Lord of the Recruitment

[oldnorthstate]

Hello everyone! Former lurker and current new member here! I have read through GreekChat before for recruitment tips and I am excited to finally be able to share my own recruitment story. I am currently a new member of a to-be-revealed sorority at a large university on the east coast. Since I recently watched Lord of the Rings for the first time (fifteen years late, I know) I will be codenaming each sorority after a LOTR character. Like The Lord of the Rings, this tale will be a trilogy. I have the entire saga typed up and will post the next installment as soon as I am able.

The Fellowship of the Recruitment (Fall 2014)

I came into my freshman year wanting to be Greek. However, I didn’t really know what sorority life entailed beyond having a lot of friends and going to formal (which looked to me like prom 2.0). Neither of my parents were Greek, so I didn’t know much about the recruitment process. Luckily, my campus is not a recs-or-die atmosphere, because I didn’t even know what a rec was, let alone how to get one. However, I did know my grandmother was a member of a sorority that had a chapter on my campus, so I went into recruitment thinking I would join her chapter.

When recruitment rolled around, I picked up my Panhellenic t-shirt and met my Gamma Chi group. At my school, it is common for sophomores to go through recruitment, so my group was about two-thirds freshmen and one-third sophomores. I don’t remember in which order we visited the houses after the first one, so I’ll list them in alphabetical order (by character).

The girls at Aragorn were very friendly and easy to talk to. They wore bright neon tanks and had a sporty theme, and their chant was ridiculously catchy. I was slightly intimidated by them because they were all beautiful and I had heard they were one of the more popular sororities. While I felt welcomed, I didn’t think I would fit in with a “popular” sorority.

Some girls from Bilbo told us about their sorority at kickoff and talked to PNMs between parties. Bilbo is a religious interest sorority that does not participate in formal recruitment, instead holding a separate recruitment the week after Panhellenic recruitment ends.

At Elrond, I talked to one girl the entire time, which I enjoyed since we got past the basic name, hometown, and major questions. The active to whom I spoke was going to study abroad that semester, which was interesting to me since I wanted to study abroad during my time in college too. Elrond had a pretty house and their letters were worked into the outside of the house, which I thought looked really cool. I had a good feeling about this chapter and thought I could see myself here.

The first chapter I visited was Frodo. When we were standing outside waiting to go in, I was nervous and wasn’t sure what to expect. All of a sudden, loud shouting came from the house and the blinds flew up to reveal members pounding on the windows. I was honestly intimidated. Is this what being in a sorority will be like? I wondered. A lot of girls from my hometown joined this sorority, and I knew a girl from my high school who was a few years older than me had joined Frodo. They had the highest GPA almost every year and were known for having a lot of members with a prestigious academic scholarship. Their first round theme was baseball, telling us that Frodo girls were in a league of their own.

My first thought was that Galadriel’s house looked like two put together. This house was wide where most of the other houses were deep. They had a catchy song and a farm theme, which was actually pretty cute. However, the conversation didn’t flow as well and there were two PNMs to one active, so I didn’t feel like I got to talk as much as I wanted. I didn’t think I would fit in at Galadriel, but I also hadn’t had much of a chance to learn more about them.

Gandalf had a cute song (which went along with their “Fly with Gandalf” theme) but it was VERY loud in a small space, and a little intimidating, since there were girls in front of us singing as well as a second group to our left, creating almost a surround-sound effect. There were some awkward pauses and the girls were not as easy to talk to as at some of the other houses. Every active I saw was beautiful and looked perfect, and I decided I would not fit in here.

Gimli had an extraordinarily catchy door song (that I still remember to this day). They are known for being humble and laidback and are considered the “girl-next-door” chapter. They had a circus theme to tell us that they were “The Greatest Sorority on Earth.” They didn’t make much of an impression on me, but I wouldn’t mind returning.

Legolas was the biggest chapter on campus and also the chapter of one of my friends from high school. They were very nice and put-together and I enjoyed talking to these girls. I remember I sat on a pillow on the floor while the actives kneeled in front of me and I felt bad that they didn’t get pillows! Legolas is known for having a lot of members on the cheer and dance teams. I had a good time and would have liked to return.

At Merry I was double rushed, just like I had been at Galadriel. Here, I didn’t have to compete as much for time with the other PNM, but there were a few awkward pauses. I saw one of my teammates from high school as I was leaving, and it was reassuring to see a familiar face. They had an under-the-sea open house theme.

The girls at Pippin were super sweet. They had a cute song and a sunflower theme (“It’s Always Sunny with Pippin”), and I even spotted a girl who was in one of my classes! The actives with whom I was paired were friendly and easy to talk to. This house was farther away from the other houses, which a lot of other PNMs didn’t really like. I thought they were okay but didn’t feel strongly either way.

I was excited to go to Sam because they are my legacy sorority! I had high hopes for them and they did not disappoint. They were so easy to talk to, and I even recognized an OL (orientation leader)! I definitely liked this chapter and would be excited to return.

At the end of the second day of round one, I was exhausted. I was taking seventeen credit hours and was still adjusting to college. As much as I liked some chapters and all the girls I had met, I was getting really stressed out even only going through round one. I liked the girls I had met and thought they would all be good friends and great sisters, but I didn’t think I was cut out for a sorority and I didn’t want to potentially take a spot from a girl who would be more energetic and more committed than I could be. I told my Gamma Chis that I would not be continuing with formal recruitment.