, my immediate family was supportive but not exactly sure why I would ever want to “pay for friends.” (They have since warmed up to everything, but my mother still cracks me up whenever she doesn’t understand concepts I try to explain to her)

I started off the school year not really knowing anybody at all. I spent 3rd-6th grades in the state I now to go school in- so several people I knew way back when go there as well. Two of those girls are in separate chapters and a year older than me.

I tried my best to get my roommate to go through with me without much luck. She would have none of it. Then I thought I had a friend (who I met through my roommate) convinced to go through with me, but she backed out at the last minute. I was upset but knew that I wanted to be part of a sisterhood more than I wanted company during the process. I mean joining a sorority is all about making friends and connections, right? So I picked out all of my outfits and awaited the night recruitment would begin!

EnglishRoses · #2 08-05-2011, 05:08 PM

We have 7 NPC sororities on my campus, which I will name after my favorite Starbucks drinks.
You can probably tell from the title of the thread that I loveeee coffee!

They are:

Americano
Caramel Macchiato
Cinnamon Dolce Latte
Peppermint Mocha
Tazo Chai
Passion Tea Lemonade
Strawberry Frappuccino

The first night was an orientation. It was short, sweet, and gave us all the information we needed to know about recruitment. We also met our Rho Gammas. Mine were really sweet! But what do you know? One of the girls I knew from school way back was a Rho Gamma! I knew better than to ruin it for other PNMs, so I kept my mouth shut about her chapter. It was still funny to run in to her and not be able to really talk about anything without revealing what I knew!

EnglishRoses · #3 08-05-2011, 05:53 PM

My nerves didn’t get the best of me until right before the first round began. As we were waiting to visit each chapter, I became really anxious as I looked around and compared myself to the other girls. I knew it was a terrible thing to do, but it was the only thing my brain could do at that moment. I talked to my Rho Gamma to help calm myself. She told me not to worry about anything and to just be myself when I talked to the chapters. I took her advice to heart and it really helped to calm me down!

Since only one chapter has a house on my campus, recruitment took place in a central location where each sorority had a room.

So, round one began!

Americano- This is a local sorority, and, to be honest, was not how I envisioned my recruitment starting. They have VERY low numbers and did not seem enthused or interested about recruitment. As I heard door chants and singing from down the hall, these girls just opened the door and had us stand around for the 15 minutes. I was only approached once to be asked how my night was. Other than that, it was a lot of staring at the couple of tri-fold posters they had set up. It was not that fun.

Caramel Macchiato- This is the chapter that my Rho Gamma friend is in. These girls amazed me at how put together and beautiful they looked! They were wearing dresses in their two colors (for obvious reasons I can’t give that away!) I had amazing conversations with the two girls I talked to and really felt at home and comfortable! At one point though, one of the girls asked where I was from. I responded and added that I had lived in a town nearby for a while in elementary school. She goes, “OH! So you know” and then covered her mouth because she realized that she was about to say the name of the Rho Gamma! I laughed and quickly told her that I did know that girl (without using names of course) and changed the subject. I loved this chapter!

Cinnamon Dolce Latte- I had okay conversations during this party. I felt almost as if I was being interrogated, which kind of put me off. I was being asked about finances, majors, plans for the future, and other things that didn’t really let me get a word in edgewise. I was also bumped so many times that I was repeating the same info over and over again! These girls seemed very diverse, not that diversity is bad, but I wondered what held them together if they seemed so different.

Peppermint Mocha- I was paired with two actives of this chapter for the whole party. The conversation was very forced. This is going to be brutally honest, but one of them was in serious need of an eyebrow wax and manicure. I know it’s very superficial, but if you’re supposed to be recruiting girls, I feel like you should put your best foot forward and take care of yourself! That’s all I could think about while I was talking to them and I’m sure it showed that my mind was elsewhere. I couldn’t believe it when I heard that this was a chapter that a lot of the girls really liked!

Tazo Chai- The girls in this chapter were cute and nice, but that was about it. I did really enjoy my time there although nothing really stood out. I figured that it would be best to form a well-informed opinion after getting to know them a little more.

Passion Tea Lemonade- I walked into this room and was immediately taken aback! These girls just exuded an air of classiness which I loved. They were all wearing the same outfits and looked so put together. The conversations were so easy and the 15 minutes felt like 2. I did get bumped around a lot, but it didn’t feel like I kept repeating myself. Each conversation was fresh and not about basic facts. I left this party so excited!

Strawberry Frappuccino- I was paired with 6 actives during this party and we stood in a circle. I was very intimidated. I really only talked to one of the girls. She was very nice and I had a great conversation with her, but the others were basically silent. Of the 6, I talked to 1, 4 were standing and looking at their nails, and 1 was shooting me dirty looks. I really am passionate about their philanthropy, and did like the girl who actually paid attention to me, so I thought it might be nice to give them another chance and see if anything changed.

After this, my rankings were:

Caramel Macchiato
Passion Tea Lemonade
Tazo Chai
Strawberry Frappuccino
Cinnamon Dolce Latte
Peppermint Mocha
Americano

EnglishRoses · #4 08-05-2011, 06:21 PM

Since the pnms get to choose between Tuesday and Wednesday for the first round, I had a day off before the second round. It was not an easy wait!

I practically ran to our meeting spot when it was time because I was so anxious to see where I was invited back. I unfolded my invite list to see:

Americano
Caramel Macchiato
Cinnamon Dolce Latte
Passion Tea Lemonade

I was not surprised to have been cut from Peppermint Mocha, but was a little upset about Tazo Chai and Strawberry Frappuccino. Then I got thinking that I had really not had a good time at Strawberry Frappuccino and didn’t really have any feeling at all about Tazo Chai…so maybe it was a good thing that I wasn’t invited back. I pulled myself together and prepared for the Philanthropy Round!

Americano- Like round one, the girls seemed very nervous and like they didn’t know what to do. They had a few long tables set up where we made cards for their philanthropy. It was nice that although we were all sitting together, there was one girl to talk to a few pnms so that it wasn’t a crazy loud mess. I knew this wasn’t where I belonged, but I was polite and respectful.

Caramel Macchiato- I loved this chapter so much again! Instead of doing a craft, they showed a video about their national philanthropy. It was so moving that I started tearing up! I talked to one of the two girls I had talked to in the previous round and we had such a great conversation again! She stayed with me the whole time but introduced me to her little and several other actives. As I left, the second girl I talked to during round one came up to me and said bye to me by name. I was impressed and felt so happy that she did that! Again, I felt so at home and could really picture myself as a Caramel Macchiato.

Cinnamon Dolce Latte- This chapter made a craft for their philanthropy. There were 6 people to a table (3 actives and 3 pnms). Unlike Americano, this chapter had everyone at the table talking at the same time. I felt like my voice was lost in the crowd several times and didn’t really think that the chapter could really see what I was like as a person.

Passion Tea Lemonade- I adored this chapter as much as I had during round one. Again, they were all wearing the same outfits and looked stunning! We stuffed animals (can’t give it away!!) for their national philanthropy and made signs for their local philanthropy. I talked to the same girl the whole time and we had the most natural conversation. Another active stopped by for a few minutes to chat and I immediately clicked with her! The time flew by and the night was over!

I ranked:
Passion Tea Lemonade
Caramel Macchiato
Cinnamon Dolce Latte
Americano

EnglishRoses · #5 08-05-2011, 06:44 PM

It was preference night! I could barely contain my excitement!

I walked up to my Rho Gamma to get my list and recognized a look of sadness on her face. She handed me my list and I saw:

Americano
Cinnamon Dolce Latte
Passion Tea Lemonade

I was heartbroken! Why hadn’t I been asked back to Caramel Macchiato?! I had GREAT conversations and the girls all seemed to really like me. Nothing was forced or fake. I know that I had ranked them second the day before, but it was only because I had such a hard time deciding between my first and second choices. My Rho Gamma knew how much I loved Caramel Macchiato, so she took me aside and told me not to cry (I was tearing up) because I had been asked back to Passion Tea Lemonade, which I also LOVED. She told me that I had to trust the system and if anything, it would help my decision in the end. I trusted her advice and went to my first ceremony.

Americano- These girls really stepped it up for pref! It was set up like a tea party and was super cute. I still couldn’t see myself as a sister and wasn’t moved at all, but they did a really nice job.

Cinnamon Dolce Latte- I was paired with a girl who I hadn’t talked to before. She was really nice, but it was kind of hard to talk to her. There were definite lulls in the conversation and I could tell that she wasn’t really paying attention. At one point, she said, “I felt awkward too during recruitment at Cinnamon Dolce Latte and was so surprised to get a bid from them, but it’s really great.” Or something along those lines. It was almost as if she was telling me that it wasn’t the end of the world if I got a bid from them because we’d be together? I was confused.

Passion Tea Lemonade- I walked into the room knowing that this was the sorority for me. I was picked up by a girl who I hadn’t talked to before, but she said she had heard a lot about me and wanted to get to know me better. We had a great conversation and another active popped over for a minute before the ceremony. The ceremony was so beautiful and I started crying! I know that I am not giving this pref party any justice- but I absolutely knew that Passion Tea Lemonade was where I belonged. Getting cut from Caramel Macchiato was, like my Rho Gamma said, a way of helping my decision.

So, I listened to the speech about the final ranking,

ranked Passion Tea Lemonade as my only choice,

and clutched my phone all night hoping that I wouldn’t get a call.

Eightisgreat · #6 08-05-2011, 06:53 PM

THese "suicide" stories are making me crazy

twinkle555 · #7 08-05-2011, 07:11 PM

YAY!!!!! Love AOII endings

Alpha love to you!

EnglishRoses · #8 08-05-2011, 06:52 PM

We were able to go get our bids at 9 am the next morning. I barely slept because I was so afraid I would miss a phone call. I finally fell asleep and woke up at about 8 am to a missed phone call. I started freaking out until I realized that it was just my mother calling to see how everything was! I was shocked but pleased that she would call about recruitment. Assuming that I didn’t have a phone call, I got ready and headed over to get my bid to…

Passion Tea Lemonade…
Also known as…

ALPHA OMICRON PI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was ecstatic and so happy that I was where I belonged from the beginning. I can now say that I am a sister of AOII and have the most classy, fabulous, and intelligent sisters I could ever ask for. I love every minute as an AOII and couldn’t ask for it any other way!

txAOII_15 · #9 08-05-2011, 08:29 PM

wohooo!!! gotta love and AOII ending

ASUADPi · #10 08-05-2011, 09:34 PM

Congrats on AOPi!