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A FRIEND'S RECRUITMENT STORY
My friend has a daughter who went through a few months ago with an interesting story and I thought I'd share. She is cool with it as long as I do not post her name.
Campus has 5 chapters. Recruitment is a 3 day event. Round 1 (PNMs attend all 5) Round 2 (PNMs attend up to 3) Pref (PNMs attend 2) Going simple with code names and going to just call them desserts: Cupcake Cake Cookie Donut Pie Some background: Tent talk would say that the "Top" groups are - Cupcake, Pie, Donut. Middle: Cake Smallest: Cookie C's faves going into recruitment: Pie, Cake, Cookie. She has a lot of friends in all 3. Most of her PNM group went in wanting: Cupcake, Pie, Donut. A few interested in Cake as well. C is also a legacy to Donut. |
YEAH!!!!
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I figured I'd give you her round 1 recap before bed:
C had her first day of parties. PNMs attend all 5. Pie - This was a fave going in. Loved them today. Some girls from her major are Pies and she felt super welcome. Donut - Also a fave going in. She loved them. This is also her legacy house. She has been raised around many Donut alumnae and mom is still actively involved with Donut in their town where they live. Cookie - Another fave going in. Said she wasn't really feeling them today. Awkward convos. Would return if asked and is not ruling them out. Cake - Didn't know a lot of girls in this chapter. Haven't been on her radar before recruitment. She liked them today and had great convos. Cupcake - They were super polite. Not sure if she fits in here she said. Would return if asked but not going to drop out or be devastated if not asked back. At this point, PNMs in her group were very much "omg I don't want to go back to ___" but C stayed open-minded and I was impressed by the fact that there was not one chapter she said she really would not want to to return to. In the end, she ranked: 1. Donut 2. Pie 3. Cake 4. Cookie 5. Cupcake |
For day 2, C could return to a max of 3.
She picked up her schedule and saw that she was asked to return to: Donut Cookie She had one fewer than most of her friends, and was a bit disappointed re: Pie but happy to still have her legacy house and #1, Donut. Mom was also happy to see that C liked Donut of course and was so excited to go back. She was also not ruling out Cookie as she had a few Cookie friends. Most PNMs in her group were all about Cupcake, Donut or Pie and were upset as many were cut heavy from those three first round. Even legacies (ex: a girl in her group was cut from Pie as a legacy.) Many were also surprised that C was so open-minded about Cookie and others being a legacy to Donut. She went into her round 2 parties determined to find her home and remain as open as possible. |
Quote:
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Here were her thoughts on her two parties for Round 2.
DONUT: She loved it. She really connected with the girls she talked to and feels at home (her words.) She left here really excited for Donut's pref. COOKIE: Feeling them a little more than she was yesterday. She would be happy to return for her Preference round. She told mom that she still really loved Donut and would love to continue the Donut legacy. She also was okay to return to Cookie if invited. Mom walked the line between of course wanting Donut but not wanting to push/pressure her. Pref was next round. She ranked them as follows: 1. Donut 2. Cookie |
Good for this young lady and being so open minded and not getting caught up in the tent talk. I can't wait to see the ending to this story.
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C picked up her Preference invites early that morning.
She would return to: Donut Cookie Then she proceeded to her parties immediately after seeing the schedule. C was kind of short about details on the parties themselves so I am sorry I do not have the play by play of every single thing that happened at each party. I do know that immediately after leaving her last one, she told her mom in a text... "Mom I'm so torn." Mom (having a mini heart attack) gave her a call. She told mom (very quickly because she was getting ready to head to ranking) "I love Donut but I just felt IT at Cookie. It feels different mom...sort of like how you say you felt about Donut." Mom (after recovering from her mini heart attack) said she did not care either way as long as she was happy. She was planning to be present for Bid Day either way (even if it wasn't to pin her as a brand new Donut as expected.) Knowing that her mom was not mad and would support her anyway I think gave her the confidence to submit her rankings as: 1. Cookie 2. Donut Yes. I know. I was surprised myself but recruitment is a rollercoaster. So were her group mates. They fully expected her to rank Donut first. They wondered "Who ranks Cookie over Donut?" She said she would accept either and would not necessarily drop out if she DID get Donut, but that she felt in her heart that after today, she was meant to be Cookie. Having declared her rankings, there was nothing left to do but wait and see. |
That was an unexpected plot twist! Looking forward to the rest of your story.
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I love a story where the PNM falls in love with an "underdog" house! Looking forward to the ending.
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C's mom had packed the car with a Donut-themed gift basket (full of some of her old things and a few items she'd picked up over the past year in cautious anticipation of C pledging Donut this fall) and was en route to bid night when she got a text from C who had just picked up her envelope.
"Hey mom I love you so much so I-- did what you said and followed my heart and I'm going to be a COOKIE." Mom admittedly did not see that coming but like any good mom, she wanted C to be HAPPY even if that meant NOT continuing the legacy of Donut. So she did what any good mom would do, texted back congratulations and made a quick detour to quickly piece together the best COOKIE-THEMED gift basket she could on short notice (thanks to some Cookie alumna friends and friends in her neighborhood with Cookie daughters.) She arrived and waited to see her girl run home. Any wistfulness she experienced as C passed Donut on the way down, all melted away as she watched C's spirited welcome as she arrived at Cookie. C smiled from ear to ear in her Cookie letters -- thrilled to finally be home. She told mom that as much as she loved Donut, this was where she was meant to be, and mom told her (through happy tears) that she understood and that she was just happy to see her happy. C's mom did not get to pin her girl as a Donut but she got to experience something even better, knowing that she raised a kid who was independent enough to think for herself, ignore tent talk, and follow her heart... which led her to Chi Omega. (PS. Don't worry the Donut gift basket went back into the closet to potentially return for C's sister's recruitment in about 8 years!) (PS. I was literally on the edge of my texts getting updates on this story when it happened and she is not even my kid. I really do not know how moms do it!) Also I don't mind sharing the code privately. |
Wonderful ending! So glad that C and her mom were able to share the joy of the experience and that C found her home in the place that best fits her.
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Wow! Kudos to C for following her heart instead of going with the legacy for sake of the legacy. My own daughter grew up wanting to be in my sorority--always just kind of assuming that's where she'd end up and we'd be able to share a sisterhood. It was not to be, as they cut her after second round (competitive SEC school where my GLO is a very desired house). Although sad and still a little wistful at times that she and I don't share the sisterhood, she knows that she's exactly where she's supposed to be and is starting her own legacy. Her younger sister now has TWO legacy houses--will be interesting to see if/when she goes through recruitment if she'll end up at either!
Thanks for sharing your friend's daughter's story! |
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