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I promise you, this isn't a fanfiction. It is from earlier this year, Fall 2011. You don't have to believe me and I know many of you probably won't, and that's ok with me. Also, just an aside: I'm the sort of girl who doesn't do things half way. I might not have been super into the idea of sorority recruitment, but that didn't mean I wasn't going to give it my all.
Recruitment started and I found out one of my two Pi Chis is in the same honors program I’m a part of. That made me feel so much better knowing that it is possible to be a nerd and still be in a sorority. Recruitment stretched over two weeks, and round one was over two days. We visited five houses the first day and then the rest on the second. My very first house was Pochontas. The girls in my Pi Chi were freaking out because they were a “top” house on campus. The girl next to me alphabetically was sort of snobby and continued to talk about how she was a shoe in here because she knew a bunch of girls at the house. I tried to tune them out, but it’s not easy to do.
The doors to the house opened and I was blown away by the noise. I knew to expect cheering, but I had no idea it was going to be that loud! The girl I talked to at this house was really sweet and I felt like I had a good connection here. This was probably the best way I could have started recruitment, because it helped to ease my nerves and just made everything seem less scary.
The next house of the day was Cinderella, another “top”. This was one where I was pretty sure I wouldn’t fit in, because they have a reputation of being blonde, rich girls who are very dramatic and girlie. I know, I shouldn’t have listened to the reputation, but I did. There was no way to resist it really. I entered the house and it was beautiful, but I didn’t feel a connection. Though this house has one of the top GPAs, the girl rushing me talked about how a lot of girls have easy majors. Grades are very important to me and this sort of left a bad taste in my mouth. She also mentioned something about how all the boys want to date a Cinderella and how the girls party a lot, which to me didn’t seem like something that should be shared on the first day, but maybe I was just naïve.
Tiana was next, and the girls in my Pi Chi group kindly informed me this was a bottom tier sorority and that they could care less about it and that they were purposefully going to blow it. That seemed beyond rude to me and I told them that (which might explain why I never really made friends with the girls in my group). I went into the house ignoring them, and met a really sweet girl. The sisterhood here didn’t seem as strong as in some of the other houses, nor was their rush quite as well put together. The house was beautiful and I loved the symbols, so I put it down as a maybe.
I really wanted to make a good first impression at Rapunzel, because that was the sorority where my friend belonged and I knew that if she loved it so much, there had to have been a good reason. The girls I talked to were nice enough and they were certainly enthusiastic, if perhaps a little girlier than me. I did like it though, enough to go back and try again.
Belle was the last, so I was beyond burned out at this point and don’t really remember anything about the sorority other than I what I wrote in my book, which was just that the sisterhood seemed tight and their colors.
At the end of the day, all I wanted to do was go back to my dorm and shower! All the walking in the hot sun had been exhausting and draining, so I went straight to bed after dinner.
Day 2 was more of the same as Day 1. I was visiting another “top” (according to the girls in my group any way) house first: Jasmine. I loved this house! The girl I talked to was so sweet and funny and she seemed genuinely interested in me. The motto of this house was a little off putting though, something about how only the best girls get to join. I didn’t like how exclusive they seemed because of that, but it’s not like the girls in the house had any control over that.
Snow White was next, and I expected to like this house. A friend I’d met in my dorm had mentioned how his sister, who shared my major, was a sister here and loved it. It was another “top”. I was starting to get annoyed about how many of the houses were “top” according to the girls in my Pi Chi, and their attitudes were really starting to get on my nerves. I HATED this house. The girl I talked to clearly didn’t care about school at all, and talked about how she sat in the back of her classes and copied notes and homework from the smart kids. As one of the “smart kids”, I was offended, and I knew I couldn’t be a part of a sisterhood with this girl. This was also the moment I had an epiphany. I didn’t have to listen to the girls in my Pi Chi. Their opinions meant nothing and I should go based on how I felt, not what they said. This attitude definitely made the rest of recruitment so much better and I wish I had realized this from the beginning. As much as I tried to go in with an open mind, I still let their comments get to me until this point.
Ariel was good; I was rushed by two girls who were clearly close here. They seemed more into talking to each other than to me at first, but the conversation flowed and I really liked them.
The next house was Aurora. I wanted to like them because based on what I found out on Google they seemed like a great group. I loved the girls I talked to, they were so down to earth and chill.
Mulan was the last one. I loved the website for this house and it made it seem like this was the perfect house for me. They seemed very academically motivated and I liked how they separated girls and took them to different rooms in the house so we could hear each other. Most of the other parties took place in the chapter room and so it was a little loud. The sisterhood here seemed so tight, and it was definitely my top pick for the round.
We had to list two houses that we didn’t want to go back to, then the rest we just listed not based on order. I knew right away I was getting rid of Snow White, but the second spot was tough to fill. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to get rid of Cinderella or Belle because I didn’t feel completely comfortable at Cinderella, but I could barely remember anything about Belle. I also didn’t want to cut two of the “best” houses on campus, because what did that say about me as a person? That I was a huge loser? I talked it over with my Pi Chi, and I decided to cut Cinderella. When I explained my reasoning to her, I realized I knew what I wanted to do, I just needed someone to tell me it was ok to get rid of the popular ones. She also reminded me this was an individual decision and I needed to focus on me, not other people.
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Hybrid Mode
