Shift finished, but I've been mega-busy! I've been writing a bit each night but I didn't want to post anything until I had it up so nobody would be like "Oh hey an update! ...oh..."
Anyway, here's the next bit. I'm just going to finish it all at once so there's not an issue with getting the posts up.
You know how sometimes, you'll have a really good feeling as you go into something? That was what the start of spring semester was like for me.
Fall semester had ended well, with my grades high enough to keep my scholarship and be classified as an honor student, and that meant I was able to register for classes early. As time passed I'd stopped spending so much time with Alison and started spending more time with people I was meeting at work, in classes, and around the dorms. Apparently I'd "proven myself" or whatever during the holiday rush at work, so my boss was giving me more hours. My lineup of classes for the spring was exciting - I'd managed to get into a lot of my core classes for my major, and had even managed to get into a darkroom photography class, in which I'd be able to use the Canon EOS Rebel XSn I'd gotten for my birthday. It's my baby. <3
So, all in all, I was pretty happy going into spring semester. Alison, at one point, called me "stupidly optimistic" - I preferred to think of it as just looking forward to what the future could hold.
Informal recruitment at my school is a very different animal from formal recruitment - and I'm sure it's the same way in other places, though maybe to different extents. It was arranged so that each of the sororities - even the ones that weren't participating - had the opportunity to set up their tables and get their names out there, and the spring PNMs would register at the tables to signify their interest.
Seychelles was not going to be participating in informal recruitment, because they were already full - as they generally were each year, I found out later. That left
Hong Kong (rumor had it that they only had one spot available, but Alison's friend told me that wasn't true),
Malta (which a lot of girls really wanted, but were intimidated by),
Sri Lanka (according to the spring version of "tent talk," they only had a few spots, too),
Andorra (a lot of girls wanted them but were surprised that they were COBing), and
New Zealand (no one was really surprised by their participation, but the girls were so sweet at the tables that a lot of people signed up).
Unfortunately, the
Hong Kong open house was scheduled to start at the same time as a shift at work, and I wasn't able to find anyone to cover for me, nor was my boss able to just have me come in a little late.
Malta's open house was scheduled towards the end of that shift, though, and I was able to find someone to cover for me at that time.
Andorra and
Sri Lanka were scheduled for times when I was free, and
New Zealand was scheduled to start fifteen minutes after a class I had on the other side of campus. If I dressed for it before class and left right away, I should be able to make it.
They were spread out over a couple of different nights, but for the sake of finishing this story I'll talk about them all right now in the order I visited them.
Malta - I'd liked this chapter a lot in the fall, and I was hoping that this time I'd make a better impression. Without Rho Chi groups, the PNMs were left to gather outside of the house in the minutes leading up to when the party would start, and we'd be let in. There was a group of about seven of us, and we chit-chatted a bit until the actives brought us inside. The house was as pretty as ever and was well-kept, but it seemed a little strange seeing it without it being so
full - just as there were fewer PNMs for the spring, there were also fewer people to pair with the PNMs. It felt very much like the open house round from the fall, to be completely honest, and for some of the PNMs - I only recognized one of them, though I guess some of the others could have just been in different Rho Chi groups - it was probably their first time seeing the place, so it made sense. The girl I ended up talking to showed me around, with a special emphasis on the study room. I guess she was a friend of Brooke's - she also played volleyball, and we ended up talking a lot about intramurals and the things the sisters did together. I had a good time, and left in a good mood.
New Zealand - I meant to get there on time, I really did. I'd already dressed and everything, had told my teacher before class started that I'd need to leave exactly on time, and I thought things were going to work out okay. But halfway through class, my teacher brought in a guest speaker and told us that in no uncertain terms, nobody would be leaving until the speaker was finished. Not only that, but even if I had been prepared to disobey her - which I wasn't - I'd been told that my campus Panhellenic had a rule that if you ditched even a minute of class to go to an event, you would immediately be ineligible for any other events. I was not prepared to risk that. So I was very antsy towards the end of class and when the speaker finally finished, about five minutes before the party was going to start, I literally ran across campus. Despite my best efforts, I got there a few minutes after they started and the door was locked. One of the sisters saw me through a window and let me in, and I apologized, but while I had a good time talking to the girls about TV shows, campus activities, and stuff like that, I really felt that I hadn't made a good impression at all. (Not-so-fun-fact: Alison, who had the class with me, had kept muttering that it was a sign that I should not be involved with Greek life.) I hoped that I'd been able to make up for it, because I really did like this group, but one of the other PNMs told me on the way out that I must have been "so embarrassed" to be "that girl." Urk!
Andorra - This one, thankfully, I got to early. Some of the same girls from the
Malta party were gathered out here, and we caught up with each other, asking about how classes had been and such before we were let in.
Andorra was, as they had been the semester before, a ton of fun. The other PNMs and I met so many girls who all seemed happy to have us there, and we talked about pretty much anything under the sun - it was a blast. As we were leaving we were told about another event we could come to, off-campus, for the next round of informal recruitment. Unfortunately, I had work that day.
When my active heard that, she said it was a shame and that she'd see if they could get in touch with me about another time, or maybe I could try again the next fall. She seemed encouraging, and one of her sisters - who'd been in their fall pledge class - recognized me on the way out and said she was really glad I'd given recruitment a second try.
Sri Lanka - I was excited to go back here, since I felt like I'd only just started to get to know them when recruitment had ended for me last semester. Again, it was very similar to their open house. I met a number of very nice girls, one of which remembered me from the semester before when we'd gone through recruitment together. Since this party was the same night as
Andorra's, it was honestly kind of a blur. But I remember being incredibly impressed with how well everyone seemed to be getting a long, I loved their philanthropy, and I just overall had a great time. It was a good way to end my night.
What came next was the waiting.
Oh, the waiting was hardest. I went back to my dorm after the party and Alison was gone - she had a shift at work most nights that I was free, so we mostly saw each other during the day and at night before we fell asleep. I wasn't sure how this sort of thing worked. Would they call back that same night? Or tomorrow? What if I was supposed to have received the next invitation at the party, like I had at
Andorra? That would mean I'd been dropped by three of the four sororities that were doing informal.
Just in case, I wanted to be near my phone. Eventually, though, I fell asleep, and since there were classes the next day, I went about my business.
The next evening, I got a call. I don't remember what was said exactly, but it went something along these lines:
"Hi, Crosscaravan? This is Leah, from
Sri Lanka. Some of us are going to get coffee next Saturday and we were wondering if you and some of the other PNMs would like to join us..."
I was excited! I agreed, after double- and triple-checking that work wouldn't interfere, and the next few days passed
way too slowly.
Saturday finally rolled around and I went to go meet them. There were four of them and three of us - me, and two girls named Missy and Jana. The seven of us had a really good time and we talked about how the week had gone, what we'd been up to, and general stuff like that. Then we talked a little about
Sri Lanka, why we were interested in joining, and what the chapter meant to them. It was strange - I can't speak for the other two, or for the actives, but I didn't feel awkward even once while I was there. I was having a great time, I felt like I was connecting with the girls, and all was good.
It seemed like it was over way too soon, and as we all went our separate ways I found myself really,
really hoping that
Sri Lanka would call me again.
And they did! On Sunday I got a call and they invited me to have dinner at their chapter house after classes were over later that week. I was so, so stoked. They let me know that we were supposed to wear nice clothes - "business casual" is how they described it - and I was a ball of energy as I laid out every possible combination in my room. I think Alison was about ready to throw something at me a few times.
Monday night, I went to the dinner once my last class of the day had finished, and once again, I had a great time. Jana was there, too, though I didn't see Missy, and there were a few other PNMs as well, one of which I recognized from the parties at
Malta and
Andorra. I was meeting more members of the chapter and really liking everything I found. The house was starting to feel cozy and comfortable - I could picture myself being there. I hoped they wanted me as much as I wanted them.
When it was time to go, Jana and I were headed in the same direction, so we walked out together. She had a different attitude.
"This means we've been cut, you know."
I was flabbergasted. I didn't understand what she meant, and asked her. She responded, telling me her roommate had been invited to pledge and had already signed her bid a few days before. What she said was pretty much something along the lines of, If they'd wanted us, they would have had us stay that night. But since we were walking home now, we weren't going to be able to join
Sri Lanka.
And then she said something else.
"I don't know what I did wrong. I mean, I know I'm pretty enough."
...in all honesty, it made me wonder. I have NO IDEA if this is the case or not, but hearing that made me think - if we really hadn't received bids, in her case, wouldn't it be more likely that it was because of her attitude? Had I done something that they'd taken as copping an attitude and let me go?
I just didn't know.
We talked a little bit more before she had to go one way and I had to go another. We swapped phone numbers, and Jana made me promise to text her if I heard from them at all that night. And she'd do the same to me.
I headed to work, because I was covering a late shift. I tried to concentrate, but it wasn't easy. I was jittery. Hoping. Wondering.
Half an hour before my shift was going to end, my phone rang. I think I might have forgotten to breathe for a moment before I picked up!
Again, I don't remember exactly what was said, but it was something along these lines -
"Crosscaravan? Hi again! This is Leah, from
Sri Lanka. We'd like to offer you a bid, and we were wondering if tomorrow was a good day for you to come down and sign it!"
I agreed, unable to stop smiling no matter what I tried. A few of my coworkers congratulated me. I'd received a bid to
Sri Lanka...
Also known as...
Pi Beta Phi!!!
And what happened next?
Well, my new member period was a ton of fun. My pledge class was very small, since it was spring informal - there were five of us when it was time for initiation. I have a wonderful big sister who I love to pieces, I get along well with my pledge class, and I'm now living in the house - and have been for about two weeks. Fall recruitment is going to start very soon, and I've been busy (so busy that I haven't always been able to post as promptly as I want to, lol) because we've been getting the house ready, doing recruitment workshops, and spending lots of time together! This is going to be my very first recruitment on the other side and I really can't wait to see how it goes.
As for Jana... I'm not sure what happened with her. After I heard from them, I texted her to let them know they'd called me and asked if she'd heard anything. She never responded, and I haven't heard from her since.
Alison, meanwhile, was a bit iffy after I signed my bid card to Pi Phi. A few times she accused me of acting "differently," but I think the difference was that I'd never experienced a sisterhood before, and I was starting to try new things and become more outgoing. My only biological sibling is a younger brother, and while we're close - it's not quite the same thing. As time went on, though, she saw how much fun I was having and stopped being quite as vocal in her objections. And she actually texted me awhile back to tell me she was planning to try to rush as a sophomore! I wasn't able to do much other than say I hoped that her recruitment went well and that I hoped she enjoys visiting each of the chapters. She told her friend who'd joined
Hong Kong the same thing, and we're interested to see how recruitment goes for her.
Is this a happy ending? I tend to think so, because I love my sisters and I'm very happy with where I ended up, and I hope they're just as happy with me. But it's also a wonderful beginning, and I can't wait to see where things go from here.
PNMs - when/if you do go through recruitment,
please keep an open mind!! Pi Phi was not my first choice on my first day of fall recruitment, or on my second. But as I got to know them I grew to love them, and I honestly can't see myself anywhere else. Give everything a try if you can - it may be one of the most rewarding things you ever do!
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