A very Scandinavian recruitment story!

[DoeofDenmark]

Originally Posted by Theta1234

This has been too much fun. When you mentioned children and courts, my face just split into a huge smile. There is nothing like a down-to-earth PNM who thinks that particular group is the bees knees. My daughter felt the exact same way and I hope that you get your wish and can join the family.

Hello fellow sister!

[DoeofDenmark]

Preference:

Denmark
Sweden

Finland and I had both learned a valuable lesson in letting go, I did not have them, they did not have me, and I was completely at peace and happy with this.

Denmark:
I loved the preference ceremony at Denmark, it was interesting, the sisters answered questions and knew a lot about the chapter’s history and Denmark’s national history. I also realized that the Danish sisters kept things going, I was raised by my Scandinavian family and so I have a tendency to not use contractions and I have a literal sense of humor and a flat voice, they just kept talking and let me talk and never stopped to ask me to clarify my words. It made me feel confident in myself and so I was able to fully relax.

Sweden:
The conversations were funny and great as usual, but I did not feel a connection under the humor. The Swedish girls were lovely and funny and nice but they felt like friends rather than sisters. The sister that I talked to also seemed exhausted and I understood that feeling of exhaustion on a spiritual level. I had a nice time but I left Sweden with the kind of tiredness you only have when you are in a place where you are not supposed to be.

When it came down to rankings, I had to choose. I love children, Denmark and Sweden both support children with their philanthropies, but I didn’t see myself excelling and working as well with Sweden. As much as I love literacy, I did a lot of volunteering in high school and now that I was in college, choosing Sweden would not advance my career or help me to figure out what I wanted to do. Denmark had a niche that I could easily fill and their philanthropy involved children and the court of law, a group that I was interested in securing an internship with, and I felt like to be completely at peace with spending thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours volunteering my time, I needed to choose a philanthropy in a field that I would work in and one that could help advance me in life.

So I ranked Denmark before Sweden, made supper following a microwaved honey mustard pomegranate glazed salmon recipe, and went out to listen to the jibber jabber in the common room. The noise was that we needed another sorority on sorority row, the girls wanted to see Alpha Phi, Tri Delta, or Chi Omega present on campus for a spot on sorority row. Obviously this would not happen until there was an obvious need, so my salmon and I stayed quiet. Finland was a highly ranked sorority with Sweden following, Norway had been thrown off the popularity charts and Denmark was apparently so far down that they were not visible but I could have cared less, I had found my happiness and now I had to wait and see if fates would align.

[DoeofDenmark]

Bid Day:

Knowing that my mother would see bid day photos and scold me for not bundling up, I opted to wear a coat, thick leggings, a long sleeved shirt, a sweater, and boots. There was no way that I would be caught cold, the photographic evidence would wind up in my mother’s hands and I was not about to hear it. One of the girls on my floor wore sandals, shorts, and a tank top, I chalked it up to her being immune to pneumonia. I got ready for bid day and did not receive a phone call, so I presumed that I had been cleared to walk to bid day.

When I got my card, my heart froze. My hands were shaking, my eyesight was blurring, I was unprepared for the unexpected. What if I had made the wrong choice? What if I liked Sweden better? What if I had Sweden instead of Denmark or Denmark instead of Sweden? What if I had gotten a snap bid and no one had told me so instead I had Finland instead of Denmark or Sweden? What if I ran home but went to the wrong house because the letters are kind of small? I went over every possible scenario in my head until I decided to just stop thinking and take a huge deep breath.

The countdown began, my heart began to thud, my tongue felt numb, I began to wonder to myself if the stress from this negative thinking had given me a stroke, “Zero!” finally arrived and I opened my bid card, well, I struggled to open it, the sealant they used must have kept the sword in the stone because it was super strong. I finally opened it enough to see that I would be running back to Denmark, home to Kappa Alpha Theta.

I was so so so so so so so excited. I had no idea where I was supposed to be going but I was excited that I was going there. I was the first one to scream, there was dead silence for a moment and it was broke by my bloodcurdling scream, but then the chaos broke out and I was in the clear to go. The friend I made across the hall from me was opening her card to Theta and then just like that...we were running home.

[AZTheta]

Twin stars, high flying kites, and pansies for you (but NO MASCOT! EVER) - welcome home.

[Theta1234]

Well HELLO Sister! Thank you for sharing your journey. Please keep us updated--we love to cheer on others. It's always fun to hear your thoughts on recruitment from the other side. Twin Stars for you!

[OldFLDDD]

Yay! So glad you had such a wonderful rush experience. Thanks for sharing!!!

[thetalady]

YIPPEE!!!!! So happy to hear that Theta and CASA will have such a lovely young woman joining us!! Congratulations! <>~~~~~~

[DistantXOcousin]

This is the thread I’ve been needing to read! Congratulations on your bid and good luck recruiting your first new member class! Keep us updated on how recruitment goes for you!

[Sciencewoman]

Congratulations, and thanks for sharing your story!

[IrishLake]

Wonderful story, experience, and attitude. I also got a grin when you mentioned children and courts. Welcome to our sisterhood!

[honeychile]

Congratulations again, DoeofDenmark! May you also fly your kite high!

[DoeofDenmark]

Bid Day was yesterday! We welcomed home 18 new members to Kappa Alpha Theta!
(Many thanks to AZTheta for agreeing that we aren’t Kats, i don’t like the unofficial mascot!)

[honeychile]

Congratulations on your New Members!

[erica812]

Congratulations!! I am an alumna of Washington & Jefferson College, and I am still in the area. Greek Life was a positive aspect of campus life when I was there, and from what I can see, it is still healthy and thriving!