[APhiLife]

I was extremely nervous going into Rush because growing up in Big 12 Country I had always heard horror stories about rush at UT, OU, SMU, etc. So many girls would be crushed by the disappointment of not getting into the house of their dreams or being cut from rush altogether.
Rush was not until a month into the school year so I was hoping to time to meet some of the actives. My mom and 1 cousin were Can’t Hardly Wait. I had two aunts and several cousins who were Varsity Blues and one aunt and 2 cousins who were Pleasantville. The only other house I knew anything about was The Craft- I still don’t know why but my mom and aunts all disliked The Craft with a vengeance.
I registered for Rush the first week of school (the day registration opened!) but did not receive any advanced information about the schedule other than the dates. I asked what the dress was for each day and was told we would find out at Rush Orientation- which took place the night before Open House/Round 1. That would be way too late to go shopping so I called up my cousin who was an active for Varsity Blues at UT Austin and she was nice enough to tell me what to wear for each round.
Open House Round was here before I knew it! I had met members of almost all the houses on campus at class or at fraternity parties and overall had a very positive view of the Greek women at my university. I was still a nervous wreck so my mom said to take the “For Emergencies Only” credit card my parents left with me and get my hair and nails done. Luckily I didn’t have any Friday afternoon classes so a nice style and a French manicure had me feeling great.
For Round 1 (Open House Round) we went to each house for 35 minutes. This round we were told to wear our recruitment T-Shirt and bottoms of our choice. Most girls were wearing shorts and tennis shoes or sandals but I went with a pair of Tommy jeans and high heels because that is what my cousin in Texas said would look best…..

My Rho Chi was gorgeous and seemed really cool. I just knew she was aShe’s All That.

She’s All That- The house was beautiful and these sisters seemed very put together. My rusher seemed really nice but did talk about how their house was big on respect and that younger members had to know their place. They also talked a lot about partying- 18 year old me thought this sounded great! These were the girls I wanted to be, but I wasn’t sure.
Clueless- These girls all looked exactly alike- tall, blond and very thin. Their house was nice, but I could tell that the girls did not take care of it. My rusher asked me what fraternity guys I knew and then started telling me all about the sisters in their house who dated guys in those fraternities.
Can’t Hardly Wait- This group came bounding down the stairs from their house clapping and singing in unison. I really liked my rusher- it turned out she was the older sister of a girl I knew from high school. I also got to talk to two other girls in this house who seemed very down to earth.
Pleasantville- I was so excited to go to this house because I had family who were in Pleasantville. The house was okay, but seemed to be decorated more like a daycare center than for college women. My rusher was really sweet but she seemed a little shy.
The Craft- The girls in this house seemed very laid back. They were the first group I saw that wasn’t dressed all matchy-matchy for Round 1. It seemed like this house was full of girls who didn’t mind being different from one another.
Never Been Kissed- This house was a bit smaller than the others. The girl that rushed me was okay. She asked me what I thought of the other houses I had been too already. I just didn't feel like this was the house for me.
Election- This group was all about leadership. They were known for being very active in other clubs and organizations on our campus. I remember feeling more like I was in a job interview than talking to a friend at this house.
Romi & Michelle’s- These girls were very high energy. My rusher was a cheerleader at our school and talked to me about that. The two girls I talked to at this house said everything like they were so super excited they were about to bust. I just couldn't get their door chant out of my head for the rest of the evening.
Varsity Blues- This house had a lot of trophies and said they always won Greek competitions, etc. They seemed like a very cohesive group and had very outgoing personalities. They seemed to all gel together very well.

At the end of the night, I had very sore feet but was very excited. I just knew I was meant to be a She's All That! Their house was beautiful, they were beautiful. Of course they were probably already fighting over who would get to be my BIG! Right?
I called my mom that night and said I totally know which house I am going to be in. She said to just keep my options open. Okay, afterall- It seemed like every house could be so much fun! But I had to rank them to select my top 6 for Philanthropy Day:

1-She’s All That
1-Can’t Hardly Wait
1-The Craft
1-Pleasantville
1-Romi & Michelle’s
1-Varsity Blues
2-Clueless
2-Election
2-Never Been Kissed