So the time comes for the first round of Rush. I met my Rho Chi and she handed out nametags. Each Rho Chi made the nametags for their group for round 1. There was even a competition to determine which were the best. Ours were so cute. They were little dolls and they held hearts with our names on them. I think the first thing I heard at every house was, "your nametag is so cute."
We started off on our journey all over creation. We walked most of the time, but there was a bus up to the top. I really felt like I had decent conversations, but I was really clueless and overwhelmed by the whole process. One thing that was really odd about rush at Purdue is it seemed like everyone had their own plan. First round some people did skits, some gave house tours, and some just sat and talked. I remember really loving one house, and really being turned off by one house. The rest all seemed about the same. That does not mean I could not see differences, but I did not really love or dislike any of the others yet. Funny thing from round one: I still find myself humming "Everyone wants to be a red hot Chi O to this day"
We did not rank our choices, and I do not think we saw our lists until right before the next round. I wish someone had encouraged me to keep a journal. As it turned out it really did not matter though. After round one I was only invited back to 5 houses. I was really upset because I did not know what went wrong. My favorite house was not on the list (DZ

), and the house that had not impressed me was. I only accepted invitations to four houses. My Rho Chi tried to convince me to give the other chapter another chance, but I refused. I thought (from my previous experience) that rush was about connecting with members of the chapter. I did not know that being a sophomore would hurt me, and grades did not even cross my mind. I knew there was a minimum GPA, but I guess I thought if you met that all was good.