Any advice on how to stand out?

[ree-Xi]

The best way to stand out is to emphasize what makes you, you.

Ask a few people that you know on varying levels, what words they would use to describe you. A fun way to do this is to ask them, "when you think of me, what color comes to mind?". You can also ask them what animal, flower, car, season, etc. you remind them of. That can help you form some pictures in your mind.

From there, you can try to emphasize different aspects of your personality, through your clothing choices (trendy and spontaneous? preppy and reserved?), hairstyle (soft and approachable? pulled up and "put toghether"?), the way you carry yourself (are you graceful like a giraffe? casual and laid back like a cat?).

Think of yourself in bytes. Pretend that someone is making a video montage of you, set to music. What would those pictures and video shots look like?

Also take some time and observe other people, at the mall, the store, etc. How do they walk? What about the way they move suggests what type of person they are? Are they confident? Is their appearance neat? Are they friendly with strangers? That will help you figure out how others might see YOU.

Lastly, genuinely invest in the people you meet. Have a real desire to learn more about them, who they are and what they are all about. People who ask questions are often refered to as brilliant conversationalists. It will also help you identify what you and the other person has in common. Doing the above will help you figure out the cool parts of you that you want to share.

Making a good impression is simply of matter of accentuating the best parts of you. THAT is what makes a person memorable. Good luck with recruitment. Oh, and stand up straight! Takes 10 pounds off you and makes you look confident.

[LionTamer]

Connect, connect, connect. As someone else said, forget about yourself and focus on the other person. Find something you have in common with the person you're talking to - major, home town area, what they do during the summer, hobbies, pets, sports teams, language, or music. It's best to avoid politics or religion, but if one of the sisters mentions doing voter registration and you worked on that too it's fine to talk about it. Or if someone mentions a certain camp or youth group that you recognize as exclusive to your faith, it's fine to say "Oh wow - are you X? So am I - have you ever attended XY conventions?" and make a connection from there.

As for your sense of humor, you may need to tamp it down a bit for recruitment. If it makes you feel any better, I got put in the kitchen a lot during recruitment because they were afraid my sarcasm and odd sense of humor would scare away potential members. I think they only let me be Rush Chairman one year because they figured the paperwork would keep me from actually talking to any of the rushees.

And I don't want to sound like a wet blanket, but you also might want to look into whether or not the group VALUES scholarship (if they are allowed to take you). Like playing tennis with better players, right now you need to be around women who will encourage you to study and not just to have fun.....