bowchicka's 2005 rush

[bowchicka09]

Hello ladies! I’m new to GC and I thought it would be fun to write about my Recruitment experience in 2005. It’s fun to look back, plus I’m incredibly bored right now. Actually, I’m incredibly procrastinating right now, but whatever.
My school has 5 NPCs and I rushed as a sophomore. Actually, I never intended on rushing at all, but I was living with two of my best friends, and they were both rushing and EXTREMELY excited about it. Eventually, their excitement rubbed off on me, and I signed up, let them take a god-awful Polaroid of me, and paid the registration fee. I was officially rushing… I just had no idea what that meant.
For discretional purposes, I am nicknaming my sororities. Even though it was a while ago, I think it’s always best to be discrete, and I would never want to accidently hurt anyone’s feelings with an offhanded comment.
In no particular order (stolen from my favorite show of all time!)-
Lorelei
Rory
Luke
Kirk
Miss Patty
One of my roommates “Hannah” was completely obsessed with joining Rory. She had heard that Rory was the best, the most lady-like, and the sorority that the frat boys liked the most. She told me that her boyfriend (who was in a fraternity) had practically guaranteed her a bid there because he had talked her up to his many Rory friends.
My other roommate “Christy” had a friend at another school in Miss Patty, so that is where she wanted to go. However, she said she was also open to Rory or Lorelei.
As for me, the only two people I knew in sororities were in Kirk and Luke. I knew that Kirk was kind of known for being the “church girls,” and I knew absolutely nothing about Luke. So, I set my heart on Kirk… everyone else had a favorite, so I decided that it was Kirk, or nothing (I was very passionate… for someone who knew NOTHING about them, haha).

Day One~ History Night (or now they call it Philanthropy Night)
Luke- I’m not lying when I say that this was a terrifying experience for me. All I knew about sororities was what my roommates had told me- highly suspect info that included random hazing and “thong checks” for sisters. I wore khaki slacks and a blue cashmere sweater (BTW we rush in spring, so it is pretty cold and usually raining) with heels. I don’t remember much of Luke except the chanting at the beginning and their really cute drinks (martini glasses with fruit juice and rimmed with sugar in Luke colors). I was so scared of saying or doing the wrong thing, that I’m pretty sure I just didn’t say or do ANYTHING, which I’m sure made a marvelous impression.
Kirk- By this time, I was used to the chanting, and I was calmed down enough to actually have conversations with the sisters. I remember seeing a lot of girls that I knew- more than I had remembered. I felt really comfortable because I loved the Kirk philanthropy, and seeing some of my friends there made me feel like this was the place for me! I don’t know why the drinks stood out to me so much, but I remember that Kirk had sweet tea in mason jars with ribbons in their colors. I left Kirk practically floating- I was getting the hang of this! People weren’t openly shunning me! Yay!
Rory- I remember very little about Rory on this night, except that they seemed very ladylike and high class. While I think that to be ladylike is a very important attribute (I was raised in Georgia!), I am a very laid back person, and I didn’t think that Rory would invite me back. Although, I do remember having a very nice convo with a few of the sisters. I wasn’t super nervous in this party like I thought I would be, they seemed very genuine and sweet.
Lorelei- This group and I did not mix at all. I don’t know why, but every conversation was forced and awkward, and I could tell that the girl talking to me for most of the time did NOT want me to be there. They were definitely known for being partiers on our campus, and that wasn’t really me. Although a couple of my friends thought that Lorelei was the place to be, I knew that it was not for me.
Miss Patty- This was a newer sorority on our campus, and they were still really trying to find out who they were. Someone had told me that they were the “Wannabe Rorys” but I really didn’t care to pay attention to that kind of thing. They all seemed very sweet and cute and didn’t seem to be trying to be anyone but themselves. I remember accidently telling someone that I liked country music (which I definitely didn’t at the time). It just kind of popped out. Weird moment, because I instantly regretted saying it, but I didn’t want to take it back, because that would have looked so strange. LOVED their philanthropy, as well.

At the end of my first night, I was totally sure that I would be a Kirk. I hadn’t felt as comfortable in any other group, and I knew that they had felt comfortable with me. I honestly didn’t even really care if I got invited back anywhere else, as long as I got invited back to Kirk. (I’m sure many of you are sighing and shaking your head right about now, haha) We didn’t rank until Pref night, so my roommates and I put all of our blankets and pillows in the middle of our living room and stayed up half the night agonizing over who would get invited back to which sorority. I remember waking up to my roommate singing the entrance song of Miss Patty.

[APhi4Ever]

How exciting! I love recruitment stories!

[LucyKKG]

Yay! Can't wait to read more.

[rhochi2002]

i love recruitment stories too!!

[SigKapSweetie]

I love these retro threads! Once a few more years have passed, I may just write one of my own.

[bowchicka09]

Day Two:
Hannah, Christy, and I sped to the building where we were supposed to pick up our invites. At our school, you are supposed to wait until you get to your room, by yourself, to open your invites, they even posted pi chis around the campus housing to make sure you waited. So I got to my room, opened my envelope… and stood in shock. I had invites to Rory, Luke, and Miss Patty, but no Kirk. No Kirk? I freaked out. I couldn’t stop thinking that all of my friends in Kirk had always secretly hated me and they were laughing at me when I was in their party. I walked numbly into our living room, where Christy was smiling brightly and Hannah was sobbing. Christy had gotten invited back to all of the groups except Kirk, but she didn’t care about Kirk (and, BTW, she is now leaning towards Rory, because of their status on campus). Hannah had only gotten invited back to Miss Patty (I should mention that her gpa was less than great), and she was devastated because she thought her bf wouldn’t think she was hot anymore cause she couldn’t get into Rory. After a LOT of encouragement from my roommates and looking at all of the fun pictures that the other groups had on facebook, I decided that it would be my loss if I didn’t keep going through rush, and maybe I hadn’t connected to the other groups because I hadn’t WANTED to connect with them. Soooo….
Skit Night~ I wore a light pink sweater and a black skirt with a pink ribbon, with heels and pearls.
Miss Patty- They did a really cute skit about “Miss Patty and the City” and I love that show. For some reason, though, ever since that “I like country” comment, I was noticing that I wasn’t acting like myself around these girls, more like a more southern version of myself. However, I really wanted to be invited back to Miss Patty, because I knew it was where Hannah would probably go, and she was like my security blanket- I did everything with her.
Luke- Awesome skit “Hard Rock Luke”- I could tell that they were comfortable with each other and that they were just having fun. I had a wonderful conversation with a girl who reminded me a lot of my real sister. But, at one point, I kind of got surrounded by a bunch of sisters, and they all started talking about athletics/intramurals. I am not in any way an eye-hand coordination kind of person, and I stink at most sports. I felt kind of lost and left out. But overall, I liked them and I wanted to be invited back.
Rory- They did a skit kind of about Grease. I just remember sitting through this party and thinking “I can never be like these girls. We are cut from completely different cloth.” However, I kept on having these really good conversations with them, and they were all very sweet. Their skit did seem a little old-fashioned to me, I noticed all of the other groups had modern songs in their skits, but Rory’s was kind of boring, although cute.
When I got back from my parties, Hannah was completely freaking out; terrified that she wouldn’t get an invite back to Pref. Christy was now a die-hard Rory. They had also decided to start hating each other. Seriously, when I came back, they were screaming at each other over a dirty bowl. I just high-tailed it to my room and shut the door.

[baci]

Waiting for more.

[APhi4Ever]

Originally Posted by bowchicka09

When I got back from my parties, Hannah was completely freaking out; terrified that she wouldn’t get an invite back to Pref. Christy was now a die-hard Rory. They had also decided to start hating each other. Seriously, when I came back, they were screaming at each other over a dirty bowl. I just high-tailed it to my room and shut the door.

Girls....

[violetpretty]

Originally Posted by bowchicka09

Hannah had only gotten invited back to Miss Patty (I should mention that her gpa was less than great), and she was devastated because she thought her bf wouldn’t think she was hot anymore cause she couldn’t get into Rory.

This made me laugh.

[aoiicutiepie14]

cant wait for more!

[baci]

Hurry...more...more.

[bowchicka09]

Day Three:
This morning I found out that Kirk was only accepting freshmen this year, and that knowledge gave me total peace about the entire process. The roomies and I went to get our invitations for the day and everyone was pretty happy about what they got. I got invites to Miss Patty and Luke (and I was not at all surprised that I wasn’t invited back to Rory). Christy was invited back to Rory and Miss Patty, and, Thank God, Hannah was invited back to Miss Patty. They still weren’t really talking to each other. Honestly, after Rush they were never really friends again. It’s kind of sad, but I guess stressful situations bring out they way we really feel.
I was going back and forth between Miss Patty and Luke. On one hand, I liked the girls in Miss Patty and Hannah was most likely going to go there (at our school, if you are invited to their Pref party, you are automatically somewhere on their bid list). But I felt like it wasn’t really a perfect fit- I was already changing myself to fit in better with the other sisters. On the other hand, there was Luke- they were all very genuine and sweet, and a lot of them were just like me. But I hadn’t really felt a sisterly connection with them, either. I was sooo confused and had no idea what I was going to do.

Pref Night~ I wore a black cocktail dress and heels.
Luke- They did a little ceremony, and then you talked to one of the sisters for like 30 min, then another little ceremony. I have to be honest, I don’t even remember the first part of the ceremony, I was kind of zoned out and I thought it was a little weird (I had no idea what to expect). But then, I talked such an awesome girl- I felt like we talked about my whole life in that 30 minutes. The thing that stood out to me is that she said she had actually pledged another sorority (she didn’t tell me which) and she had felt so uncomfortable because they were so different from her, she felt like she had to change her whole personality for them. This was so in tune with what I was feeling, it was crazy. She said that I should pick the sorority that I feel most comfortable with, and that would support me on my worst days, not just my best. After that, I loved the next ceremony they did, they gave us each a rose and we placed it into a wishing well, symbolizing our wishes coming true. I left this Pref walking on a cloud.

Miss Patty- Their ceremony was very touching and personal, with sisters reading letters to each other about how much they mean to each other. However, I couldn’t help but compare them with Luke, I think that if I had gone there first, it would have been better. I was Preffed there by a very sweet girl who was really focused on finding out which way I was leaning. We talked about what I was looking for in a sorority. Something about her personality was very inviting and sweet, and we talked for a long time about our real sisters (we both had younger sisters), and about how that is such a special relationship, and how your sorority sisters are always there for you. During this entire conversation, I felt completely at ease, not like I was trying to be someone else at all. And, if I joined Miss Patty, my best friend would become my sister! I left this Pref so confused and wondering what to do.

After this party, we had to rank for the first time. I sat in a classroom with about 40 other girls. For a while I just stared blankly at the paper. In my head, I was factoring about a million different things for each group- but, in my heart, I already knew who I wanted to write down. After about 30 minutes I wrote two names on my paper and handed it in.

[BabyPiNK_FL]

I think I know who Miss Patty is- and so I'll root for her. But Luke sounds great too! Oh do come back and update soon! I'm dying to know what you rank and where you go!

[Scully]

Great story! And everytime I read your screen name I want to add "Wow Wow" on the end

[indygphib]

Originally Posted by Scully

And everytime I read your screen name I want to add "Wow Wow" on the end

You're not the only one! Ha!