University of South Florida Rush 09!

[twinkle555]

I agree with the above posts, stick it out for a bit...

[KJ-AU-DG]

Yep--give them a chance. You're in. Enjoy it. Get started with classes and finding your niche.

[USFrush09]

Hello everyone. I'm back. I will say this much that I did give my sorority a try and thought I'd finish my recruitment story. It is a happy ending. Thank you for the encouragement and advice. I thought I'd finish up my recruitment story really quick.

Taurus – My first house! I was so excited, I couldn’t stop smiling! I didn’t know what to expect coming into my first house, but I think I was so excited that I felt like I wasn’t nervous at all even though I was lol. My ΠΧs knocked on the door and a minute later…. Screaming, clapping, chanting… I was so shocked at first, but I love this kind of stuff. While they were chanting we were allowed to walk in the house and one member of Taurus guided me to the sofa and introduced herself. I was so nervous that I wouldn’t make a good first impression and I think she kind of saw that… we talked about intramurals and she told me that Taurus was really competitive and that they won many awards for IMs. I began to tell her how involved I was in volleyball in high school and I began talking about my involvement throughout high school and college. Before I knew it I was bumped by another girl, she was into dance and theater – which I didn’t know a thing about so I just tried to listen to whatever she had to say and gave feedback, but I think I was bumped around at least 4 or 5 times. I didn’t feel a strong connection here.

Leo – During one of the info nights, I attempted to talk to the president and one other member that was there and they didn’t seem interested in me. One of my friends was a Leo from another campus, so I thought highly of them. I talked to a total of 3 girls from Leo and I clicked with all of them. I just loved this house.

Saggitarius – I knew 2 girls in this sorority so I was excited to see what this sorority was about. The president waved hello to me – she was one of the girls I knew. The conversation was okay with this sorority. It seemed forced at times, but I clicked with some other girls. I had mixed feelings about this sorority but during the info nights I talked to this sorority the most and everything felt natural.

Capricorn – When I was looking through these sorority booklet, which gives profiles and info such as dues and minimum GPA of each sorority, my little brother said for some reason I would end up in this sorority. Scary. Sorry I got sidetracked. I had a good feeling about this sorority, I walked in and I got this feeling from looking around the house and seeing all the Capricorns that I could see myself here. I talked to about 4 or 5 Capricorns and honestly, they didn’t say much. I felt like I had to make most of the conversations. Everything felt forced, definitely disappointed with this sorority, but I am still willing to give Capricorn a chance.

Scorpio – The women in this sorority were mostly from my hometown, which I thought was a surprise...or at least the ones I talked to. I don’t remember much from this sorority, besides being amazed of how beautiful their house was. We pretty much talked about the basics, but the connection really wasn’t strong.

Virgo – I loved this house. This was one of my favorites throughout the day. I talked to 3 girls in Virgo and everything just clicked so well. We talked about the basics: what’s my major and why do I want to join a sorority, etc. And it led to other questions that normal friends talk about, like what did I do over summer, etc. Their president was very energetic and had a great sense of humor and sarcasm at the same time. I try to be funny with my friends so I could see myself being in this sorority based on conversations I had with each member. Also, I noticed that they had very diverse girls in this sorority.

Gemini – This sorority was popular among PNMs. I actually talked to the president during one of the info nights and I really liked them so I came into the house and immediately I clicked with all the girls I talked to. Everything went so well, but I can’t remember what we talked about since I was so excited. I definitely felt at home here.

Aries – This was my last house of the day and many girls in my group were tired, but I had so much energy left in me! Lol. Anyway, this sorority was also popular among PNMs, but I didn’t know much about them. I talked to one girl who asked me what I did over the summer, I volunteered for the humane society and told her what my responsibilities were at the shelter. She didn’t seem interested in me and when another Aries came, she made it sound like what we were talking about was completely weird to her. I definitely felt uncomfortable and at the moment I just wanted to walk out, but I’m not that rude of a person and kept smiling and talking.

At the end of the day I did my rankings and can only be invited back to 6 houses the next day.

1.Leo
1.Virgo
1.Gemini
1.Saggitarius
1.Scorpio
1.Capricorn
2.Taurus
3.Aries


Day 2. Philanthropy Day.

So the next day we got our invite list back and I was only invited back to 5 houses out of the 6. Immediately I began wondering what I did wrong, but I saw that Taurus, Aries, and Leo had cut me. I was disappointed Leo cut me, but maybe it was for the best so I proceded to my first house!

Scorpio – I walked into this house and I sat at a table with one of the members and we began wrapping some green ribbon around pencils and made a flower origami to stick on top of the eraser lol it was kind of a weird craft, but it was all going to a good cause. My conversation felt forced and one of the Scorpios started talking about their philanthropy, but at the same time I remember her not being too enthusiastic about it. I didn’t know what to think leaving this house.

Saggitarius – We made picture frames! I painted the picture frame with the sorority’s colors and painted their mascot on it. I actually had a lot of fun, but I got so into the painting that I just started talking and talking and talking and not letting my rusher get to say anything. I had a really bad feeling leaving this sorority that I wouldn’t get asked back. I started really feeling down after I left.

Capricorn – I hoped that today would be a better day. We made stuffed animals that were to be donated. It was so loud in their house that I couldn’t hear anything my rusher was saying. I don’t think she could hear me either! We were both trying to communicate but she kept saying “what? what?” and so was I! Eventually, my rusher just stopped talking altogether which kind of made me feel like I did something wrong. It was really frustrating because I wanted to get to know this sorority better than from yesterday.

Gemini – For their philanthropy we made blankets, I wasn’t very knowledgeable about their philanthropy so I asked a lot of questions about it and we seemed to really click. Our conversations flew nicely. I loved this house and the members that I talked to today and from yesterday.

Virgo – I was so excited coming back to this house. We made little boxes and added candies and makeup to it, it was going to be donated to their philanthropy. We watched a video and I ended up crying my eyes out. I couldn’t watch it and hearing the stories of the people that appeared in the video. It was hard to talk to my rusher and I remember apologizing to her. As I was walking out of this house one of the ΠΧs asked me if I was alright. I told her I was but that was kind of an embarrassing moment. Lol

The next day we will be invited to 4 houses, so I ranked it like this:
1.Gemini
1.Virgo
1.Saggitarius
1.Scorpio
2.Capricorn

[USFrush09]

Day 3. Sisterhood Day.

I got cut by Scorpio and Gemini.

I was really heartbroken at this point because I loved Gemini, but I still had another sorority which I loved as well, Virgo. So I kept my hopes up that I would be seeing Virgo on my list tomorrow. I had an idea why Gemini cut me. I kept thinking about “what if I said this instead of that” but there is no turning back now. I think my ΠΧ saw that I was a little disappointed but I got invited back to Capricorn, Sagittarius, and Virgo.

Capricorn – Since this was my first house, I wasn’t thrilled especially since the last two days of recruitment wasn’t that great. As soon as their doors opened, I remembered them having the cutest outfits and again, I think they were the loudest as far as chanting goes. My ears were ringing! Anyways, I talked to quite a few Capricorns and I think this day was the best out of all the FR days and my thoughts about them completely changed. I enjoyed talking about bigs and littles and what Capricorn meant to them. The president then made a speech about Capricorn and how she couldn’t imagine being without her sisters. At that point, it really hit my heart. I felt myself getting emotional. They started playing a video for all the PNMs to watch. There was pictures of Capricorn’s laughing, at sports events, philanthropy events, socials, Capricorn’s hugging and while the video was playing the Capricorn’s were all screaming “woo hoooo” “Yayaaa!” “Awww….” I actually enjoyed it, some sisters started tearing up. When I saw this I did too… and eventually started crying. After the video, the president personally handed me some tissues and kneeled down and asked me if I was okay. I told her I was and then began telling my rusher that I can just tell that this sisterhood is strong and that is something I’ve always wanted. It was time to go and I really didn’t want to leave.


Sagittarius –This was my next house and I was just blown away by Capricorn’s video, the president’s speech, and the members had such a big influence on me that I thought that Sagittarius wouldn’t compare to Capricorn. When I walked in, I started talking to many members of Sagittarius and during the time I was talking to everyone, at least 3 girls came up to me and told me how happy they are to see me here and 1 girl waved hi to me. I felt like I was wanted and since I do like attention… having so many girls come up to me saying how happy they are to see me and how they remembered me just made me feel so so happy inside. I noticed that my conversations with the members of Sagittarius was so natural and I enjoyed them. They also showed a video, but I didn’t cry to it. lol

Virgo – I only talked to 2 rushers I believe and both of them were sweethearts. They told me how much Virgo meant to them, their favorite memories, how their AC broke and they were sweating their butts off lol. It WAS really hot in there lol. The president made a speech about Virgo and her sisters and then we watched a video. This video also made me cry. I think it was the combination of the music and the photos, they did a really good job with it. I told my rusher that I don’t cry easily (and it’s true) and seeing other sisters cry makes me so emotional, I really don’t know why! Lol. Their president said farewell to us and she cracked some jokes which made us laugh.

We are only allowed to be invited to 2 sororities on Pref Day and my decision was tough, especially between Sagittarius and Capricorn. I was so torn between these two. So I based my rankings from today and the past 2 days.

1.Virgo
1.Sagittarius
2.Capricorn

[baci]

I am ready for a positive ending!

[USFrush09]

Day 4. Prefernce Day (Morning)/ Bid Day (Night).

I got really nervous the night of Sisterhood Day, I was praying that I would get no phone calls and I didn’t. So… I met up with my ΠΧ group and was told everything was “strict silence” no one was allowed to talk/chat unless they had questions specifically for the ΠΧ about their invite list or about today. They called my name and I was invited to: Sagittarius and Capricorn.

What happened to Virgo? What did I do wrong? I noticed a pattern..

Leo was my #1 pick for Spirit Day and the next day I got dropped.
Gemini was my #1 pick for Philanthropy Day and the next day I got dropped.
Virgo was my #1 pick for Sisterhood Day and the next day I am dropped.

What is going to happen later today when I rank? Will I even be offered a bid? I was extremely uneasy, all of my top choices were gone and I kept thinking about that and became more and more upset. I asked my ΠΧ if she could talk to me privately and she gladly did. I pretty much started to vent, I remember asking her what is wrong with me? She just told me that there was nothing wrong with me and that both of these sororities were great and have excellent members in their chapter. She said even though I don’t think so now, that I will understand when I get into one of these sororities that I have more in common with them than I think. She encouraged me to go to both of their parties, which I told her I was planning to anyway. As I started walking to my first house, Capricorn, I started thinking how my feelings have changed yesterday with both of these sororities. I began feeling better and waited to enter the Capricorn house.

Capricorn – The door opened and you can hear them singing softly, I was led to a table decorated nicely and talked to a girl who I met on the first day. Then we were served with food and a beverage and we continued talking, there was some awkward pauses in the middle of our conversation and I think the girl that preffed me wasn’t the best to pref me lol. I felt stronger connections with other members, not saying she was horrible, it was hard to find a lot in common with her. After we talked for a while we were led into the Capricorn house (before we were eating in a fraternity’s house) it was dark, drapes covered the windows, candles lit on the floor, and sisters holding a “flower”, singing as all the PNMs came in and sat down in a chair which many chairs were lined up in a semi circle, and behind were the Capricorns. The “public ritual” was so beautiful. The president stood in the middle and made a speech and started reading out of a book about sisterhood and bonding, I was then handed the “flower” from behind from the girl who is preffing me. Then the sisters talked about rough times in their lives and how their sisters were always there for them, how someone needed help from far away and their big came all the way out to help her, as they were talking they started to cry, every Capricorn started to cry, as did I. I heard these confessions made by all the Capricorns and I felt tremendous guilt for not seeing this sorority for what it really is. The president made a final speech while crying and by the time she was finished it was time for us to leave. As the PNMs were leaving there was a table with a dish filled with water, we were to pull a petal and place it in the water and place the flower beside the dish and walk out. But, typical me, I dropped my rose on the floor, quickly picked it up like nothing happened, did my thing and left. As the doors closed I really wanted to slap myself on the forehead. Only I can make a clumsy mistake as that.

Sagittarius – As I was waiting in front of the Sagittarius house, I kept looking back at the Capricorn house. Something was making me want to go back there, it was such a strange feeling. The front door opened and the tables had their sorority flower, cake which was in their sorority colors, as well as the soft drink they served lol. It was all very beautifully decorated. I loved the girl that was preffing me and I remember just chatting to her about completely random things and then she asked me how my day was going. I told her that I liked the members of Sagittarius more than the other sorority I preffed because I just felt like myself. I really felt comfortable and I could talk to any member of Sagittarius about anything and not be looked at weird or thought of as crazy. She told me she was happy to hear that and by that time we were led through the back door which there was a small building which they considered their chapter room. I sat in a chair and the members of Sagittarius were standing behind us. The president gave a few words and then the members also started talking about their rough times in life and how Sagittarius helped them through everything. I started crying a bit because I related to one girl’s story. After the president made her final speech I left the chapter room, walked around the corner and my ΠΧ was standing there.

My ΠΧ’s arms were crossed, waiting for me to come out. She looked directly at me and I shook my head up and down and then she gave me a big hug because I knew I could be happy in either sorority and I think she knew it too. I had a strong feeling my ΠΧ was a Leo, the sorority I loved the first day. I know I will never be a Leo… but I will always think so highly of Leos, especially my ΠΧ. I had no idea what my other ΠΧ was but I knew I would find out on Bid Day. I was given my ranking sheet and then I began to rethink about everything. I couldn’t choose…. I was so torn. I flipped a coin and it landed on heads-Sagittarius, but I decided to rethink about the FR days and even info night.

Both Capricorn and Sagittarius were friendly during info night, I loved both sororities that day, but definitely talked to Sagittarius the longest. I felt overall I had better experiences in Sagittarius. My ΠΧ told me to write a letter to both sororities stating why you don’t want to pledge them, and whichever seems the hardest is the one that I would probably want to pledge. The hardest to write was Sagittarius’. So I ranked them as:

1.Sagittarius
2.Capricorn

__________________________________________________ ________________
Bid Night.

So tonight is the night…. Where all the PNM eagerly await their bids. We had a DJ playing music outside, our ΠΧ group was taking pictures of each other and dancing. The ΠΧs were happy that they can finally show us who they really are and reunite with their houses. I was happy to finally join a house and get the most overwhelming week I ever had out of my way.

I think the most hardest thing about formal recruitment is the gossip you hear between PNMs despite the ΠΧs telling us to not talk about who we get. My group also talked about "tiers" and I know it affects PNMs in a bad way. For me, it was the rejection and not knowing why you were cut. It definitely took me down mentally at times.

Anyways, after about 30 minutes we got our bids.

Here was the breakdown of who got bids in my group (including me):

5 girls went Delta Delta Delta
2 girls went Kappa Delta
2 girls went Delta Gamma
2 girls went Alpha Delta Pi
1 girl went Zeta Tau Alpha
3 girls went Alpha Omicron Pi

….and I got a bid to…























SAGITTARIUS!













a.k.a.



































































































(my g.c. name is "mittens")
Alpha Omicron Pi (ΑΟΠ)


What happens is all ΠΧs do a little chant and then they announce the sororities in alphabetical order and we then run to our house. I saw a panda with my name on it and she ended up being my temporary big. I went into the house and we had our bid day party. I saw twinkle555 (you were hilarious that day and yes I am in twinkle555s chapter if anyone wanted to know) and I talked to quite a few girls. I was still overwhelmed meeting so many new girls. We ate some more food and then it was time for us to go back outside again for the ΠΧs do reveal themselves. My 2 ΠΧs ended up being a Leo and a Gemini.

I don't know why, but it hit me emotionally. I knew my ΠΧ was a Leo and not having her a sister kind of made me upset because she was like my temporary best friend for a week. As she was taking off her ΠΧ shirt (her sorority shirt with letters was underneath) she made her handsign and then she saw me, ran to me, gave me a big hug and said "love ya" and ran to her sorority. I did cry and I don't know why. After all the ΠΧs revealed themselves we went back into the house and I think girls started noticing that something is wrong with me and one of my sisters ended up talking to me personally outside. She told me that it is not like I will never see them again because we are all panhellenic sisters. She even told me a couple of Leos slept over their house not too long ago. She talked to me about other things and I felt really happy by the time I left.

I attended the get togethers that they had, but I ended up disappearing for 2 months and no one really knew why. As I wrote previously, my dad had a medical problem, physically and mentally and my parents were seperating which lead to other problems, etc. I don't want to get into deep detail about it, but yes, it was a very good reason to put my sorority aside. I chose my dad over my sorority at that time and during those 2 months I went to Capricorn's philathropy and sat with the Sagittarius members, but no one really said anything to me disappearing because I never told anyone why I just left. I know that isn't the right thing to do, I should of told somebody. I talked to only a handful of girls during my time away. I asked if I can return, which at that time everyone was wondering where their panda baby went. I felt awful, I told the members my situation, and at this moment I'm going through my nm process and formal pledging is coming up and I'm happy to say that everything ended up well for my dad and I can continue to move on with my sorority. I had to reconnect with every single member, I invited them out to eat with me and I even went to their spring recruitment to try to meet all the new members they got from COR, but since I was still considered a NM, they put me upstairs since I couldn't recruit, but I did have fun talking to everyone.

Actually today I'm going out to eat with my temporary big and tomorrow is "alpha night" where our spring NMs can get to know more sisters. I'm excited because this month is full of events for our spring NMs and me I am planning on attending almost every single event and getting involved in AOII.

That is my story. Thank you for reading. I know it was a lot.

[twinkle555]

It was soo hard NOT to post in this thread and give it away lol!! Alpha love!

[alphalove13]

Happy Endings! Alpha Love!

[FSUZeta]

what a sweet story and how wonderful that you didn't give up , even more so that your sorority did not give up on you!!!and your brother was right-how cool is that?

[LucyKKG]

Yay how exciting!! Congrats!!!

[USFrush09]

Originally Posted by FSUZeta

what a sweet story and how wonderful that you didn't give up , even more so that your sorority did not give up on you!!!and your brother was right-how cool is that?

He was almost right He thought I'd be Capricorn, but I ended up being a Sagittarius. After the first 2 days of recruitment, I never thought I would be preffing Capricorn in the end lol. But, I have an entirely new image of the Capricorns than what I did. I understand now when the GCers were saying that feelings change usually after sisterhood day and even Pref Day about sororities.

Actually, the Capricorns made us some sweets the other day and wished us luck on our informal recruitment. All of us thought it so sweet of them and in return we actually found a brown bear shaped cake. "rose, brown bear"... Capricorn was Sigma Delta Tau. I have met some amazing members of Sig Delt and sometimes it makes me rethink my decision, but I try to erase those feelings from my heart. I really have to say that my school has such a tight knit greek community and each sorority really does have excellent members.

Right now, I am signing up for IM basketball (my first game is next week) and decided to participate in Leo's philanthropy which is like a cheerleading competition with other AOIIs. Practice starts Sunday mornings. I'm very excited about this semester and happy that my AOII sisters welcomed me back with open arms.

[twinkle555]

Originally Posted by USFrush09

He was almost right He thought I'd be Capricorn, but I ended up being a Sagittarius. After the first 2 days of recruitment, I never thought I would be preffing Capricorn in the end lol. But, I have an entirely new image of the Capricorns than what I did. I understand now when the GCers were saying that feelings change usually after sisterhood day and even Pref Day about sororities.

Actually, the Capricorns made us some sweets the other day and wished us luck on our informal recruitment. All of us thought it so sweet of them and in return we actually found a brown bear shaped cake. "rose, brown bear"... Capricorn was Sigma Delta Tau. I have met some amazing members of Sig Delt and sometimes it makes me rethink my decision, but I try to erase those feelings from my heart. I really have to say that my school has such a tight knit greek community and each sorority really does have excellent members.

Right now, I am signing up for IM basketball (my first game is next week) and decided to participate in Leo's philanthropy which is like a cheerleading competition with other AOIIs. Practice starts Sunday mornings. I'm very excited about this semester and happy that my AOII sisters welcomed me back with open arms.

Im so glad you are participating in IMs and Cheer Toss! Ill be sure to come watch!

[FSUZeta]

oops-sorry about the mix up! it sounds like you found the right place for you and are getting involved-that's the way that you bond with your sisters!

[CougarGrad]

Yay! I'm glad things worked out for you in the end, and I'm glad your Dad's doing better. Have fun!!

[carnation]

bump!