MaggieXi's Retro Elon Recruitment Story

[MaggieXi]

Monday's parties were an absolute blur!!! I rushed back to my room after classes and got ready. The weather was really really bad outside. It was sleeting and its expected to snow tonight. My Rho Chi sent messages to all of us saying that recruitment was on until otherwise announced. So I had to change my outfit plan and I wore black pants, a blue/gray button down and black boots. Sarah did my hair and helped me with my make-up. Sarah is a hair stylist now!

Courtney and Traci were freaking out because the weather screwed up what they were going to wear and were frantically pulling things out of their closets to figure out what to wear.

So I got to Moseley to meet my Rho Chi group and then we trekked in the sleety-rain down to the greek courts. At this point, the greek courts (later known as the Loy Center) were under construction. Not all the organizations had houses yet but they were being built We got in line outside Down Dog in alphabetical order. The sorority girls were banging on the door and I could hear them singing inside and doing cheers. I couldn't help but laugh at the whole thing. The the doors bursted open and Heather took our coats and in we went.

Down Dog was really nice. I was met by Beth, a girl from one of my classes who is a sophmore. She asked me a lot of questions like where I was from, where I lived on campus, what my major was, what my parents did, etc. Turns out she is from New Jersey and went to high school with my cousin Rob! Beth introduced me to a lot of other people and I have no idea who I met or if I was supposed to say something special. But all in all, I liked Down Dog. I guess you could could consider them "classy" or whatever like Courtney said, but I thought they were just normal people.

Shanti was next. They had a really pretty house too! I don't know who the first girl who was who took me around and she asked me a lot of the same questions that Beth did at Down Dog. She also took me around to some tables they had set up with pictures of all the sisters, awards, their philanthropy and activities. I kinda thought the girl was bragging though when she was telling me how much stuff that Shanti did. At the very end of the party I ran into April, my orientation leader. She gave me a big hug and told me that she was really excited that I was going through recruitment. I guess Shanti was ok but I think Courtney was right about them being "know it alls". But I was surprised that April was in that house because she just didn't ever seem that way to me.

Warrior was last. They do not have a house in the greek court yet. They have an old house on Haggard that we had to walk up a hill to in the snow. We were all cold and tired already! We got to warrior and I was immediately a little freaked out. They brought us into this room where they had all these antique dolls on the shelves. I hate antique dolls! I felt like they were looking at me! Warrior also showed us a video about their national sorority -- not their chapter which I thought was kind of pointless and made us sit on the floor to watch it which was kind of wet from all of our shoes. I was brought around by one first and she kept leaving me with other people. I didn't like it at all! I really don't want to be a Warrior!

I got back to my room and shared stories with Courtney, Traci and Karen. They all had good nights and visited some of the same houses and some of the houses I will see on tuesday. Traci told me later that at Om, the girls like scream at you when you get inside of the house and she totally got scared!

[sailboatgirl]

What a great start to your recruitment story...minus the sleet and snow, of course!

Oh, and I can't stand antique dolls, either...especially the ones with the big, blinkie eyes...they totally freak me out, too! It's kind of like my aversion to clowns.

[Xylochick216]

Originally Posted by MaggieXi

Traci told me later that at Om, the girls like scream at you when you get inside of the house and she totally got scared!

I think I know who Om is. They still do the same thing.

[MaggieXi]

On Tuesday I had to rush to get ready. Luckily, the weather got a little bit better. It is still raining, but we will be in Moseley to visit two of the sororities whose houses aren't done yet so we will only be outside to go see Om. I am glad I laid out my clothes before I left for class and Sarah was right there to do my hair. However, I was soo hungry 'cuz I didn't have time to stop at Harden to grab someting little to eat so my dinner is mostly gold fish! I met with my group in Moseley and we all walked down to go to Om. I walked with Torey and she told me that Down Dog was already her favorite.

I'm really glad that Traci told me that Om was kinda scary in the begining. We lined up and walked in. It was completely dark and silent. Not like yesterday's visits at Down Dog and Shanti. We all sat on the floor and all the Oms got in a circle around us and sang this song about their sorority that was practically silent and then all of a sudden they screamed out their letters! Even though I was waiting for it, it still made me jump a little bit. After the yelling, I got picked up by this girl Kristin. She was nice but kept me off in the corner and I didn't really get to meet anyone. Kristin asked me the usual questions and seemed really not interested in talking with me so I felt really awkward. I even tried to make conversation with her and she really didn't have much to say. I saw Katrina for a second and she said hi, but she looked really busy and stressed out. I was kind of glad to leave the party at Om. I just didn't see what the big fuss was over being an Om. They just seemed stuck up to me.

Next we all walked up Moseley to see Half Moon. They were all yelling and singing in their room before we went in. When the doors opened, I was linked arms with this girl Jen. She was sooo nice. She didn't just ask the regular questions, we just hit it off and talked about Philly. She was actually from one of the suburbs too so we mostly spoke about all the things we missed from home. Jen also introduced me to lots of people and left me for a little bit to talk to her roomate Michelle. Michelle was really nice too! I couldn't believe when the party ended. On a bunch of TVs in the room they had vidoes of pictures that they had collected set to music which I thought was a nice touch. It went by so fast and I really liked all the girls I met. Plus, I don't know what Courtney was talking about them being all "southern". I met girls from all over and they weren't at all what Courtney was making them out to be!

The last house was Lotus. According Courtney this is the "party" sorority. We lined up outside their room and they were singing a cheer and we were all led in and sat down in chairs. (None of the other sororities had chairs for us to sit on) We were shown a video show of pictures of all the sisters doing stuff over the last year from like greek week and homecoming and their formals and stuff. The sisters cheered at some pictures and called out people's names. They all seemed to be very close, and although they have probably seen this video now a bunch of times, they still seemed to enjoy it. None of their pictures were of them partying! Then the president welcomed us and then we were picked up by one of the girls in the room. The first girl I met was Ashley, she was this short little blonde who was just funny, and then I met her roomate Anne and a bunch of other girls. One of the girls, Hope I ended up talking to for a long time because she is a communications major and was the one who put the slide show together and since I was thinking of going into communications, I got a lot of feed back from her about it. This party was also over really quickly! I liked these girls a lot too.

When we were done with Lotus, my Rho Chi group went down stairs and Heather had us tell her about how we were feeling and that tomorrow our invitations to the second round would be ready at 12 and to meet her outside the Panhellenic office. She also told us to go home and write all this stuff down but to definetly keep our minds open about all the different sororities because each one had something to offer us.

When I got back to Staley, Courtney & Karen were ranking the sororities. I thought this was a little silly because I think it is probably more up to the sororities and less up to me. But Traci and I joined in.

My favorite is Half Moon, followed by Lotus & Down Dog who are tied, and then Shanti, Om and Warrior. Courtney and Traci told me that I was being stupid to put Lotus and Shanti ahead of Om. But I told them it was just a list for now. And I think I really offended Karen by putting Om second to last 'cuz it is her favorite and its her sister's sorority. But oh well!

[OldAOPi]

The dolls remind me of that Seinfeld episode where Susan has a doll that looks like Georges' mother...yikes!

[NUBlue&Blue]

These are so fun to read....it makes me wish I could remember something! 1981 was a loooooong time ago!

[susan314]

Originally Posted by MaggieXi

Later Traci told me that that was how recruitment was going to be and I was going to have to learn how to "fake it to make it" if I wanted to be in a sorority.

Ugh. I definitely don't like that attitude! A PNM needs to be herself during recruitment - "faking" anything is only going to hurt you in the long run. Sure, it might get you into the house you think you want, but then are you going to feel like you have to keep putting on your act for the rest of your college career?

Be yourself. Sure, be the best version of yourself - the self you present for job interviews, meeting new boyfriend's parents, etc. But don't outright pretend to be something that you're not!!!!

[MaggieXi]

I was so nervous all morning to get my invites back! All the girls in my classes kept talking about recruitment and the different sororities, it totally put me on edge and gave me butterflies. The morning seemed to take FOREVER. Finally, I went to meet with Heather to get my invites and I was so nervous I had butterflies in my stomach!!!

So Heather comes and gets each one of us girls from our group one by one. It was so nerve racking! Some of the girls in my group were really happy when they came out of the meeting and some were really really upset! Finally, it was my turn. Heather brought me into this little room and handed me my invites. I had recieved 5 of the six: Shanti, Down Dog, Half Moon, Lotus and Warrior. I was so excited and I really didn't care that Om hadn't invited me back! So I had to pick 4 to go back to and I chose my top four from my list the night before: Shanti, Down Dog, Half Moon and Lotus!

Later when I got back to the suite Courtney was bugging everyone to see who they were invited to. I told her who I was going back to and she just smirked and was like "Oh, so your not going to Om???". I just told her that I wasn't but I really liked all the houses I was going back to. Courtney is really starting to get on my last nerve. I don't know why she is being sooo catty and petty about this!

Traci had been invited back to all six of the houses and decided to drop Shanti and Warrior. But she was really excited for all of her invites. One of the girls on my floor already has dropped out of recruitment, she was only invited back to Warrior and she is devestated. However, she has a really bad reputation of being kinda slutty and I know she hooked up with a Down Dog's boyfriend and there was a lot of drama about that!


As for boyfriends, Jon called me tonight and really pissed me off. He was trying to talk me out of rushing again saying that I wouldn't have time for him anymore if I was in a sorority. Also, he said he really wanted to come visit me for Valentine's day -- which was Saturday and Bid Day! I asked him if we could do it the following weekend and he got really mad at me and was like "see this sorority shit is already in our way!". I just don't understand why he can't get that this is something I want to try. I don't bitch about his activities while he is at school. I talked to my mom about it and she said that Jon is just upset and that I shouldn't let his negativity get in my head because if joining a sorority is what I want then he shouldn't get mad at me for it. She also reminded me to have a good time with it, enjoy meeting the different girls and be myself. I love my mom!!!!

[blackngoldengrl]

Seriously, who plans bid day for Valentine's day? That's just asking for disgruntled significant others. I know it's not a major holiday, but come on! My boyfriend would probably have been annoyed too, and he was in a fraternity!

Glad to see you got invited back to the houses you liked!

[MaggieXi]

I don't think it was planned for V-day, it just happened on to fall on that day. The following year, Elon would go through a dramatic change in all the office of greek life for the better!

[susan314]

Originally Posted by blackngoldengrl

Seriously, who plans bid day for Valentine's day? That's just asking for disgruntled significant others. I know it's not a major holiday, but come on! My boyfriend would probably have been annoyed too, and he was in a fraternity!

That's funny - most of my guy friends dislike Valentine's Day and would have welcomed a good excuse not to have to plan anything for it. lol (My husband is somewhere in the middle - we exchange cards, but that's about it. Neither of us cares too much about it.)

But...imagine some of the girls who do really make a big deal about Valentine's Day - some people get pretty depressed if they don't have a significant other around that time...imagine if a girl was already feeling glum about V-Day and got disastrous news on Bid Day. Would probably break the poor thing's heart.

[MaggieXi]

I vaguley recall the whole v-day on bid day being a hassle for some girls, but my feeling was that I thought the Jon was trying to come more as a control thing rather than to spend it with me. Needless to say, Jon and I broke up about two weeks into my new member period. He got to be really mean and snippy towards me after I joined AZD! Like if I didn't answer the phone when he called right then and there or respond to one of his emails that day he freaked out on me. Now looking back on it, the guy had a TON of control issues!

I will now fast forward to Thursday's parties....

Again I had a late class so I had to rush home and get changed. Today I wore a black skirt and a red ribbed turtle neck with black tights and shoes. Sarah did my hair and make up again. Apparently Courtney asked her to help her and Sarah refused. The two of them should have never been put as roomates!

Traci and I's schedule both had Half-Moon first for skit round tonight so we walked over there and checked in with the Rho Chi. As soon as the Rho Chi looked at us she asked us where our name tags were. I could not believe that both of us forgot our name tags!!!! So we both ran back to the room, in the rain and ran back to Moseley and got there just in time for the doors to open up at Half-Moon!

The girls at Half Moon had created this bridge thing with their arms over our heads and were singing the theme from the Muppets which I thought was really cute. Then we were taken by the girl at the end of the line. A new girl named Heather too took me around and we met up with Jen again who handed me a sprite in an old fashioned soda bottle. I opened it and it exploded all over me and Jen. Heather started apologizing profusely and Jen and I just laughed. They gave me some paper towels to clean up and Heather kept taking me around to meet different sisters. Then the sorority had us sit down in chairs and the sisters did this skit for us on the stage where they did this whole Wizard of Oz, Dorothy in Recruitment Land skit. It was alright. I couldn't hear a lot of it though. Then the president gave us a talk about our financial responsibilities to the sorority if we were to join. It's not as expensive as a lot of girls have made it out to be and seems pretty flexible with payment plans and stuff. All and all I had a really good time at Half Moon -- even though I walked in all wet and walked out with sprite on me! Traci and I met up in the hall at the end of the party. She absolutely loves Half Moon! I still really like Half Moon and could see myself there.

Next I was a one of the lucky ones who got to stay inside Moseley to go see Lotus next. While we were lining up, I ran into Colleen and Torey who were both at my party too! We walked into Lotus and the sisters were dressed in black completely except for their "I Love Lotus" buttons (I think it's an Elon thing, but we all had I love buttons and wore them a lot!) and the room was all dark except for black light and they had created this stage area. The music in the background was this eerie pinkfloyd music that fit the mood. So we all sit down and they do this Lous Through Time musical montage. It was awesome!!! These girls were so talented to pull this whole thing off. The costumes and music were perfect! After the skit was over, the treasurer handed out sheets of paper with the finanial info on it and outlined the financial stuff. For a treasurer, she seemed really laid back! I was then picked up by Hope who I had met during the first round and she introduced me to more people. I noticed a lot of the girls in this sorority are from the north and don't seem like the typical sorority girl. I definetly liked this group a lot by the end of the party and could see myself here as well.

Next I went trekked all the way down to the greek courts in the rain to go see Shanti. By this point it was pouring out!!! So we all lined up outside Shanti and waited in line while we got soaked! Finally Shanti let us in. They were all dressed in their letters and khaki pants and were doing cheers like the day before. They had us all sit down and their skit was the Music Awards. I wasn't that impressed compared to Lotus' skit, but it was still pretty good. Then their president went over their financial stuff. By far, this is one of the most expensive groups so far. Then April came and got me and intoduced me to sooo many people my head was swiming. She kept telling me how happy she was to see me there and stuff like that and other sisters would be like "april has said so much great stuff about you." Which of course made me feel pretty good. By the end of this party, I was happy to be there and could possibly see myself in this group too.

My last visit was to Down Dog . It had stopped raining a little bit and we didn't have to stand outside very long. They let us and in and were all cheering and singing and all the sisters were wearing black pants and letters. They had us sit on the floor, which again was wet from everyone's shoes and they did a Greece skit. It was adorable! Then a girl that I had apparently met during first round came up to take me around. I of course introduced myself and she was like "We met last party" and looked kinda peeved that I didn't remember her. I felt pretty embarassed about that. She then took me around to a few people and they served shirley temple drinks to kinda fit with the whole Greece theme. I didn't feel as comfortable at Down Dog as I had the party before because I just felt like every girl was asking the same questions over and over again. I still really liked everyone I met though and could possibly see myself as a Down Dog.

I met up with Heather my Rho Chi at the end of the parties and she said our invites would be ready for pref at 2 so to meet her there again to get them. Also she said to start thinking about who we really like because we can only go back to 2 pref parties. By the time I got back to my room I had no idea who liked the most and who I liked the least. Plus all the stereo types that Courtney and Traci had been saying started to crawl into my head. I really didn't know where I would fit in!

[AnatraAmore]

Wow! I think it's awesome that you like all four of the groups you saw! Did you think that you would be happy to be invited to any two of the four or did you have some slight favorites?

[MaggieXi]

I think going into 2nd round my top two were really Down Dog and Half Moon, although I liked Lotus a lot and I was indifferent about Shanti. By the end of second round I was really confused about who I "should" like vs. who I "really" liked. I had heard all the rumours and Courtney's stereo-typing so I figured I "should" like Down Dog and Half Moon the most. But Lotus was creeping up to be a favorite and after second round I liked Shanti, but maybe not as much as Lotus.

[MaggieXi]

I'm bored at work, so I'll speed this thread up...

Class took forever again! I just wanted to go get my invites! All the girls in my class were either exhausted from no sleep because they were so anxious or super jumpy. I couldn't concentrate on my lecture at all, partly because I was day dreaming and the other part was because I didn't sleep very well the night before because I was so anxious. I was finished with classes by 1 so I went back to my room and tried to sleep and couldn't, went to Harden to try to eat and all I could choke down was a bagel and some soft-serve. I hate anticipation!!!

Finally, I went to meet with Heather at 2 and again I had to wait for my turn. My group was somewhat smaller and rumor had it that the Rho Chis had called the girls who hadn't received any invites to tell them the bad news. I noticed Kristi from my group wasn't there and I felt really bad for her. And of course then the "What-ifs" entered my brain, like What if Heather forgot to call me and I didn't get any invites back, or what if Heather did call me and Traci didn't give me the message...! Finally Heather came out with another girl from my group who was beaming and called me in. And then she did it, she handed me 2 invites. 2! Out of 4 parties yesterday, I was only invited back to 2! Then I opened them. I had been cordially invited back to both Lotus and Shanti. I sat there in shock for a second and then started to tear up a little bit. Heather asked me if I was ok with my invites and I told her that I wasn't not happy to go back to Lotus and Shanti, but I was just upset that Half Moon and Down Dog didn't invite me back!!!!! Heather calmed me down and told me that these were two really good groups and that they must be excited to have me if they invited me to their preference round. She made me feel better, but I was still bitter that I hadn't been invited back to Half Moon and Down Dog.

After I felt better and left Moseley I went back to my room and napped for an hour or so. Only to wake up to Courtney slamming the bathroom door and Sarah watching TV on my futon. Apparently, Courtney had not gotten the pref invites she was expecting and was absolutely miserable to everyone about it. So Sarah was taking cover in my room. I asked Sarah who Courtney had gotten invited back to but she didn't know because Courtney wasn't telling anyone.

Traci came home during all the commotion and told me that she was prefing both Down Dog and Half Moon. Needless to say, I wanted to go back to sleep. But rather, it was time to get ready for Pref!