A SCANDALOUS NPHC Recruitment Story!

[sigmadiva]

Originally Posted by StealthMode

Welcome to my recruitment story! I have been lurking in this forum for awhile and am so unbelievably excited to FINALLY be able to share my adventure into Greekdom. Because I joined an NPHC sorority, my journey doesn’t have nearly the suspense as the threads I’ve seen here but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless. The journey spans quite a few years so just keep reading—the ending is totally worth it, I promise!

And NO, there aren't any juicy secrets or melodramas in here. The names of the four contenders for my lifetime commitment are taken from characters from Scandal: Olivia, Quinn, Abby, and Mellie.

I can go ahead and give a mini-spoiler right now—I come from a family of Olivias so that is what I grew up thinking I wanted to join. However, no one ever pushed me in any direction. The women of my family made it clear that they would support me joining any sorority I wanted or even none at all. So I didn’t even really think about it until I got to college. The most prominent sororities on campus were the Olivias and the Quinns. Everywhere I looked, there were members of each in student government, community service projects, organization leaders, etc. It was clear that Greeks ran the campus and members of both orgs were at the forefront of the race. Abby and Mellie also had decent sized chapters and the ladies were SUPER nice and friendly so I didn’t count them out immediately. I did what all the freshman girls on the campus did—I hit the books and did my research on all four NPHC sororities. I found out everything I could about them, read all their national websites, looked through their initiatives and got to know the members on my campus. Knowing that this would be a lifetime thing (not just something you do in college and drop) really made an impression on me and I wanted to make sure I really stood for the ideals of the organization and could see myself putting everything I had into it.

While all 4 were admirable, I couldn’t really see myself fitting in with Abby or Mellie. The girls were great and several of my friends joined later in college but neither of them felt right for me. That left Olivia and Quinn. Just as an observation, the Quinns were….there’s no other way to put it….GOREGOUS. Just about every member of Quinn looked like a model. Not that looks are everything but you just couldn’t help but notice. They were always very well-dressed and known for being the sophisticated type. I only knew a few of them and, to be perfectly honest, they weren’t very nice. But they did amazing work in the community so I wanted to consider that these women in front of me would not be the only members I consorted with for the rest of my life. Of course, I wanted to fit in with the chapter but if I felt a connection to the overall ideals, that was more important, right?

Then there was Olivia.

The Olivias were some BAD CHICKS. They were all so….so….WOW. I don’t even have the words. They were some of the most influential names on campus. These women were dynamic leaders and real go-getters. They held many campus positions, were super politically active (which is a feat in itself for college students it seemed) and had the most community programs. They weren’t the friendliest bunch (as you’ll see later) but you could tell how much love they had for each other. Over time, I saw how much they had each others’ backs and it was incredibly touching.

Over the first 2 years, I had a lot of personal struggles. The adjustment of starting college across the country was difficult. Between friend issues, family issues, and multiple deaths of close relatives, it was really hard for me to keep my head above water. So I put the sorority observations aside and focused on keeping my grades up and getting myself a little stronger. I won’t go into to much detail but by junior year, I was in a much more stable place. I was confident, cool, a touch more mature , and had made a pretty good name for myself on campus. My grades were decent and I held quite a few positions of my own including community service chair of an organization. When I heard whispers of moves for an Olivia line, I decided I was ready to throw my hat in the ring. Look at world, here I come!

This is the most important aspect of becoming greek, no matter which org you join, IMHO.


And, I'm pretty sure I've figured who is who in this story.

[StealthMode]

Boooo I can't stand seeing a spelling error after my words have already been quoted! Oh well.

Originally Posted by sigmadiva

And, I'm pretty sure I've figured who is who in this story.

LOL Like I said, there will be little mystery in this thread with only 4 orgs.

So, thus began my quest to become an Olivia. To protect the identity of the chapter, I won’t say too much about the ladies except this—they did NOT like me much. I have kind of a goofy, quirky personality that really didn’t mesh with their no-nonsense runnings. I participated in their programs, did service with them but we never really clicked. I knew many of them but liked only a couple and none considered me a friend. I threw my hat into the ring but pretty much knew the answer before we even got there. Honestly, trying to break into that crowd left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. I admired them very much but in terms of friendliness and openness, they scored pretty low—they were more on the “intimidate the hell out of you because we can” train. It left me wondering if I was really meant to be an Olivia after all. The upside was that I made friends with other interests and those friendships lasted throughout college. I decided that, if the opportunity to try for an alumnae chapter presented itself, I would consider it but after 2 years of pursuing to no avail, my dreams of Olivia were tabled. I graduated college with honors, titles, and faux Greek letters (2 honor societies ) but still very much a non-Greek.

I went to graduate school to pursue further education and it was here, in a new state, that I began running into Olivias while I did community service. These members were unlike the members I’d met in college. They were just as dynamic and successful, just as passionate about service, just as politically active, etc. but they were very warm and friendly. I clicked with a few of them and got to know them. In e-mailing back and forth, I learned how WONDERFUL these women were and my love for Olivia was rekindled. Not to sound so fair-weather but it really took bonding with them on a personal level to remind me of all the other things I liked about Olivia. I waited patiently but, in the 2 years I lived in that area, there was never a membership intake. I was so sad to have missed my chance. There were quite a few positives—I joined another honor society, made some friends, and gained an advanced degree. But I still didn’t belong to that community I wanted to be a part of so badly! I moved closer to home to be near my family and (who knew?) IMMEDIATELY fell into working with the local chapter of Olivias. They say often that, if you do community service, you will meet some. Well, that was sure right on target! I met member after member as I fell into my routine of serving in my community (I do this in every place I’ve ever moved, it’s very much a part of who I am). As I got to know more and more of them, I began to LOVE the members. It was different than the ones I’d just moved away from—I felt like I truly belonged. It’s hard to explain but the way I laughed and joked and bonded with these women, it was like I was already one of them. Because I was younger than most of them (I think all of them), some of them affectionately called me “little sister.” Of course, none of them knew I was interested in joining—I didn’t want them to think I was only becoming friends with them for gain because that was so not true. I built relationships with them over a couple of years, attended all of their events, and even volunteered to work a fair few of them just to lend a hand. As months turned to years, I began to wonder if they would ever have an intake…

Then I heard from a member (who was one of only 2 who knew of my interest) that I should express interest formally because, if intake did happen, they would know to notify me. I did as she said but still didn’t hear anything…until an e-mail appeared in my inbox several months later, asking for my address so that I could be sent an invitation to learn more about the sisterhood. Was this it? Was this finally my chance?