Since I've gotten the okay from Jess, I mixed up the houses a bit. If I say we "went across the street" or we "went over to the row" that might not be true. It would be so obvious otherwise. Jess, I hope you know I only mean it in good fun.
Rush begins!
For the first day of Rush we were to meet our groups and Rush Counselors at The Row. I arrived and there were SO many girls there! I searched the crowd for my group and finally found a girl holding up a big “24” sign. That was my group! We all were quickly given our nametags and before I knew it, we were off to the first sorority. We hadn’t had a Rush Orientation or anything. (at least not that I can recall)
My heart was pounding as we approached the first house. I had no idea what this was going to be like.
My group finally lined up in front of the first sorority house. The doors flew open and all these girls came running out all dressed alike. They were screaming and yelling and clapping! I looked down the street and saw that the same thing was happening at each of the sororities. It was crazy loud! I wasn’t expecting this at all. (I had thought we would just enter and be quietly interviewed. What did
I know?) After the singing and chanting, we were led into the house and paired with one of the sisters. The girl I was with was very bubbly and energetic. She was kind of bouncing up and down and had this huge smile on her face. She started asking me questions but, Oh My God, I didn’t know what to say to her! I felt like a deer caught in headlights. I was struck completely mute.
I remember this so vividly. It was as if all the sound had gone away and I was looking at this girl in slow-motion as her smile began to fade, her brow furrowed and her eyes started to pop out. I could see her thinking, “Why are you not speaking!? SAY SOMETHING!” It was absolutely horrifying. I finally snapped out of it and began to mumble, “um, uh…” Then full sentences started to form and I was able to answer some of her questions, if only briefly. The rest of this party is a complete blur to me (thankfully). There was so much shouting and questions being thrown at me. I felt like I had been attacked. I’m going to call this house
Football. The girls were very outgoing and energetic, but
Yikes!
Before I knew it, we were at the next house and I was completely overwhelmed again although this time I was able to keep myself calmer. The girl I was paired with seemed pretty nice but before I even finished answering her last question she kind of tossed me to another girl. I wondered where she went and why she gave me to someone else. Did I do or say something wrong? I was so scared I was trembling. I was seriously reconsidering this whole Rush thing but the party was over and we were heading out the door before I knew it. This house will be called
Racecar Driving -- fast and dangerous.
Before we got to the next house I was ready to quit. I just couldn’t do it; it was too hard! I was so terribly shy and I didn’t know what to say to these women. We had arrived at the next house and I was mentally debating whether or not to sprint in the opposite direction.
The yelling and the clapping started again. I thought to myself, “Dear
Lord! What am I doing? Help me!” The rushees were being brought into the house. I had about 2 seconds left to decide what to do. I took a deep breath to try to settle my nerves and stepped up to join my rusher.
I was paired with a really sweet girl named Jane. She was soft-spoken and had a gentle quality about her. I immediately felt relieved and much more relaxed. We sat and had a nice, normal talk. I told her that I had just moved to Maryland from California and she actually seemed interested and sympathetic about how hard the transition would be. I really liked this girl. She was easy to talk to and as I glanced around the room it seemed like the rest of the sisters were similar to her. It was still loud in there, but it wasn’t overwhelming. I liked it there. I’ll call it
Diving; a quiet, graceful sport.
When we left I felt so much better. I had gotten over the initial shock of the process and started to get the idea of how Rush worked. I had to focus on keeping myself calm, asking questions and trying not to be so shy. At least I knew that the sororities had different “personalities” and they wouldn’t all be so intimidating.
As the girls stormed out of the next sorority I could tell that they were really pretty and really put-together. I was paired with a very nice girl who was absolutely gorgeous. We sat in the living room and had the usual conversation for a while and then she brought me into the foyer and introduced me to the chapter president. I thought this was a good sign and I tried my best to be talkative. I was doing alright but suddenly I just started panicking again and I couldn’t wait to get out of the house. These girls were so nice but they all looked like models. I wanted to feel comfortable with them but I couldn’t. I’ll call this house
Croquet. I
liked it, I was
interested in it, but I simply didn’t know how to play the game.
At the next house I was paired with a girl named Lisa. She was really nice and I got a sense that this was a very friendly group of girls. This chapter reminded me of
Diving except they were much more energetic without being obnoxious. I liked their easy-going, fun attitude. I’ll call this one
Skiing.
I got a good feeling about the next sorority before I even got inside. These girls were super friendly and bubbly but not nearly as aggressive as the girls in
Football. I was paired with a girl named Jennifer who seemed very down-to-earth. She had a bit of a Southern accent which I found “cute” (silly California girl that I am). We sat in the living room and at one point she asked me about something that I’m not used to talking about (personal thing that I won’t go into here – nothing bad). I was honest with her and she was just very nice about it. (This particular issue was brought up at a number of chapters. I note it here because of my rusher’s nice response to it.) She introduced me to another sister who was very “peppy”. I liked both of these girls. The house in general just seemed like a lot of fun. I’ll call it
Water Skiing. I left there feeling pretty good.
This next house didn’t feel right for me at all. This was actually one of only two sororities that I had ever heard of. My best friend from home, Iris, has an older sister who was a member of this sorority at UCLA. I didn’t know much about it but I couldn’t really imagine her in this chapter. They were full of energy and enthusiasm though. I’ll call them
Aerobics.
Next, we crossed the street and entered a different looking house. (Most of the sororities at Maryland have similar architecture – a few look a bit different.) This time I was paired with a sister and another girl from my Rush group. We took turns talking and the sister seemed really sweet. They sang a song before we left and I suddenly got the sense that these girls were depressed. I didn’t know why they would be sad but the feeling was very strong. I could tell that this was a smaller group than the others I’d been to, but I liked the girl I talked to and I, initially, liked the atmosphere. I looked over to my rusher and noticed that while she seemed happy while we were talking, she now looked just as depressed as the other girls. It broke my heart. I’ll call this group
Fishing; quiet, understated, and a bit melancholy.
We crossed back over to the other side of the street again and entered a house that I immediately liked. I was matched with a girl named Robin who was very tiny and spunky. I felt at ease with her right away. Once again, I talked about how I had just arrived in Maryland from California. I made some really dorky remark but she laughed instead of looking at me like I was an idiot. I was grateful. She introduced me to another girl who at first I thought I was going to be intimidated by but she was just as friendly as Robin. The three of us started deliberately making dorky remarks. This was the first time I actually laughed during Rush. I felt so at home there but the party was soon over and I was sad to leave. I’m calling this chapter
Soccer. I played soccer as a kid and I was
horrible at it but my teammates never made me feel bad – they just laughed when I once almost scored a goal for the opposite team.
It was the end of the day and, overall, I still wanted to quit. There’s one thing about me, though; when I focus on something I just won’t let it go. I’m
extremely stubborn. I thought about it and decided that I was going to stick with Rush even if it killed me.
The girls all seemed enthusiastic but I didn’t feel like I fit in here at all. (I know this can’t be true but in my mind I remember my rusher smacking on gum the whole time. I think it’s more likely that I met her some time after Rush and she had gum in her mouth and I’m mixing up the memories.) At any rate, this chapter will be called Hockey for being a bit too “in my face” and aggressive.
Hybrid Mode
