TrojanWoman's Retro Recruitment

[FSUZeta]

update, please!

[Ocalagirl]

Originally Posted by FSUZeta

update, please!

Yes please!!

[OtterXO]

yes please!

[bluefish81]

TrojanWoman I'm loving this thread and I can't wait to see where you end up!

[TrojanWoman]

Megan, Kate, and I were up bright and early the next morning and were waiting to meet with our Rho chis. There were a lot of very nervous girls standing around. The three of us were very excited because we could potentially all be going to the same two parties. It looked like we could all end up in the same house although Megan was leaning heavily towards Matt Leinart and Kate towards Mike Williams. I was more focused on which 2 parties I would be going to.

Kate went in to meet with her Rho chi first. She came out with a resigned look on her face and didn’t want to show us her list. She finally told us that she had gotten back invites to Mike Williams and Steve Smith. She couldn’t believe that Matt Leinart had not asked her back because she had felt a real connection with the girl that she met on slide show day. Megan and I consoled Kate until it was time for Megan to go in.

Megan came out with a brave face but you could tell that she had been crying. She had been invited back to Matt Leinart and Steve Smith. Megan was very happy to be going back to her number 1 choice, but she did not feel a connection with Steve Smith and was unsure whether or not she would even attend the preference. Megan pointed out that there was now no way the three of us could be in the same house since I didn’t have Steve Smith on my schedule any longer.

At this point, I was extremely nervous. I kept reminding myself that I would be happy if I got to go back to any of my top three, but as I walked to meet my Rho Chi, I could feel tears brimming from all of the pressure. I sat down and opened my invitation list to see . . .


















Mike Williams and Matt Leinart!!!


I was thrilled and could barely contain my excitement. But I was also dreading telling my friends that I was the only one of the three of us that was getting the chance to pref at both houses that we had wanted. It also left me feeling as if I would be choosing between my two friends, not just the two sororities.

So I went up to my friends and broke the news. You could tell that they were having mixed feelings but they tried their best to be happy for me. But the first thing that Megan said was “so who are you going to pick, Kate or me?” I didn’t know how to answer but just said that it wasn’t about choosing between my friends, but finding the right sorority for me. Megan replied that she knew I would end up with Kate at Mike Williams because they had been my favorite all along. Kate piped up and said that no matter where we ended up, we would all still be friends. (she later told me that the only reason she felt okay about the situation was because she was almost positive that I would end up in the same house as her.) Megan just rolled her eyes and said that we better get going because it was almost time to meet Kate’s mom for shopping.

So the three of us hit the mall. We shopped and shopped and shopped and couldn’t find anything to wear. Pref at SC had been at night in the past but this year it was going to be in the morning, so it was harder to decide what to wear. I ended up going to my parent’s house to pick up a dress that I had worn in high school that I thought fit me well, just a short simple navy dress that I had worn to homecoming one year. One of the rho chis had suggested that we not wear black since that is what some of the houses wore for preference.

The next day was the big day and we all woke up very nervous. I would be going to Matt Leinart first with Megan and then to Mike Williams second with Kate. Kate was going to Steve Smith first and Megan had them second. Starting the day, I was pretty sure that I wanted to join Mike Williams, but I also thought that I was going to be open minded and just see how the day played out.

Matt Leinart: I was excited to come to this house today since I had enjoyed slide show day so much. The actives came out and were singing a very pretty song and one by one and active came up to the rushees and invited someone in. One of the girls that I had met on house tours came out to the group to “pick me up”. The active told me how excited the whole house had been to see my name on the list for today and that she was really excited to get the chance to tell me why she loved Matt Leinart so much. I just felt so comfortable there and had a great time. A lot of the girls that I had met during rush came up to welcome me back. There were also a lot of girls there that I knew from my rho chi group. They then had us go into one large room where we got to see a nice ceremony. One of the juniors who had transferred from OSU and affiliated with this chapter of Matt Leinart stood up and told us how hard it had been for her to leave her school and how the sisters of Matt Leinart had made her feel so welcome and comfortable. As I walked out of Matt Leinart that morning, I was starting to feel like that could be the perfect house for me.

In between parties, Megan, Kate and I met up. Megan had loved the Matt Leinart party as much as I had but I was being tight lipped. I wanted to make my own decision. Kate told us about Steve Smith and how she knew she didn’t want to join that house and would probably suicide Mike Williams. Megan wasn’t excited to go there next but decided that it would be impolite to not go to the party, so off we went.

Mike Williams: An active who had I had talked to at the previous two parties came and brought me into this preference. First we had yummy desert and they had me sitting at the same table as Kate and her active since they knew we were friends. The conversation was smooth and the atmosphere was fun, but in the back of my mind a little voice was starting to whisper “Matt Leinart”. But I blocked the voice out and continued to talk with the girls. We then went into the ceremony part. All the rushees sat in a circle in chairs with the actives in front of us sitting on the floor. A girl stood up and told an incredibly sad and moving story about her father dying suddenly and how her sisters really helped her through it. The sister talking was openly sobbing and many actives in the circle were also crying. I looked around and noticed that some of the rushees were crying to. Don’t get me wrong, I had a lot of empathy for this girl and really was happy she had found sisters who were there for her, but I was incredibly uncomfortable being a stranger let in to what was obviously a very difficult and emotional time for this girl. On top of that, the girl who was rushing me started stroking my leg and looking back at me with these puppy dog eyes. It was all I could do not to say, “Stop stroking me!” Sitting to my right was another girl from my rho chi group who had also preffed at Matt Leinart with me. I knew from previous conversations that she was really leaning towards Mike Williams. She whispered, “what house do you think you will choose?” Without any hesitation I looked at her and replied “Matt Leinart.” She got a relieved look on her face and said “oh good, me too. . . this is just too much!” So I listened patiently and participated in rest of the event, all the while knowing that I had found my home elsewhere. But all in all, it was a wonderful preference and I know a lot of girls who completely felt comfortable there.

So it is time for Kate and I to meet up with Megan and go sign our preference cards. I refused to tell either of them what I was doing, but they were both absolutely certain that I would pick Mike Williams. Kate and Megan had both decided to suicide on their preference cards because they just couldn’t see themselves as members of Steve Smith and thought that they had good chances of getting into Mike Williams and Matt Leinart respectively. I refused to tell them the whole way there what my card would read, but promised to reveal it after we were finished ranking.

This time we did not meet with our rho chis so that there would be no undue influence on us. There would be no rho chi questioning my decision this time! I walked in and ranked

Matt Leinart
Mike Williams

Megan suicided at Matt Leinart and Kate suicided at Mike Williams.

When I came out to tell the girls what I had done, they were shocked! But both were really supportive and glad that I had listened to my heart. We decided to go out to a fun dinner and a movie that night to keep our minds off of rush and bid day the next day . . . but OH BOY . . . we were SO nervous to find out what the bids card read!

[CZAXOTerp]

Originally Posted by TrojanWoman

The sister talking was openly sobbing and many actives in the circle were also crying. I looked around and noticed that some of the rushees were crying to. Don’t get me wrong, I had a lot of empathy for this girl and really was happy she had found sisters who were there for her, but I was incredibly uncomfortable being a stranger let in to what was obviously a very difficult and emotional time for this girl. On top of that, the girl who was rushing me started stroking my leg and looking back at me with these puppy dog eyes. It was all I could do not to say, “Stop stroking me!”

too funny- I totally got a back rub during a preference ceremony from a girl at a chapter- I remember thinking- gee a little to the left, a little more pressure, also it helped the the lights were dimmed and there was candlelight- but it is creepy!

[UGAalum94]

Yeah, sentimental intensity and physical touch have the potential to make people uncomfortable if they don't share your feelings. It's pretty much true at prefs just like it's true in every occasion.

Some people seem to expect preps to be emotionally intense and tearjerking, but if your only connection to the group is through rush (as opposed to a life long friend) it might seem false to many PNMs.