Brake for a retro recruitment story!

[66Camaro]

PRELUDE: The summer before we started college.


Our mother had never gone to college, so when we told her that we'd made the decision to attend the same school, she was ecstatic. She told everybody- friends, friends of friends, church friends, neighbors, waitresses at local restaurants when we went out to eat, the grocery store checker- everybody. She told them we were going to room together in the dorms (although she left out completely that the reason was because it was cheaper than if we roomed separately and had different roommates, but we shut up and let her have her moments). So if was no wonder that finally, a friend of one of mother's friends asked, "So, are the twins going through rush?"



....what?


Mother had never gone to college, and although her father and our father and their fathers (you get the idea) had all gone to college, none of them knew anything about sorority rush. We had friends from high school who had joined sororities in college, and we knew that, but it had never occurred to us to ask them how to actually do that.

The friend of mother's friend invited mother and us to lunch, where she gave us a crash course in sororities and rush. She'd been a Hunter Green Metallic at a public university in another state. She proudly told us that rush was very competitive at her school, so we figured she knew what she was talking about. We were in awe during lunch.

By the time she was done, I, being the social butterfly, was hooked. I wanted to go through rush and give sorority life a try. 65Mustang, almost as social as me but more bookish, said she wanted to do it too, although she was more subdued about it. Forget that, I was excited!

The friend made arrangements for us to meet several women she knew who were in sororities so they could help her write recommendations for us, which they all told us would help. When we mailed in our signups for rush, we had recs to: Hunter Green Metallic, Royal Blue, Bright Orange, and Silver Streak. We knew there was a chapter of Silver Streak at our school and wondered if having the rec would help.

We only lived about 30 miles from school, so we didn't move into the dorm until the day before classes and rush started. We went to the informational meeting that evening in the student center, where we met our Rho Chis and learned that we would be in separate rush groups. We were kind of happy about that, because even though we're fraternal and not identical twins, usually the only way people who didn't know us well could tell us apart was because 65Mustang wore her glasses and I rarely did. We figured we would probably stand out as "the twins" but we were hopeful that people would get to know us as individual people.

We went back to the dorm to unpack and talk about things. The Rho Chis had encouraged us to give all the groups fair shots and to be open-minded so we had the best chances of finding our homes, so we decided we would not tell each other which groups we were selecting as the week went on. We didn't know if we would be able to stick to that, but we decided to try it.

Pit stop time! The next post will be about that first night of rush!

[BabyPiNK_FL]

Maybe she means that they could share things like utensils, hair product, towels, etc. as opposed to buying two sets of everything if they lived separately....

[33girl]

Originally Posted by BabyPiNK_FL

Maybe she means that they could share things like utensils, hair product, towels, etc. as opposed to buying two sets of everything if they lived separately....

Do twins seriously do that? Um, yuk. I don't care if I was identical and my twin was my BFF and we lived in a refrigerator box, I'd want my own damn bottle of hair spray.

[BabyPiNK_FL]

I happen to have baby sisters who are twins and YES it is more economical for them to share. They shared a womb, they share DNA, what's a comb, a bedroom, clothes, etc? Of course they aren't colleged age yet and that may change but just b/c you wouldn't do it, doesn't mean twins wouldn't. In fact my whole family (since we're all women but my dad) share one shampoo and conditioner, hot iron, combs, etc. It's not an inconvenience and no one seems to mind. It'd be impossible to determine who owns what if we did have separate things because no one "respects" that in my house anyway! If I buy cotton balls or nail polish remover, shaving gel, etc. it's all fair game once it leaves my room.

[LucyKKG]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Do twins seriously do that? Um, yuk. I don't care if I was identical and my twin was my BFF and we lived in a refrigerator box, I'd want my own damn bottle of hair spray.

I'm just thinking of when I was living at home and sharing a room with my sister. We shared a lot of things, but not to the point where it'd be gross. Stuff like shampoo, nail polish remover, hair dryer, etc. It worked out just fine for what, 13 years?

[scrantonicity]

Yay for a Chi Omega ending!!! I had a hunch that was who Candy Apple Red was but that was still a nice surprise! :]

As for the question of the poster's credibility, I can say that it is not THAT unlikely that her chapter initiates in the same semester. Although it is a national policy to wait until the semester following their new member period, I know of a few chapters that don't do this. UF, for example, considers it hazing if new member classes are not initiated within X amount of weeks.

Great story!

[CougarGrad]

Originally Posted by ChiOmegaMOM2

I've tried to be nice about this and sent you PMs for which you have NOT responded, but NOW, I've had a real problem with your story. After reading your quote above, I don't believe you. For one thing, I am the mother of twins who went to college and had different roomates the first year. They lived in the same dorm with different roomates. It is the same price if the roommate is the twin or if it is another person. You seem to be making this whole thing up. If not, my apologies. There are a few points to your story that don't add up Especially, the initiation dates.
If it is true, good for you.

I obviously can't answer for 66Camaro regarding your question on initiation, but I can answer the dorm question for you, having once been a dorm resident myself at the university in question.

At the time we went to school, the twins had the option of living separately with different roommates in one dorm, or living in a different dorm in the same room, together- which WAS cheaper than the first option. You're right that the price should be the same per person whether you're paying for one or two or ten people, but at that time, the different dorms charged different rates for rooms. In other words, the rate was different for one person in a two-bedroom, four-person suite, with both bedrooms sharing one bathroom between them (so 4 people to a bathroom), than for one person in a room with two beds for two people and a private bathroom.

I'm also guessing that BabyPink was right about the costs of shampoos and toiletries.

[amanda6035]

Originally Posted by ChiOmegaMOM2

I've tried to be nice about this and sent you PMs for which you have NOT responded, but NOW, I've had a real problem with your story. After reading your quote above, I don't believe you. For one thing, I am the mother of twins who went to college and had different roomates the first year. They lived in the same dorm with different roomates. It is the same price if the roommate is the twin or if it is another person. You seem to be making this whole thing up. If not, my apologies. There are a few points to your story that don't add up Especially, the initiation dates.
If it is true, good for you.

Meow hiss hiss. Seriously, was this necessary? I mean, of ALL things to lie about, (IF she was going to lie...) why this?