A long but DIFFERENT kind of story (I promise!) - Page 3

TriDPrincess · #1 09-30-2008, 01:15 PM

I know they're not doing so well in your rankings but go REDS!!

AOEforme · #2 09-30-2008, 04:15 PM

That was what I was thinking.... I'm glad to hear it isn't the end.

WCsweet<3 · #3 09-30-2008, 04:20 PM

It sounds like the veteran in your name belongs there!

AlphaXi_Husky · #4 09-30-2008, 04:23 PM

Well this story has quite a lot of twists and turns. Continue please!

VeteranPNM · #5 09-30-2008, 04:23 PM

Haha, yes, like I said before I have a different, real name on GC, but I needed to pick a temporary one for this, and I though VeteranPNM was quite appropriate!

VeteranPNM · #6 09-30-2008, 10:43 PM

Later that year…
I was initially very bummed about getting cut from Red Sox and Twins, I for sure thought they were going to fill that “missing” part of my life. I eventually got over it, and was still very happy with my decision to drop out of rush. I knew Reds, Tigers, and Braves, weren’t for me, so I was glad I took it as far as I did, because at least know I didn’t have any doubts or regrets. Phillies, the group that does not participate in formal recruitment, kept sending me invitations for COB, but I still had no interest.

In order to fill that “missing” void in my life, I decided to get involved in other ways. I quit my job at Cold Stone (thank God), when I found a better paying, easier, more fun job, working for the University. I quickly found that the people I would be working with are awesome and what we do benefits our school, so I was really glad to be working there! In addition to that, I joined a club that’s related to my major, and signed up for some intramural teams with friends. College life was good, and I was feeling good about my decisions…for a while.

Now of course I had my own friends I made at the dorms, and in other places, but we just weren’t as close as my high school friends. And while my job was fun, it was still a job, so it wasn’t exactly the best social environment. And while the club was a nice resume builder, it’s a large club, and hard to get involved with. I just wasn’t getting that sense of accomplishment that I thrive off of. And while intramurals were fun, they were short lived and I often had to miss them because of work. Something still felt missing. I just had to figure out what it was, so I thought back to my high school days, the last time I really felt complete. I had my group of friends who I had made through school. They’re an awesome group of girls and we have so much fun together. Then there was my golf team and softball team. We all became close through our seasons together, and they almost felt like family. We could always count on one anther. Being on the team made me feel like I had a sense of belonging. I was also team captain for golf my junior and senior year, and a captain for softball one year on the JV team. Finally, I was involved in a few clubs in school, one of which I held an officer position in during my senior year. So what did this all mean? When I “felt complete” I had an awesome group of girl friends who I always had fun with. I was also part of a group that felt like a second family, that made me happy to know that I always had someone to lean on. I also was a leader and involved, (I know that being a team captain isn’t a life changing experience, but it made me feel good to be have this kind of involvement).

And then I remembered that this is why I wanted to rush my sophomore year again. I knew I could find all these things in a sorority, but now my chances were over. So I just had to remind myself that I gave it my best shot, and it just didn’t work out. I decided that I was just going to have to keep doing what I was doing. Though I may have felt like something was missing, but I was still happy and doing well…

Twists, people, twists!!!

VeteranPNM · #7 10-01-2008, 01:51 PM

Spring semester ’08…
One afternoon while checking my school email account I got a little email from the White Sox, the chapter that would be colonizing (re-colonizing actually). It was an invitation to come to the ice cream social that they were having, in order to help raise interest for the chapter. I read the invitation and was a bit intrigued. They were looking to re-colonize and would be recruiting an entire chapter in the fall, not just a pledge class consisting of mostly freshmen, and hence why they were getting the word out now. Interesting, I thought… I clicked out the email, but didn’t delete it, I would have to think about what I was going to do.

After putting a little bit of thought into it, the idea of being a re-colonizing member of a sorority excited me. I mean, the way I saw it you have the potential to be a big factor in shaping your sorority. It seemed like a really awesome opportunity to get involved and to make friends at the same time. I decided it wouldn’t hurt to go to the ice cream social…

So I changed my work schedule so that I could attend, got ready and made my way there. I was the second person to arrive, which surprised me…but I was even more surprised to see who was already there: a girl I worked with! Now I hadn’t talked to her much, but it was great to see a friendly face. (From now on she will be known as White Sox PNM 1) I grabbed a bowl of ice cream, and sat down with her and the rep from the White Sox. We chatted about us, our majors, all the typical small talk, and then about the White Sox, the organization, and how they would be recruiting and coming to campus next fall. While we were talking, a new girl, WSPNM 2, came in and joined us. She seemed a bit more reserved than me and WSPNM 1, but still nice, and it was very nice to meet her. The three of us, all sophomores at the time, had a nice time chatting for a bit. After about 45 min, I decided I was going to head out, especially because there were only 3 girls (including myself at the event L).

I left kind of nervous that only so few people showed up. Then again, it was February, so I figured there would be more events to come. A month or so later the White Sox had a bowling night. I definitely want to go and see if more girls were going to be attending. When I got there I was first to arrive. I met the same White Sox rep from the ice cream social (I found out she is going to be the one mainly involved in helping the White Sox get colonized) and another White Sox rep. We waited for some more bowlers, but only two other girls showed up, WSPNM 2, and another girl I had never met (who apparently went to the ice cream social, but after I had left). So we bowled and talked, and of course asked our questions about the White Sox. We talked about involvement opportunities and one of the things that got me really excited was the idea that since we’re going to be upper classman, we are going to have a lot of opportunities to hold an office position within the chapter (if we’re invited to pledge of course!) Overall, it was a good night, even though there were only 3 of us. I really liked the other girls I had met, and I was really excited about the potential opportunities for me within White Sox.

We had one more event before school ended which, finally, many girls showed up to. It was really interesting to see the girls who came out. There were freshmen, sophomores, and juniors, all with very different interests and backgrounds. There were some girls who seemed very shy, but like they always wanted to know what Greek life was about, but never had the nerve to go through recruitment. There were also girls who definitely gave me a bad vibe, like they’re only there because they want to wear letters. Their biggest concerns were primarily what the White Sox’s social calendar would look like (I’m not saying social calendars are a bad thing, because let’s face it, I’m definitely a social person, but it’s not my TOP concern…) But what made me happy is that there were a lot of girls that seemed like me: many of them had rushed but just could not find their home. They still wanted that involvement and that sisterhood that was missing, and like me, they were hoping that the White Sox was going to be right for them. I left this last event of the year with my mind made up that I would definitely be participating in White Sox’s recruitment process come fall.

kappadivstar · #8 10-01-2008, 02:00 PM

go white sox!!!!!!!!!!! I was hoping they'd make an appearance...as obviously they are the best. team. EVER.

AZ-AlphaXi · #9 10-01-2008, 02:04 PM

yeah ... go White Sox !! gotta love the twists that life sends you ..

groovypq · #10 10-01-2008, 02:16 PM

That's awesome! I kind of had a feeling White Sox would have a big role... can't wait to hear more!

VeteranPNM · #11 10-01-2008, 11:02 PM

Summer 2008…
All summer the biggest reason I wanted to go back to school was because I really wanted to start White Sox’s recruitment! I had gotten a couple updates and newsletters over the summer, and reading them made me very excited for the potential opportunities I had in front of me. I also took the time to do a little bit of research about the White Sox on my own, and learn about what they stand for (that’s how I actually stumbled across this lovely site! J)

Now OF COURSE, I didn’t assume that they would be like, “Oh yeah, sure, just because you’re a junior, and we need numbers, here’s a bid!” I knew that if they were going to invite me to pledge, they were going to do it because they thought I would be a great addition to the chapter. Still, I was very excited to learn more about the White Sox.

Fall 2008…
So White Sox’s recruitment was JUST about to start. I had been waiting for this for so long, I couldn’t wait to meet everyone and learn more about their recruitment process! Finally it was the night of their first meeting. (This technically wasn’t the first day of recruitment because formal recruitment was still going on). I’d say about 60 girls showed up, and what was most interesting to me was that all the girls seemed to be VERY different, which I liked. I also liked the fact that from the few girls I met, I met some who I could definitely see myself getting along with and being friends with. Two of the women from the White Sox who were going to be helping out with recruitment gave us the run down about how a colony works, what new members would be doing, etc. I know some of you are familiar with a colony recruitment process, but I don’t know if they differ depending on schools or chapters—so basically there were several open events in the next month where we would get to meet other White Sox’s from nearby schools, and learn about their philanthropy. Then the weekend before their own bid day there was going to be something similar to interviews, that you would have to be invited to. It’s during these interviews that they would decide if they want to extend a bid to you or not. After they gave us all the information and answered questions, we played a little icebreaker game before the meeting was over. When the game was over they told us they could answer any other questions we might have, but that they were done with the meeting so we could head home if we wanted. I thought I would stick around for a few minutes and introduce myself to the other White Sox who was running the meeting (I had already met the other one from the events last year. Since she is going to be the one staying on campus with the new White Sox and since I will be referring to her often, I will call her Ozzie—as in Ozzie Guillen, the manager of the White Sox hehe). So anyways, I introduced myself to the other White Sox, and on my way out I was going to say hi to Ozzie as well. She was like, oh hey, come her for a second and pulled me aside. She told me that since I had been coming to the events last year and I showed that I’m interested and enthusiastic about this that she already wanted to invite me to an interview! I was so excited!! So of course I said yes, and left for the night. I was still planning on going to the open events because I wanted to meet all the other PNM’s and White Sox who would be helping out. I could not wait for the next event!!

I anxiously waited allllll week for the next recruitment event to come! As part of the recruitment efforts the White Sox had things like a Facebook group for everyone interested to join and they would sent out Facebook invites to their events. I was happy to see that interest was growing as 200+ women joined the group! So the day before the official recruitment starting event, I checked up on the invite to see if there was going to be anyone else I knew coming. I saw some familiar faces who I had seen at other events…and then I saw HER. It’s a very long story but basically she was a girl who was on my very bad side because of the smack she talked about my best friends, who was at one point good friends with her boyfriend. She was just very malicious and mean, and you do NOT do that to my best friend. My heart just sank. I had been so excited for this and the fact that she could potentially be my sister really upset me. And WHAT THE HELL!? Thanks to the Facebook news feed I had noticed that she had received a bid from Tigers the year before?! Well I guess she depledged…So I thought about it all it for a while. This was something I had really grown looking forward too. I knew it was something I wanted. So I decided that if I did see her I was just be civil. I could say hi, but I didn’t have to say much else. And if we were both extended bids, that didn’t mean we had to be best friends. I mean in such a LARGE group of girls, you’re not necessarily going to get along with everyone, right? I just hoped everything would turn out right…

AlphaXi_Husky · #12 10-02-2008, 12:31 AM

Just when you think you're sailing right along - along comes another twist! Very interested to hear the next installment!

VeteranPNM · #13 10-02-2008, 06:12 PM

Sorry for the delay! I've had a very crazy day... anyways.. here's some updates!!! I'll give you a few weeks worth of updates cause I really wanna finish my story... Also, I just want to let you know, the girl I had problems with in the past will now be known as Mean Girl...just so she's easy to identify lol

WHITE SOX RECRUITMENT WAS OFFICIALLY HERE!!!!! I was soooo excited! I couldn’t wait to meet the other PNM’s, but I was just NOT expecting that many girls!! I made my way to the building where the event was being held, and I turn the corner, and there is just a huge line going out the door. I was surprised but so happy to see just how much interested had grown. I waited in line, and when I got to the room, it was packed! There were no chairs left or anything—I’d estimate that there were 200+ girls!

Now I did see Mean Girl there. I’m not sure if she saw me too, but if she did, I was prepared to be polite… I mean she’s obviously looking for the same thing I am…and I’m sure she was excited like me, what would be the point of continuing drama?

But I did also run into someone I was not expecting—a friend who went to the same grade school and high school as me! We weren’t ever really close, but always friendly with each other, and she’s an awesome girl, so it was nice to see her there! I also saw some familiar faces from the last event, and even two of the girls who came to the first events last semester! I had thought they were no longer interested since I had not seen them at the last event, so it was a (good) surprise when I saw them.

The event was basically the same as the little “unofficial” event they held the week before. They just gave us the run down on the process of recruitment and what the steps we would potentially go through during the colony period up to the installation of the chapter. At the end of the meeting they announced that if there was anyone who was already for sure interested that they wanted to do an interview at the end of recruitment they could sign up after. Well, girls just swarmed the tables! Lol! Since I already had signed out a time for an interview, I decided to just leave for tonight… There would be a lot more getting to know you with other girls at the next event, where we were going to learn about their philanthropy.

At the philanthropy event, we got to watch a video about the sorority itself and also a video about their philanthropy. We then did a short project for this philanthropy. It was very simple but cute and creative. I liked the fact that it was easy enough to make, but it still gave us the opportunity to meet chat with other girls. Then they gave us a bit more information about the upcoming interviews, their preference ceremony, bid day and what not. Before I left I picked up a little reminder card for the interview I would be having that day and I then stuck around to talk with some of the girls I had been getting to know. It was a nice little event once again, but I just couldn’t WAIT for the weekend!!!

The last event of White Sox’s colony recruitment was probably the most fun event of them all. We met all the wonderful women who work for White Sox who would be helping conduct interviews, decide who would be getting bids and everything. Then they gave us opportunities to split into groups a few times and just get to know all the girls who could be our potential sisters. It was a lot of fun! Again, it was just so interesting to meet all the different girls from different backgrounds—and there were definitely girls I would be happy to call my sister! It just made me soooo excited for the whole process. I just wanted it to be bid day! The suspense was killing me!!!

By now there were some familiar faces in the crowed. WSPNM 1 and WSPNM 2 we still interested, along with another girl whom I had met last year (WSPNM 3), my friend from grade school, and Mean Girl. I mean, I guess I wasn’t so great to see Mean Girl, but whatever. It was really great that I was starting to get to know some of the girls.

The next day was our formal interview session. It was a one on one with a member from the White Sox. I was getting myself soooo nervous, I was so afraid of letting my nerves take over and that I would just completely blow the whole thing. Well, I’m happy to say that I didn’t let my nerves get the best of me! I was very calm, and the whole interview was laid back and easy going. But I just left with a funny feeling that things did not go great. I mean, the woman who interviewed me asked me questions about what I could bring to the organization, why I wanted to join, how would my friends describe me, etc., but I just didn’t get a great vibe. Every answer I gave I got a feeling that it wasn’t good enough. So, I left not feeling as confident as I would have hoped. Now it was going to be even HARDER to wait for the invites. The next day we would be able to go pick up a letter that said if we would be invite to the preference round or if we had been released. I just wanted it to be the next day sooooo badly…

TriDPrincess · #14 10-02-2008, 07:14 PM

Thanks for posting so much quick! I love this story

rhochi2002 · #15 10-02-2008, 08:12 PM

yeah I like this story