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I went to my Gamma Chi meeting in high spirits. I was fairly certain that I would be asked back to both houses. Of course, I was preparing for the worst, but I didn’t feel stressed. As soon as my Gamma Chi said “I don’t think anyone will be disappointed today”, I knew I got both back. Sure enough MONKEY and ALLIGATOR were both on my schedule! Today was the most stressful day. After we went into our first party, we were not allowed to talk at all. My first party was the very first party at 7:45 am. My next was at 4:10. That meant about 8 hours of only talking in the parties. I was pretty tired and we were allowed to bring blankets and pillows, so I slept for a good 4 hours in between.

I was glad to see that my first party was MONKEY. As soon as the doors opened and the girls began singing, I felt that it would be a special day there. The first girl I talked to was a junior. We had good conversations about why she chose her sorority and their sisterhood events. I found out she was the Big of a good friend of mine. I got excited when she told me that her Little would be talking to me after the presentations! The presentations were beautiful. The video included pictures of the girls and video messages from members. Some were to the chapters or specific girls in the chapter. Then the girls talked about what the sorority meant to them. I found out later that the members had not seen the video before the party. Everyone got choked up, including me. A member read a letter she wrote to her Big and it was beautiful. After the girls sang songs, my friend came to talk to me. I was trying so hard not to cry. For some reason, when I saw her, I got even more choked up. I told her I was tearing up and she said she was too. We looked at each other and started crying and laughing. After talking to her, I knew I would most likely end up placing them first on my card.

My second party was at ALLIGATOR. They really surprised me. The atmosphere was beautiful. They had white sheets hung up, covering the room. Each sheet had a quote about sisterhood on it. The lights behind the curtains were the sorority’s color, making the room that color. I talked to a girl that I had met in a previous round and we also had good conversation. Their presentation was also moving and I could see why everyone on campus says this house has the best sisterhood. I could tell that they all loved one another. A girl I talked to said she had never gotten into any sort of disagreement or argument with a sister.

I liked ALLIGATOR and the sisters were fantastic, but MONKEY just had an extra spark for me. I couldn’t tell you what it was exactly. It was just a feeling of being home. I felt like these were the girls I could count on when I was at my worst and needed someone. I walked to the Union confident in my choice. As I signed my card, I smiled. Everything had worked out. I knew I would be happy at either house, but was really hopeful that I would receive a bid to my first choice.
No, I didn’t pref my “first choice” from the rounds. No, I didn’t have a full schedule every time. Yes, I got cut because of a less than stellar GPA. Yet, I was okay with all of this. Would I have been happy at GIRAFFE? Probably. However, I still got to see a glimpse of two amazing sisterhoods and I truly believe in the statement “You end up where you are supposed to be”. Two amazing chapters were willing to give me a shot even though I had messed up in school the year before. I felt SO blessed and truly happy.

They held us in the union until 2 a.m. We had to wait for all of the parties to finish AND the sororities to submit their bid lists. Luckily, I found some close friends and spent the night talking, laughing and napping with them. We were all so alike, but each of us had put a different house as our first choice. Two of the girls had put MONKEY second. As much as I knew I would love to potentially have them as sisters, I would also feel a little sad that they didn’t get their first choice. All that was left was BID DAY!