Hi!
Welcome to GreekChat!
If you're interested in alumnae initiation, you have come to the right place!
If you've already read through some of the threads, as you stated you did, you should probably already have a good idea of what goes into the process and what it is like (contacting sororities, going to events, etc). To summarize the steps:
1) Research the organizations to figure out which ones offer AI and, of those, which ones have ideals and goals which match with yours. Also, you might want to consider which have alumnae and collegiate chapters near you. (you can discover this information at the link I give below).
2) Contact the national headquarters of the sorority you are interested in by looking for the appropriate contact person on their website.
3) Hopefully, the national HQ will forward your name to an alumnae association in your area who will, in turn, invite you around to some of their events. This is so you can get to know them and they can get to know you.
4) If you and the association agree that you are a good match, the alumnae members will invite you to become a member and find someone to sponsor you. Paperwork will need to be filled out and arrangements for initiation made.
5) Your big day arrives and you are welcomed into your new sisterhood!
Now, if you read the threads in this forum, you might notice that a lot of PNAMs (Potential New Alumna Members) lament about how LONG it takes to move through the steps. I am one of those who knows this all too well!
Plus, there is always the possibility that it will not work out: there is no guarantee that you will hear from the alumnae association in a timely manner, you may not feel like you fit in with them, they may not feel you fit with them, etc.
We used to have two very comprehensive threads about how to approach AI. Unfortunately, they disappeared when GreekChat went down one afternoon a few weeks ago. There is an attempt by aopirose to restart it - it is permanently fixed to the top of the forum. Here is the link ito it:
http://forums.greekchat.com/gcforums...threadid=56151
Good luck! Please feel free to ask us anything!
A Gamma Phi Beta Alumna Initiate,
.....Kelly