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Current reflections will be in purple.
So, after a few floor meetings with our Rho Chi's (in which they brought cookies) and many conversations about times, dress, and all the little details for the first weekend, the day of the first round had finally arrived. Of course, we couldn't be without our little problems and I was "fortunate" enough to be part of it. Because I was in the marching band, we had practice until 6pm on Fridays (and marching band counts as a class, so there was no way to skip just to get ready for Open House). Open House was supposed to begin at 6:30. There were about four of us going through Recruitment, plus all the Nessaroses, and one Rho Chi (for these purposes, we'll call her Katie). Having one Rho Chi in the band worked to the advantage of everyone, because she was given special permission to drive the four of us going through Recruitment to the student union to change and then to our respective first rounds of the night so we wouldn't be late.
Band practice ended, and the five of us (four PNMs and Katie) rushed to the car, hurried to the student union, and changed into the clothes we had brought along. Katie gave us the nametags she had been given earlier and told us which houses each of us would be visiting first and that the other Rho Chi's traveling with each of our groups would let us know the order of the rest of the houses for the night. We put all of our stuff in Katie's trunk and planned to meet her to get them at the end of the night, and then we loaded into her car again and she drove us to our different rounds. We dropped off one girl at the Nessarose house first. My first round was to be at the Galinda house, which (according to Katie) was the next closest house to Nessarose, so I would be dropped off next. Katie ended up having to turn around after she turned to wrong way down a street. I determined she clearly wasn't a Galinda.
My experiences at each house:
Galinda--The first house I visited. We lined up outside the house, the Rho Chi's took our coats and purses to hold while we were inside. The door opened and all of us PNMs were incredibly overwhelmed by how loud the sisters were singing. We went inside and the girl I was paired with was really nice. The conversation flowed easily. I enjoyed seeing the house and all the sisters were really nice. Probably the thing I found the strangest was that they took a picture of each of us with their mascot. Looking back now, I can see how it was helpful--they had a picture of each PNM and a name matched up to it. So, it was unique to stick them out in our minds, but it was also helpful for them when they were doing voting and all that. I left happy, and Galinda was definately high on my mental list. I felt I fit in with the sisters and they made me very comfortable.
Elphaba--The second house I visited. We lined up again, but we found ourselves a little less surprised by the enthusiastic door song sang this time. Inside I was again paired up with a girl I felt comfortable with. She was nice, enthusiastic about her sorority, and I felt we clicked pretty well. There was an unfortunate almost-accident on the stairs, in which I almost fell, but I wasn't the only one. When I was leaving, I found myself feeling almost the same way about Elphaba as I did about Galinda.
Fiyero--The third house I visited. Again, we were greeted by a loud door song. Over the few weeks before Recruitment, I had heard that Fiyero was the largest sorority on campus. We went inside. I saw Mary, she waved enthusiastically, but I was paired up with a different sister. The sister I was paired up with was a lot quieter than the ones I was paired up with at the other houses. The tour of the house was nice and I enjoyed learning about the sorority, but I didn't feel I connected as well with the other sisters and I didn't feel quite as comfortable as I had at the other two houses.
Nessarose--The last house I visited. Through the grapevine, I had heard that this was the smallest chapter on campus. We were greeted once again by a door song, although it was a little quieter than those of the other three. Now, I know that this had nothing to do with the enthusiasm of the house, but simply because there were less sisters here than at the other three. Inside, I was paired up with another PNM (we'll call her Danielle) and a sister. After a few minutes, Danielle got snatched up by another sister and I was left with the one I was originally with. We started talking about all the normal small-talk stuff, and when I told her my major (Creative Writing) she got incredibly excited because she was an English major too. After that, the conversation flowed easily. We found out we were in marching band together (although, in different sections, which is why we had never met), and then I got a tour of the house. As I left, Nessarose went close to the top of my list too, tied with Galinda. I again had felt incredibly comfortable at this house and enjoyed talking with the sisters.
After the rounds, I found the other band girls and Katie, and we got our stuff out of the car. My floor group had a short meeting with Janet and Jessica, settling times for Sunday afternoon for Philanthropy Round. We would be making our first cuts later in the week, a couple days before the final weekend of Recruitment. All in all, I was very excited about Recruitment now, and couldn't wait until Sunday.
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Hybrid Mode
