A Bookworm's SEC Rush!
 

Hey, y'all! A few weeks ago, I was around Greek Chat looking for advice for PNMs. I want to thank everyone here for the excellent advice! I also spent the past couple of weeks reading uplifting recruitment stories. Now it's finally time to share my very own recruitment story! Many of the stories I read here on GC helped me get through some tough moments during rush and I hope my story can do the same for future PNMs. :)

Last week I went through rush at a pretty competitive SEC school. Some of you know which school, but I see no reason to post it again here. Many of you will probably guess the school, anyway. :) The theme I've chosen for this recruitment story is books, so here's the list:

1. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
2. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
3. Harry Potter by JK Rowling
4. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
5. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
6. Twelfth Night by Shakespeare
7. Hamlet by Shakespeare
8. Paper Towns by John Green
9. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
10. Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
11. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
12. The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare
13. Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger

I tried to choose book titles that will be familiar to most people, but I also wanted these to be my favorite books. Some of you may not recognize some titles. I also considered opera for my theme, but didn't think that would be as entertaining for most. ;)

Also, I chose the book titles for each sorority after the first round so that it would be just as fun to see which book I ended up in along with which sorority! Anyway....

Let's jump right into day one!

The first round was the most hectic and tiring, but fortunately I knew what to expect from attending Panhellenic Preview. I'll sum up my feelings quickly by sorting the sororities into three basic categories.

Sororities I really liked and clicked with:
The Great Gatsby, Pride and Prejudice, Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Tale of Two Cities.
Pride and Prejudice was my first house of the day, but luckily the girl I talked to was a friend of mine. She complimented my outfit, which was definitely a confidence booster to get me through the rest of the sororities.
I didn't have a rec for Tale of Two Cities so I wouldn't be upset if they cut me, but I liked them a lot regardless.

Sororities I sort of liked, saw potential in, and wanted to visit again:
Wuthering Heights, Scarlet Pimpernel, Hamlet, and Lord of the Rings.

Sororities I really didn't like. I liked the girls, but knew I didn't belong there:
The Mortal Instruments, Catcher in the Rye, Paper Towns, and Twelfth Night.

At the end of the day, my rankings were

1. Wuthering Heights
1. The Great Gatsby
1. Harry Potter
1. Pride & Prejudice
1. The Scarlet Pimpernel
1. Twelfth Night
1. Hamlet
1. Hunger Games
1. Lord of the Rings
1. Tale of Two Cities
2. Catcher in the Rye
3. Paper Towns
4. The Mortal Instruments

I was between 'cutting' Catcher in the Rye and Twelfth Night. I had a rec for Twelfth Night but not for Catcher in the Rye, so I ranked Catcher in the Rye lower.

I'll go ahead and post my Day One Philanthropy schedule now, put have to stop writing to go to my FIRST NEW MEMBER MEETING, YAY! But no worries! Most of this story is done being written and just needs to be posted. I promise this is a recruitment story that WILL be finished, and in a timely manner!

Philanthropy, Day One: We could have up to 8 parties that day. I had 7 on my schedule:
1. Paper Towns
2. Hamlet
3. Wuthering Heights
4. The Great Gatsby
5. Harry Potter
6. Catcher in the Rye
7. Pride & Prejudice

I was so surprised to see Paper Towns on my schedule! I was flattered because I thought these girls were very pretty social types. But I knew I wasn't like that and this probably wouldn't be the house for me.

The rest of Philanthropy, Day One will be coming tonight or tomorrow morning!

I have read all of these but Paper Towns and The Mortal Instruments. I have also never heard of them! Off to amazon.com to look them up!

I was going to root for Scarlet Pimpernel, but it is already gone! So, go Harry Potter!

Well, I will be able to sleep knowing that you are going to a new member meeting!! Have fun! Can't wait to read your recruitment story!!!

Same here. I've got to go with Pride and Prejudice. That's my all-time favorite.

You have excellent taste in literature (hence, no Twilight on the list ;)).

There are TWO Philanthropy days, and we can visit up to 10 chapters for that round total. Scarlet Pimpernel may still be in the running!

Why thank you! You know, Twilight did have some good things going for it. But it the end, it's crap. Pride and Prejudice is by far the superior love story. :)

Once again, I've broken my own rule of not reading a recruitment story until the ending is posted...darn...can't go wrong with Pride and Prejudice. :)

Okay, so enough trolling with replies!

The first chapter I visited was Paper Towns. I had ranked them lower the day before because I didn't think I would belong there, but was flattered to be invited back and definitely open to visiting them. Their philanthropy is actually something really important to me and it seemed extremely important to them. The girls I talked to shared the same connection to the philanthropy that I did. These girls weren't the type of girls in this chapter that I described after my first visit, so I began to think that maybe I could belong here after all.

Hamlet. I wasn't so sure about Hamlet though I had heard they were a good chapter. I talked to a girl I knew here, which was nice. Their philanthropy was important to me, but I didn't think I would enjoy their events enough. To be, or not to be? That is the question. Perhaps not to be....

Wuthering Heights. I didn't have such a good round with them the first day, but I got to talk to different girls for philanthropy. Everyone I talked to seemed really intelligent. I consider myself intelligent and prefer to surround myself by intelligent people, so I really liked the idea of being a sister of Wuthering Heights. Their philanthropy was also something I could see myself doing. Wuthering Heights was definitely becoming one of my favorite chapters.

The Great Gatsby. My all-time favorite book, and a sorority I fell in love with. The moment I walked in, people I knew called my name and waved. The girls talked about their house (which is going to be absolutely gorgeous!). One of the girls I talked to had my major. When she asked me what I wanted to do with it, I told her my 3 ideas. To our delight and surprise, she had the same exact major with the same interest! I was thrilled. I also talked to the president and some other leaders of this chapter. The president remembered me from the day before and we talked a little about philanthropy. This philanthropy is also something I could see myself doing, and they host a fun activity I'm also good at.

In other words, The Great Gatsby became my Rush Crush (my green light at the end of the dock! Foreshadowing, anyone?)

By now it was about time for lunch. The Gamma Chis had peanut butter sandwiches for everyone, but I had to rush to my next party. This day had been so exhausting.

Harry Potter. I really liked this chapter the first day. The girl I talked to had my major. But the second day I didn't like them as much. I could see myself getting involved with their philanthropy and enjoying it, but I just didn't connect with the girls I talked to. Maybe I was also just tired.

Catcher in the Rye. Although their philanthropy was meaningful to me, I could not see myself in this sorority at all. I talked to another girl with my major and she was really sweet. But I just didn't think it was the right fit! If a Body catch a Body comin' through the rye... They didn't quite catch me.

Pride & Prejudice. The girls here were so sweet. I absolutely loved their philanthropy. I was so tired by this round, but I was invigorated learning about all the fun activities they do in the community. I wasn't sure if I could see myself here, but it would be nice to be invited back. Could this chapter be my Darcy?

And that's the end of the first day of Philanthropy Round! We could visit up to 10 sororities total in this round, which meant that I could have up to 3 sororities for the next day. Satisfied with how this day went, I went to bed knowing I could take it easy for the next day. A full schedule isn't very common, so my expectations weren't too high. But if I could visit three more, I was hoping it would be Hunger Games, Lord of the Rings, and The Scarlet Pimpernel.

I wasn't expecting invitations from The Mortal Instruments or A Tale of Two Cities because I never got recs for them.

And that is all I will be posting tonight! There will definitely be more tomorrow. I'm an early bird but don't have class until 11.

I am rooting for Gatsby...my all time favorite book, as well.

I'm enjoying your writing! I'm guessing you're going to be an English major?

I was an English major and you have so many good books/plays listed that I can't choose, so I'm just going to enjoy the story.

Edit: I'm not a fan of Catcher in the Rye, so I might have a hard time rooting for them. I'm going to feel totally guilty now if my daughter's sorority is at your school and that's them.

As much as I love Harry Potter, I must root for Paper Towns.
As HP was coming to an end I didn't think I'd find books that were as good for a long time. Then I heard about John Green and I read all of his books. What an awesome author.

“The town was paper, but the memories were not.”

I'm all about The Hunger Games :D

Loving it!