Around the World: Sophomore Recruitment Story

[allthatglitters]

Friday: Preference Day
Today we would learn more about the sisterhood of the chapters we would visit. You could only have a maximum of 3. From what my Pi Chi's told me. Preference Day was the day they *knew* where they belonged and that its a very emotional day.

I didn't believe any of that nonsense and thought any girl that would cry at a sorority ceremony was ridiculous.

I got my list:
1. England
2. Thailand
3. Ireland

I was pretty upset about losing Spain and wondered for a few minutes what I possibly did wrong that they wouldn't want me, but as I looked around the room and saw girls in various stages of despair and disappointment, I realized that I had the maximum number of houses on the very last day, as a sophomore. And one of my absolute favorites was at the top of my list.

I feel that its also important to note that at the beginning of recruitment, my Pi Chi group had 78 girls. This day there were around 30 left. Many of the sophomores who had been picky or openly bashing houses during tent talk had slowly started disappearing...

Anyway.

I went to my first house of the day England. I was led inside by the girl that had walked me inside on day 1. By now I just absolutely loved her and was so excited to see a familiar face. The ceremony was beautiful and so personal. After the first half of the ceremony, we were led upstairs to hear a speech from the seniors about what their time in the house meant to them, and then we were each met with a girl who had some connection to us, somehow. I was met by the second girl I met on day 1. The girl I had immediately bonded with over our homestate of California. She stayed with me through the rest of the ceremony and when she walked me outside she tearfully told me that from the moment she met me she had hoped I would become a member of her chapter. At this point I had already been crying, despite shaking my head hours earlier at the idea of crying over a sorority ceremony, and didn't ever want to leave England. Ever. She hugged me (rush violation, oh well) and told me that no matter where I end up I would always have people that care about me in England. I cried more. Then I left for the next house.

Thailand The pref. day ceremony at Thailand was structured a bit differently than at England. Instead of being led inside, we had to remain on the sidewalk until our names were called. It was mid August. And hot. My name was almost last. Needless to say I didn't look my best during this pref. day ceremony. I really really liked the personal touches that Thailand added. When I walked inside, I was handed a card with my name on it. We had to wait until the end to open it, but inside were personal messages from EVERY girl I had talked to that week about things we talked about and wishing me the best with my recruitement decision. Also inside the card was a message from a friend that I knew was in Thailand but hadn't had the chance to talk to during recruitment. I really really appreciated the level of detail they put into their ceremony. But sadly, the entire time I was at Thailand. I missed England and wanted to go back.

Ireland The ceremony at Ireland was beautiful. Again they added personal touches but my two earlier pref day events had been so incredibly personal and impressive Ireland couldn't really compare. I still was glad to be there and was honored that they had invited me back for this special day.

Rankings:
1. England
2. Thailand
3. Ireland