A Weasley Family recruitment (:

[sherrybaby]

So I’ve been lurking here since my own recruitment roughly a month ago, and I’ve realized since I love reading recruitment stories so much, I might as well share the love and post my own (: Since I love Harry Potter, I’ve decided to make this a very Weasley recruitment. I go to a school with seven sororities, so it works out perfectly.

I went through rush as a sophomore for a few reasons: I am a Young Life (Christian youth group for high schoolers) leader, so my faith is pretty important to me. I also sign a behavioral contract stating I can’t drink underage or engage in any other behavior that would be considered a bad example. I just didn’t know if there were any sororities I could feel at home in because of this. However, I found out that several of my fellow leaders are in sororities, which made a huge difference. Being at a Christian school with a dry campus and no sorority housing also helped. I also found myself longing to be a part of a community, since I am a little shy when it comes to meeting new people. I’m really outgoing as far as talking to people, but horrible with inviting myself places or organizing nights out – being in a sorority would break down that barrier.

Although I now cringe at the fact, the sorority stereotypes were in the back of my mind throughout recruitment since I rushed as a sophomore. I learned a huge lesson about that, so I thought I’d post my original notions of the sororities going into rush and then my impressions afterward. Going into rush, this was how I thought of the chapters:

Charlie – Known as the most “stereotypical” sorority in that they have a reputation for being pretty, blonde, rich, and superficial. I didn’t personally know anyone in this sorority, but I had heard stories of last year’s pledge mom giving them alcohol on bid night. I suppose the term would be “classy party girls.” My cousin is a part of this sorority at another school and fits this stereotype pretty well. I knew I could probably get her to write a rec but I didn’t bother. Because of my concerns with drinking, I wasn’t too interested in this sorority, although since I do enjoy shopping and will admit I’m pretty spoiled, I knew I’d probably be able to carry a conversation pretty well with them.

Bill – Known as the crazy, fun, party girl sorority. I knew one girl in this sorority, a senior who pledged as a junior last year and who I would say fit the stereotype. She grew up around me (which is on the opposite coast of where I go to school) and was close with my best friend's family. I didn’t know her too well but I knew she was a nice, fun girl who drank on weekends. I didn’t know much about them as a whole but really didn’t have any interest in getting to know them since I figured I would probably feel awkward as a member who didn’t drink.

Percy – One of the newer and definitely the smallest sorority on campus. They are known to be really sweet girls but pretty awkward. I like the girls I know in this chapter but I didn’t think I would really fit in with them at all. They pretty much extend a bid to everyone since they are looking to boost numbers and get off probation. This is the place where a lot of girls who get dropped from everywhere else tend to go if they don’t drop out. I thought I would most likely like the girls individually since they’re so sweet but I couldn’t see myself there at all.

Fred – Known as the sweet, smart sorority (highest GPA on campus) and one of the more Christian ones as well. This was a top contender going in for me, since most of my fellow Young Life leaders are in it as well as girls I go to church with and I like everyone I know who’s a part of it. I fully expected this to be my top choice.

George – I knew next to nothing about this sorority before recruitment except that they tended to cut a large number of girls early on in rush since they were a popular choice. They don’t have a single defining stereotype, except that they’re also known to be really nice and fairly preppy. I sat next to a girl in one of my classes last semester and we got along pretty well, but I knew some of the girls were partiers, so I was kind of reserving judgment.

Ron – Known for having a wide variety of girls. I knew one girl from this sorority and I didn’t really felt like I clicked with her, but I also knew since their girls were known for being involved in a huge variety of activities that that didn’t necessarily mean I wouldn’t click with others. I really didn’t know too much about this one at all.

Ginny – Also known for being a sort of mixed bag. Girls in this sorority are known for being less involved in the sorority than some of the others, but another of my fellow leaders were a part of this chapter and therefore I knew I could be a sister here without compromising my values. I also really liked the girls I knew in here, so I thought this would probably be my second choice, although I wasn’t as enthusiastic about it as I was about Fred.

Once again, these are just my honest impressions in the beginning, which went on to change drastically. I definitely learned firsthand that you should never go by stereotypes during rush.

I’ll be posting about the pre-recruitment event next, which for our school involved going out for ice cream at a place really close to campus (: