My Recruitment Experience: Everything Happens For A Reason!

SouthernBelle52 · #1 04-08-2008, 01:43 AM

I am very new to GC and after reading all of these recruitment stories I felt like I needed to share my experience. Note the key word: needed to! I feel like finally telling my story might be some sort of therapy to me! You see, recruitment for me did not go as perfect as I had expected but I want girls to know that everything happens for a reason! First some background info on me... I go to a college that only has 5 NPC sororities, however recruitment is actually pretty competetive. Our rush is deferred to Spring semester. Some may think that deferred rush is a good idea because it gives you a whole semester to get to know the girls in the different sororites and vice versa, however I found many problems with it. Going a whole semester waiting for rush just left more room for dirty rushing and after spending a whole semester on campus, I already had my ideas about the sororities based on their reputation without actually getting to know the some of the girls. I went into recruitment very closed minded!

When your Pi Chis advise you not to do this... they really mean it. I had been dirty rushed by 2 of the sororities and I wasn't even considering the other 3 based on other people's opinions! Im trying to be creative here but Im just going to use purses because I love to shop! The 5 sororites on my campus in no order are:

*Coach
*Kate Spade
*Longchamp
*Vera Bradley
*Burberry

At our school recruitment lasts 4 days. The first night is philanthropy and you visit all 5 sororities , the second is skit night and it is narrowed to 4, and the last night is pref and you can go to up to 2 sororites. Then that Monday is Bid Day!

Night One:

So here were my impressions going into recruitment:

Vera Bradley- I loved this sorority! I had been dirty rushed by these girls for a whole semester, but I trusted them. The whole week before recruitment when sorority girls were not allowed to contact PNMS they had been sending me facebook messages making sure that I had signed up for recruitment and saying how excited they were about me (even though I was a good PNM and didnt respond of course!) I was pretty sure this was where I was supposed to be!

Longchamp- This was my second choice sorority! This sorority has been on our campus for a long time and they are very well established! The only thing that worried me was their reputation as partiers and I was kind of intimidated about the hazing stories I had heard. I still thought I might fit in here because many of the girls were very nice and the conversation was comfortable.

Kate Spade- This was the newest sorority on campus. I hadn't heard much about them good or bad so I didnt really know what to expect. They had a very good mix of girls and they were very sweet but I just didnt see myself fitting in.

Burberry- this sorority had the reputation of being the very goody goody girls and that also kind of intimidated me! I had fun, but once again didnt see myself there because I was so closed minded!

Coach- this sorority had the worst reputation on campus and since I went in with a closed mind I really wasnt even willing to give it a try which is a shame because there are actually many nice girls in there!

So after Night 1 I went to rank the sororites on the computer. We pick our top 4 and then pick 1 to drop and the next day we can get invited to up to 4 sororites. I ranked:

-Vera Bradley
- Longchamp
- Kate Spade
- Burberry

And I choose to drop Coach.

Night 2:

I got invited back to the 4 that I wanted and I went to all of their skit nights. They were all great but of course I was mesmorized by Vera and Longchamp. Well I dont want to drag this on so Ill just say that my opinions stayed the same from the first night and this time we were supposed to pick our top 2 sororites and drop the other 2 sororites. Night 2 I ranked:

-Vera Bradley
-Longchamp

And I choose to drop Kate Spade and Burberry.

Pref Night:

So Pref Night I was REALLY nervous because everything was going good so far and I was just waiting for something to mess up! I opened up my invitations and luckily I got invited back to both of the sororities that I wanted (vera bradley and longchamp)! They were the top 2 sororites on campus and I was so excited!

Here is a description of their pref nights:

Longchamp- I went here first and I really enjoyed it! The whole ceremony was very sweet and moving and I was prefed by a girl I have known since I was 10. I really liked it here, but she kept pressuring me to say where I wanted to go and at this point I was so confused! She said "Its a gut feeling... you just know what feels right and where you're supposed to be" but I honestly didnt!

Vera Bradley- This was the ideal pref experience for me! One of my good friends prefed me and the whole ceremony was so moving that I started crying! I thought "maybe this is the gut feeling Im supposed to get!" The my pref asked if this is where I wanted to be and I said yes. I told her that I had been considering Longchamp but she told me that I needed to suicide Vera Bradley because this was the only place for me and they were going to give me a bid tomorrow! I was so excited we cried and hugged and I left feeling amazing! I had found my home!

So I went to right my choices on my bid card, I though long and hard but my prefs words were echoing in my head so I wrote down Vera Bradley only and left the rest up to fate.

Bid Day:

I woke up on Bid Day feeling great! This was going to be the best day of my life! I had already called my parents and they were coming up to witness the activities! At 11 AM I went with my friends to pick up my envelope containing my Bid! We all recieved our envelopes but we werent allowed to open them on campus so me and my 3 friends piled into my car and drove to the nearest parking lot. For some reason the instant I grabbed my envelope I knew something wasnt right. I didnt want to open mine so I just sat and watched my friends. They all received bids to their 1st or 2nd choice sororites and a long letter telling them further instructions about the activities later on in the day. They waited for me to open mine but I wanted to do it in private since I just had a gut feeling so I dropped them off at the dorms and went to my room. I could barely see through the envelope but I noticed my letter was only a couple of sentences long while my friends' letters were a page long. Thats when I knew for certain. I opened the letter and it read "We're sorry to inform you that we were unable to match you with the sorority of your choice". I was stunned. I didnt get a bid even though these girls had been gushing over me for a whole semester? It was like an out of body experience haha I think thats the best way I could explain it. I was a ball of mixed emotions!

I spent the whole day crying in my room! I called my parents and told them not to bother coming. I looked out the window and saw all of my friends running to their sororities while I sat alone in my room devasted! Later on in the day our Panhellenic Advisor called me and told me that a certain sorority was interested in giving me a bid. I was so upset at the time and I really wasnt interested but I figured that things couldn't get any worse so I thought I would give it a shot. I went and hung out with these girls on their bid day and even though I hadnt accepted a bid from them yet they welcomed me with open arms. After spending the day with these girls I wondered why I had been so blind in the first place! This was exactly the place for me! The girls were real and genuine and one of the worst days ever turned into the best! Obviously I didnt go from being devestated to thrilled in a few hours. I was still very hurt and upset even after hanging out with my new sorority friends and I'll admit it took me a few good months to get over what happened with but after getting to know everyone better I truely realized how great it was. So after a lot of serious thought and consideration...
That night I accepted my bid from....

KATE SPADE!!!! OTHERWISE KNOWN AS>>>

...

...

SIGMA KAPPA!!!!

We are the newest sorority on campus but I am proud to announce that we reached quota plus 1 during our Spring 2008 recruitment! It took the last sorority that colonized on our campus 15 years to meet quota and it took us only 4! I am so proud to be a part of building this sorority and I personally believe we have the strongest sisterhood on campus! And as for my so called "Friends" in Vera Bradley... they barely speak to me now but I dont take it personally. I understand thats how recruitment goes with some sororities I mean you do "recruit" and there will always be people in life who will dissapoint you. You just have to hold your head up high and move on. So to any girls who are thinking about going through recruitment: IT IS TOUGH and it doesnt always work out how you want it to but it does always work out how its supposed to! I have made memories that will last a lifetime in Sigma Kappa and I hope every PNM finds the same lasting sisterhood that I have found!