Ok, I'll bite. What I have to say isn't directly related to the question, but it's something that the other stories posted in this thread made me think about--the Fate thing. I had some unusual circumstances surrounding my experience. I think it has made me a more dedicated member, because I know that I could have easily missed out.
I went through recruitment last fall. The very first party of the very first round that I went to was Delta Zeta. I came out of there KNOWING that was where I belonged. I went to all the other parties and enjoyed some of them, but I still believed DZ was where I belonged.
I was cut by all 5 sororities before the first round of invitationals. Word got around about a "Panhellenic computer glitch," which I thought was a nice way of saying, "Sorry you got cut, but too bad." Turns out, there really WAS a Panhellenic computer glitch, and at least 20 girls (in a rush of 100) were "cut" by all the chapters. About the same amount of girls left rush after not getting invites back to the chapters they liked the most. So I think maybe 2 chapters were at total at the end of FR.
I was also hurt that I wasn't offered a snap bid by one of the chapters that I liked (especially DZ). I did find out later that DZ didn't snap bid me, because they assumed that I had been offered a bid by another chapter.
I was invited to a COB for DZ right after FR. When I talked to the VP of Membership, she asked me what had happened during rush, and I told her that I hadn't gotten any invites. She was speechless for a minute, which is extremely unusual for her!
So, anyway, I was offered a bid and the rest is history.
DZ was a smaller organization, but that appealed to me, because I'm a quiet person, and I'm only likely to speak up and speak out when I think I'll be heard. When I look back at my second and third choices, I realize that I would never have fit in at those chapters. There's nothing wrong with them, but they just aren't "me." Even though the circumstances were weird, I believe that I truly ended up where I belonged, even though DZ was my first choice from Day 1. So I think Fate did come into play at least a little in my case, since after I was cut, I thought I'd never be a Delta Zeta...and look at me now!
