So after a somewhat sleepless night...I went back to get my pref invites. I got my big manilla envelope, opened it up, and out came invites for...Big Bird, Ernie, and Elmo. Uh oh. Decision time. I immediately signed on the dotted line to accept the Big Bird invitation. Then I sat and stared at the other two. And I continued to do this for about the next 45 minutes, as everyone else signed their cards and left. Finally I was the last person in my rush group, and my recruitment counselor came over. (We had no idea which house she was in - she was good. We suspected either Bert or maybe Elmo, but really didn't know). She asked me if I was okay - and I immediately burst into tears. While sobbing I told her I just didn't know what to do. She looked at my invitations and said, "Okay, so you want to go back to Big Bird, so what are you thinking about the others?" I told her that my friend was an Elmo, and that I knew she was going to be really upset if I didn't go back to her house. She asked again "But what do YOU want?" Then I really broke into the "ugly cry" - you know, the one where your face gets all red and you have snot running down your face and mascara leaking on your toes??? - and I said, "I don't want to go back to Elmo!"
She told me how she had a really hard time making a decision too, and how she had loved one particular chapter, and that some of her friends gave her hard time about it, but how glad she was that she had followed her heart, and that she had never regretted this decision.
So with a heavy heart, I said a silent "I'm sorry" to Charlotte, and signed my accept to Ernie....
After a few ice packs to my puffy eyes, and a few minutes with the diffuser to my awesome spiral perm, I went to my pref parties. At the time, the chapters used to hold their parties off campus at the stunning homes of local alums. It sounds kind of odd, but it was actually pretty neat.
First up - Ernie. The gals were outside in black dresses, and Carrie walking me into preference me, which was a huge relief. It was just nice to be with a friend that I could relax with after the emotions of the morning. Carrie told me that my Ernie Idol, the pre-dental girl, was so excited that I was back at Ernie, and that she had told Carrie that she thought I would be a real leader in the house, which I thought was so cool. Carrie said that she told her that she thought it was going to be a hard decision for me because of Charlotte. I told Carrie that I had regretted the invitation to Elmo that day, and Carrie got this funny little smile on her face and said that she was just glad that I still was considering Ernie,and that Big Bird was a great house too. What a class act that girl is! The pref ceremony was really nice, really emphasized the sisterhood in Ernie, and I had a really good time at the party. As we left, we opened a little card attached to the Ernie's chapter flower and it said something about following your heart. We were then supposed to throw that into a little wishing well by the door on our way out, which I did, and wished for.....hmm, I think I'll save that secret for now
Then it was off to Big Bird. Their alum's house was a beautiful old victorian, and it was actually accented in the Big Bird colors, how funny is that! Even I am not quite that die-hard of an alum, but it was still pretty impressive. The girls were all in white, and I was preferenced by the girl from the crew team first, and then by the pre-med girl. The pre-med girl asked me which other house I had gone to, and I told her Ernie. She asked me if it was going to be a hard decision, and I was sort of flustered because I didn't know what we could or couldn't say, so I just said "no". I told her that I had a really good friend who was in another house, and that I had decided not to go back to that house today because I really didn't see myself there, and that I had been really surprised by that b/c going into rush I had felt completely different. She told me she had felt the same way, that she had never guessed going into rush that she would love Big Bird like she did, but that it had felt like home, and that it was a great decision for her. The pref ceremony here was also really nice, and then the active members went outside while the new member educator talked to us. When we went outside, the Big Birds were lined up singing this beautiful song, holding candles (it was getting dark at this time) and it had just started snowing...they looked just like angels (hee hee).
I went back to the room, and after thinking for a couple of minutes, I decided that while I really could be truly happy at either chapter, and while it would be awesome to be in Carrie's chapter, my heart was truly with the Big Birds. I also felt like Carrie would totally understand if that was what worked out.
So I ranked Big Bird first, and Ernie second.
The next day, I got my bid card..
And with shaking hands.....
opened it up, so see that I was invited to memebership in....
BIG BIRD!!!! (my Pi Phi Angels!!!!)
After bawling my head off, I went off to bid day with my new sisters.
So I did see Carrie later that day, who gave me a huge hug and congratulated me, and told me again that they were a great chapter and how happy she was for me. How great was that? I still have very good feelings towards the Ernies.
As for Charlotte - I called her later that day. I asked her if she was mad at me, and she said of course not. She said, "So, you are an Ernie, right?" I was kind of shocked, I thought somehow she would know. I gulped, and said no. Then she said, "Are you a Bert? An Oscar?" Then she sounded sort of mad and said "What ARE you?" I said, "Um, I'm a Pi Phi?" She literally dropped that phone and shouted to her roommate "Oh my god, PiPhiERDoc went PI PHI." Roommate says in the background "You are JOKING.". Yeah....that went well...
Hybrid Mode
