My not-so-perfect rush story

LOVEinZTA · #1 07-21-2007, 10:31 PM

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!

tld221 · #2 07-21-2007, 10:50 PM

i think i may have my first "i know what school(s) you rushed!" moment and im excited about it. don't know if its known from your other posts or if you made it intentionally obvious, but i figure if lil ol me could guess it, then reading these retro threads have paid off! im SO PMing you!

and ausome how alums called YOU asking if YOU wanted recommendations - very fortunate!

LOVEinZTA · #3 07-22-2007, 01:05 AM

I definitely didn't realize it at the time, but I was INCREDIBLY lucky to have people calling me to write recs because I definitely didn't have a clue what I was doing!

Over the summer I also remember distinctly getting a phone call from an alum of Espresso who was asking me how my preparations for college were going and if I had any questions about greek life. (Of course I had a million questions but she called and woke me up from a nap so my mind was completely blank!) No other chapters did this (and I'm not quite sure they were supposed to but how was I going to know?) so I figured that those Espresso girls were just really sweet!

Cast of Characters
With names being changed of course...

Ellie - One of my roommates who definitely wasn't from the south and was quite opinionated on everything.
Lola - Girl who lived across the hall who was sure she was going to join French Press or Latte.
Ashley - Lived down the hall and was positive she'd be a Macchiato or French Press.
Lisa - Lived on the other side of my floor, was very positive and open through everything. We'd had a few classes together first semester.
Kate - Lived across the hall from Lisa, her sister was a member of Cafe au Lait but Kate wasn't sure she wanted to be in the same chapter as her biological sister. She said she wanted to find her own home and have her own friends.

Those are the important people for right now. More in the morning!

LOVEinZTA · #4 07-22-2007, 01:57 PM

Fall Semester

My school had deferred recruitment, but the initial "open houses" if you will take place in the fall. It's really cruel - girls go visit all 9 chapter in the middle of November and get excited about greek life - then they have to wait until JANUARY to go back again.

As I mentioned, there was a girl from Mocha from my high school that I ran into before open houses in the fall. She was very nice and we had exchanged phone numbers at the time. A few weeks later she had called to ask if I would have dinner with her and a few "friends" at one of the campus cafeterias (meal plans are apparently an effective recruitment tool). Of course I didn't get a chance to answer my phone because there was some roommate crisis going on at the time and by the time I got the voicemail it was too late. I decided that Mocha thought I was blowing them off and I had completely ruined any chances I had of joining they're chapter. What a great start.

Open houses were scheduled for a weekend in November and everyone started getting excited by Halloween. Lisa and I were talking about how we had absolutely no clue what recruitment was going to entail when Ashley walked up. She explained to us the structure of recruitment, cuts, and what legacies and recommendations were. Lisa frowned and said that she had heard about recs and had talked to a few people from her hometown but she didn't think it was a big deal. Ashley informed us that we clearly weren't Macchiato or French Press material because she was waiting for the last of her recs to be sent in as we were speaking. If we didn't have recs for those two chapters there was absolutely no way they would even invite us back for the first round in January. Ashley then looked at me and asked if I had any recommendations sent in. I told her that I'd had one for each chapter in by the end of the summer. She promptly shut up and walked back to her room.

With open houses being the next weekend I, being the smart girl that I am, went out to my school's football game of the season. This seemed fine at the time, but this wasn't November in New York, this was November in the south. Low and behold, I got horribly sunburned. Any normal human being would have been fine by a week later, but not me. To add to the drama, my entire body started peeling by Wednesday with the first party scheduled to start Friday around 5:00. I was absolutely positive this was going to ruin my entire recruitment, but there was really no time to worry about it all!

The First Rho Chi Meeting

Wednesday afternoon was the "recruitment orientation" meeting where I met my Rho Chi's and recruitment group. My two rho chi's were Amanda and Gina. It turned out Gina was from the same city as me and we had taken dance from the same place (though at different times). Amanda was very sweet and informative but I didn't get to talk to her too much. In my group was Lady, a girl that sat next to me in one of my classes with me at the time. It was nice to have a familiar face around! Amanda and Gina practiced lining us up (alphabetically of course) so we would know who to stand behind every time we lined up. In front of me was Mindy (I swear I could still identify her from the back of her head to this day) and behind me was Sally. We were told to wear the shirts we had received when we registered for recruitment, jeans, and comfortable shoes on Friday and meet behind the dorm I lived in at 4:30 on Friday.

tld221 · #5 07-22-2007, 02:35 PM

I'm reading! and rooting for Macchiato or Cappuchino - they're both yummy!

AlwaysSAI · #6 07-22-2007, 02:44 PM

Um, I don't drink coffee...so I'm gonna root for Espresso because I know what it is!

howtheSunrose · #7 07-22-2007, 02:59 PM

Love the coffee names! Keep writing please

LOVEinZTA · #8 07-22-2007, 02:45 PM

Open Houses

I met up with my PX group at 6:30 in my recruitment shirt, jeans, and a cute pair of heels that were incredibly comfy. Our first party was going to be at Ristresso. I was about 4 people away from the back of the line and was totally alright with that because I had no clue what was going to happen...

Ristresso - The door swung open and there was much screaming before the girls went into a song. We slowly trickled inside and suddenly both Sally and I were picked up by a girl named Addison who struck up a conversation about our majors. Sally and I were both science people and Addison was a history major so Sally and I ended up talking more to each other then to her!

Americano - Ellie had said that this group was really great and that here friend Cici who lived on our floor and Cici's friends all really wanted to be in Americano. The door opened, there was more singing and clapping, and I was greeted by Lauren, a really enthusiastic girl who was happy to learn I had played sports growing up. Then Lauren's big came over and introduced herself and we chatted for a while before I was seated on the floor. It was at that time that I realized how many more girls there were in Americano and it was a little intimidating!

Espresso - I was especially interested in this chapter since I had an alum call me over the summer. When I walked in though, I was picked up by a girl who didn't seem very interested in me. I tried to make conversation with her but she just smiled and didn't respond. From what Ashley had said, if a girl did this to you it meant they didn't want you. I became quite disheartened right as she led me to have a seat. Espressos were VERY energetic and you could definitely see how much the girls loved being there. I decided that maybe Beth was just an odd one, while Ashley later suggested she might have been a legacy that the chapter "had" to take.

Latte - Oh Latte. Everyone and their dog that I knew from high school (including several of my friends) was a Latte. I went in and was met by a girl who immediately started asking me questions - What's your major? Which dorm do you live in? What floor? Where are you from? I felt like it was an interrogation - I could barely spit out one answer before she asked me a different question. I was winded! While the chapter was nice I was relieved when the party was over.

Cafe Au Lait - final party of the night! This chapter seemed a bit softer in their greeting (more singing instead of screaming) and I was happy about that since it was getting late! I had heard so much about this chapter from my friend and knew how much she loved being a part of it. She had told me that even though I might hear some "negative things" about her sisters on campus, they really were a great group. Negative things? I really hadn't heard anything, but maybe I just wasn't listening. A member took me to the back of the room and asked me a few questions about myself. I told her I knew one of their members who had graduated last spring and she asked me who. Julie turned me around and there was my friend! She had come back to help with recruitment. We screamed and hugged each other and proceeded to talk for a while. I don't know what negative things people could have been saying - I mean the chapter was a bit smaller than the others but their members were so sweet!

I went back to my dorm and then the drama REALLY started...