That's right, another retro thread. . .

[LegallyBrunette]

I don't have time for another big installment before leaving work today and I'm out of town this weekend, so the parties will have to wait till Monday, but I remembered a couple more details this afternoon.

Caroline was not only exclusively interested in Ron Weasely, but more or less stated that she was guaranteed a bid because she, too, had a high school friend in the chapter.

Also, even though the four of us were approaching recruitment together, after the info session we discussed the possibility that we would end up at different chapters, and were okay with that possibility.

Finally, a note about recruitment at Merrimack in general. It is a small school in the north and is generally not very competitive. It's not a big deal for juniors to get bids and usually during formal *most* girls are matched somewhere. However, at this time two of the chapters generally hovered around total while the third was smaller, so PNM's (both during formal & informal) tended to compete for spots in the two larger, and therefore typically more desired, chapters.

[GymnastA]

Holy crap, this is right up my alley! Half my graduating class goes to Merrimack and I know 2 of the chapter presidents now! UPDATE ASAP

[LegallyBrunette]

GymnastA, check your PMs.

Tuesday afternoon, prior to Ron Weasley’s party, Allison announced she had changed her mind about Recruitment and didn’t want to be part of a sorority. She said it just wasn’t “her thing.” Oh, well. I later found out she was afraid of being rejected by all the groups, which made me sad. Although we hadn’t been great friends, that didn’t set well with me, and that aspect of Greek Life still bothers me a bit.

But anyway, back on topic. We had been instructed by Panhel that casual dress was fine for each of the parties so I wore a chocolate J.Crew cowl neck, Abercrombie jeans (I’m guessing many southerners just cringed?) and camel colored leather boots. I arrived at Ron Weasley’s party by myself (for the life of me, I can’t remember why I wasn’t with the other girls). The room was nicely decorated with lots of white Christmas lights and pictures and various paraphernalia everywhere. However, I was immediately intimidated because all of the sisters of Ron Weasely were wearing black cocktail dresses, which was a little off-putting in contrast to my casual outfit. Fortunately, all of the other rushees had also followed panhel’s advice and were dressed casually too. As I was still adjusting to the initial shock of entering a room with 30 women in cocktail dresses, I was warmly greeted by a sister named Kirsten. When she found out I was transfer she introduced me around to a sister who was also a transfer student. That sister, Melanie, showed me some various photo albums and their “brag book” and explained how Ron Weasley had helped her transition to Merrimack. After having some fancy little hors d’ouevers and punch she introduced me to the chapter president and a handful of other sisters. At some point, dues and various social activities were discussed, too. As I had already figured out, Ron Weasley was really involved on campus and had some great campus leaders in their chapter. I really enjoyed meeting everyone and was feeling pretty comfortable. Altogether this mingling probably lasted about 45 minutes.

Next, a couple of the Ron Weasley sisters sang a popular song with the words changed to be about their chapter. It was a moving song to begin with and a few sisters cried during the personalized parts. It was touching and I remember thinking I’d like to feel that strongly about an organization that I could be moved to tears. After the song, there was more mingling and Kirsten came back over to me and whispered “Don’t mention it to anyone else, but we’re having a party on Saturday night in my apartment and you should come.” I didn’t make the connection at the time, but Saturday was AFTER bid day. I thought it was pretty cool that she wanted to hang out with me and as the party ended I felt good about Ron Weasley and decided I would really like to get a bid from them. Most of the sisters remembered by name and specifically said “Bye, LegallyBrunette!” as I was leaving.

Later that evening, Megan, Melissa, Caroline and I met to discuss the party. In spite of her earlier statements, Caroline had actually missed Ron Weasley’s party because she had a night lab that had run late. She was a little upset, but since it was informal, she planned to meet with some sisters later on and figured it wouldn’t be a big deal. Melissa had really liked the party as well and was pretty much ready to be a Ron Weasley right then. Megan had a good time but had described Ron Weasley as feeling a little “too fancy” for her.

The four of us all were in agreement that we wanted to see what the other chapters, especially Hermione Granger, had to offer. I called my boyfriend, who was still less than thrilled with the whole idea of my joining a sorority, but I was so upbeat from Ron Weasley’s party that I didn’t let his negativity bother me. I went to bed in a really good mood.

[AlwaysSAI]

Whoa! I'll take that as a dose of bid promising...good thing you didn't make the connection!

UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDATE!

[LegallyBrunette]

AlwaysSAI, I definitely didn’t make any sort of connection about bid promising at the time. Even now when I think about it, I’m not positive what Kirsten said actually amounted to bid promising. Even though the process was somewhat structured, it was informal recruitment so even if it had been reported to panhel, I’m not sure what consequences, if any, there would have been. I didn’t mention it to the other girls I was rushing with so I don’t know if this was something Kirsten repeated or if she just got excited and said it to me in the moment.

Anyway, on Wednesday morning I woke up excited to check out Hermione Granger that night. Much to my dismay, however, as I was getting ready for class, I glanced at my planner and noticed I was scheduled to work that night (I was working 20 minutes off campus at a restaurant). I had completely forgotten to take that night off from work! Disappointed, I spent the day on my cell phone calling other people I worked with to see if anyone could cover my shift. Unfortunately, no one was available. With no other options, I headed to work, resigning myself to missing the Hermione Granger party

[maximus406]

More Please!

[Ocalagirl]

more....

[LegallyBrunette]

When I arrived at work that evening around five, I noticed I had a new voicemail on my cell. As usual, I was running late so I didn’t bother to listen to it and just ran inside. As I passed my manager, she stopped me and said “Didn’t you get my message? I overscheduled tonight and don’t need you here. You can have the night off.”

WHAT?!? At this point, I was a little torn, as I said my job was 20 minutes off campus and I was dressed for work already. Plus, I could definitely have used the money now that I’d trekked all the way here. But on the other hand, I really wanted to check out Hermione Granger. Initially, my inertia at immediately turning around and rushing back to campus led me say, “Are you sure, I can stay if you need me?” To which my boss replied that I could stay if I really wanted to, it was up to me. I worked for probably a half an hour (it really was dead, I had nothing to do) when my curiosity about Hermione Granger really got the best of me, and I decided to book it back to campus and check out Hermione Granger. After all, I didn’t want to end up wondering “what if.”

Sooo, I raced back to campus, changed as quickly as possible into something presentable and somehow managed to arrive only 15 minutes after the party had started.

This time when I entered the party, I was expecting black cocktail dresses again but instead was greeted by all the sisters wearing jeans and red t-shirts with silver writing that said “Filled with angels, but one hell of a sorority!,” which I thought was a riot. Like at Ron Weasley, the room was decorated with lots of picture albums and paraphernalia and white lights. The sister, Sara, who met me at the door was, by sheer coincidence, also a transfer. We went through the initial discussion of how Hermione Granger helped her adapt etc, like I had with Melanie but it was slightly more natural. Maybe I was getting good at this?

Next Sara led me to a sign in table and took my picture and asked me to fill out a “little questionnaire.” Well, this questionnaire thing was NOT little at all. It felt like an epic and had lots of silly questions in it like “If you were a fruit, what kind of fruit would you be?” I really was not a fan of that but while I was filling it out, sisters kept coming over and introducing themselves. I remember thinking how natural and down to earth they all were. They seemed a bit more diverse and accessible than the ladies I’d met at Ron Weasley, but I remember thinking that could have been because I didn’t feel ridiculously underdressed here. After meeting each girl, I remember thinking, I could really be friends with her! After finally finishing the questionnaire that rivaled my current Con Law textbook in length, Nicole from my class came over and we chatted for a bit and she introduced me to the chapter president, as well as two girls who literally looked like twin sisters. I later found out they weren’t biological sisters at all, but just happened to look very, very similar.

After a while of mingling and snacks (not as fancy as Ron Weasley’s, I noted), all of the rushees were asked to follow two sisters out into a smaller separate room and wait for just a few minutes. In that room, we made small talk and it dawned on me that if I joined Hermione Granger, these girls would be my pledge sisters. Looking around, I was okay with that. Aside from the girls on my hall, I didn’t know any of them personally, but they were friendly and I felt comfortable with them.

After a few minutes, we were led back into the main room where the sisters performed a really moving song (NOT adapted from popular culture) and gave us all a flower to take with us (since it was informal). Now that I’m thinking about it, we were allowed to take Ron Weasley pencils with us when we left that party.

Thrilled that I had decided to go to Hermione Granger’s party after all, I headed back to my dorm with Caroline, Melissa and Megan to discuss the night’s events.

I’ll update tomorrow. I can’t believe how long this is taking—sorry to drag it out!