My Competitive Recruitment

Originally Posted by 33girl

Methinks someone is on a Creative Writing field trip.

I wish there was a button (like on Facebook) I could click to say that I like this. I guess I'll have to settle for just typing it out.

OTW likes this.

[myopicsunflower]

Originally Posted by eaglesbaby

There are actually more than one local at my school, all of which, with the exception of Grape, were thriving. So I mean floundering, not in terms of trying to fulfill a membership quota. Just floundering in terms of being lost in a sea of bigger houses.

I thought you said there was one local. Do you mean there is one that participates in formal recruitment with the NPCs and others that don't? That would explain the alcoholic drinks at recruitment...

I'm rather curious why a local with low numbers would participate in formal recruitment at a school with such a large NPC presence rather than do COB or whatever the larger locals do to recruit.

[SWTXBelle]

Shhhhh . . . because of this kinda stuff I will never know what happend to Ms. Sequins up the back of her pantyhose . . .

[qbt1990]

I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt until this story is over... on that note, how about an update?

[DiamondAthena]

Originally Posted by eaglesbaby

My jaw dropped. So did Jena's. I could not believe how mean this girl was. It was girls like her that made me hate all girls school so much. If this was the kind of girl that was in a sorority, I wanted nothing more to do with the process.

Sure Marie is a bitch but I can't stand when ppl let mean girl behaivor influence major life decisions! There are mean ppl in life, you wouldn't let a mean co-worker force you to quit your job... Why even consider dropping out of Rush?

[LadyLonghorn]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmkay.

I don't know of any huge schools that have 14 sororities and several locals, unless you are counting the NPHC groups - and even with that, the school I'm thinking of to make this even semi plausible is hardly huge (unless you went to a one room school) or one of the most competitive in the land.

Methinks someone is on a Creative Writing field trip.

You can have as many locals as you want when you decide to change the plot line every time someone questions it. This story has all the elements of a creative writing writing class. We have the mean girls sure of where they'll go. Sweet Mary Sue, our naive protagonist, who doesn't hold the floundering local's numbers against them. Hot boxing at the popular sorority because they recognize Mary Sue's innate fabulousity. The fat lesbian chapter. The party house. The ultra competitive recruitment.

I was the first to call BS on this one and I am sticking to that opinion. I'm just waiting for the identical twin that was separated from birth to show up. Will she be another PNM or already a member of one of the swelling number of locals?

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by eaglesbaby

Like some schools, formal recruitment started the week before classes. I moved into my room, and it turns out my roommate Jena was going through recruitment, too! Basically our entire floor was going to go through recruitment. That first night we all ate dinner together and stressed about what to wear the next day to Day 1. Two girls in my hall, Marie and Rachel, were best friends all through high school and they were convinced they both belonged in Starfruit, one of the top houses at UCF. This made me really nervous because I had no idea which house I belonged in, despite all the research I did in the summer.

Day 1

Jena and I woke up at 6AM to get ready for our first day of recruitment. I was so nervous that I wouldn't be well received at any of the houses. At that point in time, I was a natural light blonde, very short and the tiniest bit chubby. I never considered myself to be the "stereotype" sorority girl, but I never considered myself fat or ugly either. Since I didn't really know much about Greek life, I assumed that all sororities were full of tall, blonde, slender, beautiful people.

I spent 45 minutes planning my outfit. In the end, I decided to wear a blue and green sundress with blue Eitienne Aigner slingbacks. I also chose a subtle Kate Spade clutch. I blew my hair out so it made a casual little flip at the ends. I must admit I looked very chic and cute. Jena also looked beautiful. She was the tall and slender type, and she pulled off ehr outfit well. She wore a pair of khaki cuffed shorts, a pink oxford and a pair of ballet flats. Very classic. To quote Elle from Legally Blonde, we "totally looked the part."

When we got to the auditorium at 8AM where we were meeting our Rho Chis, I was overwhelmed by a sea of women, perfume and blowdried hair. It was the most exciting and intimidaing sight I've ever seen.

Anyway, I met up with my Rho Chi, and Marie, the girl from my hall was in my group! I was a little disappointed that Jena wasn't with me, but I soon realized it was for the better so we wouldn't influence eachother's parties.

I received my schedule, and it looked like this:

9AM to Noon
Plum
Mango
Peach
Honeydew
Kiwi
Banana

Break from Noon to 1 for lunch

1-5
Strawberry
Cherry
Grape
Pineapple
Blueberry
Cantaloupe
Watermelon
Starfruit

Stay tuned for my next post! It will be up sometime before the end of the day!

Originally Posted by eaglesbaby

My Rho Chi group was so chatty and excited to get going. As a reminder, the order we were going visiting the houses from 9AM to Noon was:

Plum
Mango
Peach
Honeydew
Kiwi
Banana



Plum: I was really nervous for my first party. I was afraid I was going to say something really silly, or worse, not know what to say at all! When we walked up to the house, I was so intimidated by the amount of shouting and chanting coming from the house. When the door opened, the chanting and shouting intensified and I couldn't believe these girls could sing so loudly and be so synchronized in their stomping and clapping. My rusher, Elise, was from the same hometown as me, so we had a ton to talk about. The conversation went really well and I felt really comfortable with her. 10 minutes later she bumped me to another girl. She was really sweet but she was SO quiet. She asked all the basic questions, and I didn't really feel a strong connection with her. Time for....

Mango: Mango was a smaller house. I stepped in the door, and right I away I could sense the strong bond that these girls shared. I don't know how, but I could just sense it. I was double rushed here, but she tried really hard to engage us both. My rusher was a little awkward, but that didn't really affect my opinion of the house. I left this house really feeling like I could belong here because of the strong sense of sisterhood.

As we were walking to the next house, I overheard Marie talking about Mango and how she would absolutely die if she got a bid from them.

"If Mango gives me a bid, I will 100% drop out," she said.

I was a little taken aback about her negative feelings about Mango so early into recruitment, but I tried not to let it affect my feelings about the house. I had a good time there, and I was determined to give them a fair shot.


Peach: Peach was physically a really beautiful house. It was just how I thought a sorority house should look: white, broad and mansion-like. It seemed to stretch across the perfectly manicured lawn for acres and acres. I was mesmerized. And then the beautiful singing started. It was angelic and the harmony was in three parts. I felt like I was in the presence of angels. I met my Rusher, Bri, and I absolutely loved her. She was so energetic and she gushed about Peach. It was easy to tell she was in love with her letters. Our conversation went so easily. She introduced me to two other actives, and they were just as bubbly and bright. I thought it was so awesome that we could have such a great conversation without feeling like anything was forced. We talked mostly about the band Kings of Leon. They are my absolute FAVORITE and Bri loved them too. They're not a really a well known band, so I was really impressed that she knew about them and appreciated their style. TI felt so comfortable here and I knew it was the place for me. I did not want to leave when it was time to go to Honeydew.

Honeydew: I don't really remember anything about Honeydew on the first day. I remember their house was really lovely inside, and that all the sisters kind of looked the same. I felt like it might have been a cookie cutter type of sorority, and I wasn't sure I could fit in here.

Kiwi: These girls seemed like they might be top heavy on the partying. My first rusher was very nice, be she seemed so lethargic and dreary. I couldn't help thinking that she might have been hungover. Bbut then she bumped me to another girl, and she was SO energetic, I found it kind of draining. I still had a good time though, and the conversations seemed to flow really well. We talked a little bit about our majors (we were both in Communications), and then once that topic started to fade, I tried to shift it towards Kiwi. It was weird, though, because she kept changing the subject to small but relevant topics, like parking on campus, and the awful class selection process. I felt like I really didn't get to know her because the small talk was VERY small. Lol.

Banana: I had heard this house was a wild house, and right from the start I believed the rumors. The chanting was so loud, and the dancing was so all over the place. Their energy kind of revived me, though, from Kiwi, at first. But then my rusher seemed to be Iittle disinterested in me. She didn't really answer any questions I had. She gave very short answers, and she quickly bumped me to someone else. This girl was very cheerful, but I felt like I was under the firing squad! She kept throwing questions at me left and right. At one point she mentioned that they had a really high standard for GPAs and that it was a very competetive house grade-wise. I wasn't sure what to think of this. A) She came off as very snobbish and B) They were known as the wild, party house, and I felt like partying and GPAs did not go hand in hand. I wasn't sure I could see myself in this energetic of a sorority, and I left with a bad taste in my mouth. After Banana it was time for lunch.


Here is my ranking of the first 6 houses (though there was no official ranking yet. This is just for your own organizational purposes.)

Peach
Mango
Plum
Kiwi
Honeydew
Banana


More later tonight! I promise!

Originally Posted by eaglesbaby

By the time lunch came, I was so excited to talk to Jena about her parties. She said her favorite by far was Cherry, and that she could really envision herself there because she felt like she fit right in right away. She also said that she wasn't really a fan of Peach because her rusher has snubbed her and ignored her for another PNM. I couldn't believe my beloved Peach, the group by which I was so mesmerized could have anything bad associated with it. This kind of let me down a little bit, but I was convinced that it was just one member that was snobbish.

We ate lunch that day with Rachel and Marie, and I was really finding that I so disliked them. They had something negative to say about each sorority they visited in the morning session. They said that Peach were "a bunch of pretentious rich snobs" and that they had no academic merit. They said that theMango girls were a "bunch of fat lesbians", and I wanted to smack them. I could not believe how cruel these girls were being. The Mango sisters seemed so nice, warm and genuine, and I did not see one active at the party who looked anything remotely resembling an overweight girl. I was so turned off by Rachel and Marie, and I didn't want anything to do with them after lunch.

...On to the PM parties!

Originally Posted by eaglesbaby

Day 1 of recruitment continues...


Strawberry: Marie, one of the ridiculous gossips, was in my group, if you remember. She tried to walk with me on the way to Strawberry, but I was not having it. I tried to ignore her and get away from her, and I think she noticed because she kept shooting me dirty looks all the way to way to Strawberry and all throughout the party. The girl who was rushing me noticed the dirty look from Marie and whispered something to one of the actives. I couldn't tell if it was about me or Marie. I really hoped it was about Marie and not me because I really loved this house. I had a great conversation with all three girls that rushed me. It was never awkward, and most of the time we were laughing our heads off about a professor we all shared. At one point in time, there were four actives talking to me at once. I felt on top of the world! Especially when I saw Marie glowering at me - rumor had it she really wanted to be a Strawberry, maybe even as much or more than a Starfruit.The party ended, and I was SO sad to leave. But it was time for...Cherry, Jena's favorite house!

Cherry: This house was just as beautiful as Peach. Ivy grew up the side of the house and it looked as I imagined a sorority house to look like. The girls in this house were beautiful, as well. I noticed, though, that about 90% of them were tall and slender and brunette - I could see why Jena loved Cherry. She really looked like she could be a Cherry. As it turns out, the girl that rushed me, Josie, had also rushed Jena! She said that Jena was a perfect match for Cherry and that she thought I would be, too! After that I felt on top of the world! We had an amazing conversation - I felt SO connected to Josie. I was bumped 2 more times and felt as strong connections with those actives as I did with Josie. Before I knew it, there was another sorority that would give Peach a run for its money.

Grape: This sorority was actually a local sorority on my campus that had just started ten years ago. As a result, they were VERY small - some PNMs were triple rushed! Unheard of, right? Their numbers were small, and it was definitely obvious that they were struggling. I tried so hard not to let their small numbers affect me but it was difficult when my rusher was so awkward, and seemed so desperate.

The rest of Day 1 tomorrow! I'm so sorry it's taking me so long to write it all! I promise the rest of the posts will be much longer

Originally Posted by eaglesbaby

Hey ladies! Contrary to popular belief, I have absolutely not written five pages. In fact, I'm in exactly the same place as I was when I posted that I wanted to finish 5 pages. However, I'm really hungry, and I can't think when I'm hungry, so while I'm waiting for my food to come, I shall post

Where we last left off, I had just visited Grape a new and struggling local.

Next on the party list was...

Pineapple: I walked into the house, and I was shocked by how beautiful every single Pineapple was exquisite. It was easy to see why they were considered a "top" house. Each girl had her own style, which really impressed me. There was definitely not a cookie cutter type of girl here. The girl that rushed me, Ana, was a real sweetheart yet sophisticated. We were both on the equestrian team in high school, so we chatted about that for a while, before the conversation got a little stale. I felt like she was genuinely interested in me and my hobbies, and this impressed me even more. I left really loving this house and definitely ranking it in my top four.

Blueberry: The house was decorated so nicely on the inside. It was so warm and cozy! I believe this is the second oldest house on campus, and that really appealed to me because that meant there would be so much history and tradition in the sisterhood. I definitely wanted to be part of a long standing tradition (I realize now that this was a silly thing to want, not because tradition is silly, but because many many houses will offer tradition and history). Anyway, I loved that fact that it was very old...until I started talking to my Rusher. I don't mean to be rude, but she just seemed so unintelligent. To me she seemed the stereotypical dumb blonde type. Everything I asked her, she just giggled and gave some silly answer that was not really relevant to my question. It was such an odd experience. Then she bumped me to another sister, and she just kept talking about the amazing mixers and socials they have. She never failed to emphasize that they had the best mixers with the best frats. I could not wait for this party to be over and practically ran out of there when time was called.

Cantaloupe: This was another "top" sorority on UCF's campus. I remember thinking it was kind of strange that I was visiting all the "top" sororities in the afternoon - it was kind of draining, having to remember that I was meeting the "elite" sorority girls and that I had to give off that "elite" image to have a successful party. It's not that I wanted to join a "top" sorority because they were the top ones - I just didn't want to close any doors on myself. Sorry! Tangent! Anyway, Cantaloupe was...lovely. On campus they were known as the old money sorority. I thought they would be snobbish, but they weren't at all. They were all very prim and proper, but I felt like I had to be on my best behavior, and that was really exhausting. I think I talked about the weather with my rusher. Come on now, the weather? Overall, I had a nice time here, but I wasn't sure I could ever let my hair down with these girls.

Watermelon: These girls were SO much fun. They were so inclusive and they just oozed sisterhood. What really impressed me was that, unlike most sororities during recruitment who strictly have one PNM to an active, after the first five minutes of the party, the pairs had naturally evolved into groups. My group was me, Mattie (my rusher), Mattie's little Jackie, Jackie's PNM and and Jackie's best friend and her PNM. I thought this was such a nice atmosphere, and much less stressful than a one on one. I left really loving the house. I really hoped I wasn't dropped from this house! I felt like I had such a good connection!

Starfruit: Last, but definitely not least! If you remember, both Rachel and Marie were positive that this was the house they would pledge. If this was true, I was sure I didn't want to end up here with them. We got inside, and I was immediately ambushed my friend from highschool! I was so excited to see her! I had no idea she was in this house! She had told me she was in a sorority, but I never put two and two together. I had a GREAT time at Starfruit, but in the back of my mind, I felt like wanting to pledge the same sorority as Rachel and Marie did not equate to a good situation.

Originally Posted by eaglesbaby

After we left the Starfruit house, Marie caught up with me and was bantering on and on about how when she became a Starfruit, she would win over all the older sisters and would surely have a position as an officer her second semester. I could not believe the ridiculous things that were coming out of her mouth! I am honestly not one to judge, but this girl was SO cocky. A whole bunch of nasty things occurred to me that I could potentially say, but all I said was “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket – you don’t want to write all the houses off just yet. Anyway, I thought that you thought Strawberry was worthy of you, too.” I said with with a bit of sarcasm, but I was genuinely confused as to why she would write off such a great sorority. At this, she rolled her eyes and ran to find Rachel.

When we got back to the meeting place, my Rho Chi told us we would only be returning to a max of 11 houses. I was a little startled that we would be making cuts so soon, but I realized that Rush would go on forever if we didn’t narrow it down quickly. And anyway, I had a good idea of how I wanted to rank the houses…

• Peach
• Strawberry
• Cherry
• Starfruit
  
• Watermelon
• Pineapple
  
• Cantaloupe
• Mango
• Honeydew
• Plum
• Grape
• Kiwi
• Banana
• Blueberry

I didn't have much difficulty ranking the houses. Luckily for me, there were exactly three I knew for certain I would never want to return to. You might be wondering why I kept Grape instead ofKiwi. Why replace Kiwi, an obviously well respected house, with Grape, a tiny, floundering local? Well, I think in the end, I really wanted to give Grape a fair shot. I thought about certain people in my Rho Chi group and how they might treat a struggling chapter, and I resolved not to be like that. I was determined to give them a fair hearing and experience all they had to offer - because maybe I would thrive in a smaller sorority.

I talked to Jena after I had handed in my card. She had cut the same houses as I had, with the exception of Banana, which she replaced with Grape. Rachel and Mariehad both cut Honeydew, Grape and Mango. Honeydew because they were known as the academic house, apparently, Grape because of their size, and Mango because they refused to be in a "fat" sorority. I couldn't believe the negative things they had to say about all the houses. I said it, and I'll say it again: I never saw ONE "fat" girl at Mango. To me, they looked healthy and exuberant, and I thought that the ones I saw had quite goof bodies (not that it matters at all about weight and size - I'm just trying to be as honest to the actual account of what happened as possible).

As we were walking out of the room, we were talking about our choices again. I mentioned that Strawberrywas my second ranked house, and, Marie said to me, I quote (I'll never forget this:

"Please. It's not like Strawberrywill invite you back anyway. Not after you monopolized so many of the actives. And anyway, they're like, top-notch. You have to be super gorgeous to get in there."

My jaw dropped. So did Jena's. I could not believe how mean this girl was. It was girls like her that made me hate all girls school so much. If this was the kind of girl that was in a sorority, I wanted nothing more to do with the process.

Quoting just so I can read it all at once.

I also am surprised that we have yet to get past like Day 1 of recruitment...

[LadyLonghorn]

I love you, KSUViolet.

[AOIIalum]

Originally Posted by LadyLonghorn

I love you, KSUViolet.

Same here!

I do really want to know how this story develops and ends. I'm expecting the plot twist to end all plot twists. Curiosity and all that, you know...

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

Shhhhh . . . because of this kinda stuff I will never know what happend to Ms. Sequins up the back of her pantyhose . . .

Totally. Have we learned no lessons, GreekChat?

Let's wait until the ridiculously problematic retro-recruitment thread is over before we critique it, pretty please? That way, we'll have more to work with.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by LadyLonghorn

You can have as many locals as you want when you decide to change the plot line every time someone questions it. This story has all the elements of a creative writing writing class. We have the mean girls sure of where they'll go. Sweet Mary Sue, our naive protagonist, who doesn't hold the floundering local's numbers against them. Hot boxing at the popular sorority because they recognize Mary Sue's innate fabulousity. The fat lesbian chapter. The party house. The ultra competitive recruitment.

I was the first to call BS on this one and I am sticking to that opinion. I'm just waiting for the identical twin that was separated from birth to show up. Will she be another PNM or already a member of one of the swelling number of locals?

But sadly if you point this too assertively now, we'll never get to know. Please let this creative flower bloom and then. . . get out the gardening shears.

[Kappamd]

We'll probably never know if it was true now. I wouldn't come back if I was her.

[beccaminister]

Not to play devil's advocate here, but...

1. What if she's just left out critical details or told the story in a way that makes it seem untrue? What if it is true afterall?

2. If it isn't, what's the harm? Can't we just read, enjoy, and then make individual determinations of truth/untruth?

I love these stories, and i don't get so caught up in the details that I freak out. But heck, I also love GREEK and watch it every week, so maybe I have no credibility here.

[WhiteRose1912]

I'm going to be really sad if you guys chased her off and ruined it for everyone else.

[Kappamd]

Originally Posted by WhiteRose1912

I'm going to be really sad if you guys chased her off and ruined it for everyone else.

^Ditto