[altheafl]

Day 1 - Spirit Day:

I went to WAFFLES first, incredibly nervous. At the door, we were reminded ‘teeth and teacards’, and to smile widely. We had a great conversation about musical theatre and the local area, but both I and my rusher were extremely nervous, and you could tell.

Leaving WAFFLES, I realized that the I really had no reason to be so nervous, and I decided to do the best that I could. At the next house, PANCAKES, conversation flowed comfortably. When she revealed that she had gone to Brussels the past summer, we had an in depth conversation about the Tulip museum there, which I had visited when I was seven or eight. Completely random, but it was incredibly fun. I genuinely didn’t want to leave this house.

Next, I headed upstairs to PEANUT BRITTLE. I had heard various rumors about this house, negative rumors, but I decided to put them behind me. So what it felt like everyone was talking about them? I could form my own opinion, thank you very much. As the doors flew open, I did just that, form my own opinion, and I was completely taken aback. Everything in the room was bright orange and pink, from the flowers, to their letters, to the girls’ deep tans and neon pink dresses. It was a mixture of Barbie and Elle Woods come to life. But who am I to judge these girls by their appearances? As I was picked up at the door and lead into the room, I struck up conversation. When the conversation turned to study abroad, my rusher mentioned that one of their sisters had studied abroad the year before. ‘Wait right here, I’ll go and get her.’ As she rushed off, I stood there, for what felt like five minutes, waiting for her to return. She finally did return, apologizing and saying that she couldn’t find her. This struck me as so strange, and almost laughable, but the party was over and I was being lead out the door. The girls seemed sweet though, I just was very confused.

Next us was ICE CREAM, and they were the first sorority to have an adorable theme, unless you count orange and pink as being a theme? Everything from their door stack to their letters to their drinks were themed, and it was so fun! I was handed a drink with a wedge of fruit on it, and my rusher whispered ‘You’ve got fruit. That’s usually a good sign’ and then winked at me. What? I was so confused. The conversation was slightly awkward, and my rusher seemed to run out of topics, so I stepped in and singlehandedly lead the conversation. I came out of this house with the impression that these girls were slightly awkward, but sweet. I liked them, but I had the feeling that they didn’t reciprocate, as my rusher seemed to be looking everywhere, but at me, her eyes flirting around the room.

The last house before lunch, I went to CHEESECAKE. This was the first house which I was double rushed at, and I talked to the girl I was being rushed with outside the door about what we’d done during high school. I talked about an inclusive theatre which I was a part of that accepted those of all physical and mental abilities, and how it was so great to be able to have children as young as five or six with autism or in wheelchairs be able to collaborate in the theatrical process. As we went in, we went to the corner of the room with our rusher. When she asked the two of us what we were involved with in high school, we both piped up that we did theatre. The other girl that I was rushed with started talking about the theatre that she was involved with, the only problem being that she was telling my exact story, almost word for word. I felt as if I was in a movie, but I nodded along with her story, trying not to let it show. When my rusher turned to me and asked about the theatre that I was involved in, I managed to splutter out ‘Umm, well it was pretty similar to hers, actually.’ Ouch. Not one of my finest moments. Leaving this house, I felt as if these girls were so incredibly genuine, but that they’d never want me back. I mean, not after that performance. Yikes.

We all headed to the tables for lunch. I genuinely couldn’t tell you for the life of me what I ate for lunch that day. It was a total blur.

After lunch, we took group pictures, and luckily had a presentation from the sorority which was colonizing on our campus, APPLE PIE, meaning that we could relax for a few minutes. The presentation was captivating, and genuinely made me want to join the colony, my only two reasons not to were that I really liked the idea of a sorority house being a hub of activity at which to meet, do activities and chill (the colonizing sorority wouldn’t have a house), and the fact that a large part of the sorority would be made up of your fellow sisters, and with a colony, I wasn’t sure that I’d really get to ‘choose’ my sisters in the way that I did during recruitment. They sound like stupid reasons typed out here, but they felt as if they made enough sense at the time.

We then all headed to ROCKY ROAD, where I was also double rushed. The weird thing about this house was that despite us being double rushed, there was a group of about 40 sisters standing at the opposite end of the room, just staring at us. Kinda creepy, but I figured that they were taking a break and alternating rounds rushing. We didn’t really get much of a chance to talk much past the basics (Name, Major, Hometown, Hobbies) as they had a five minute song interlude in which they clapped and sang songs in the middle of the party. This was fun and cute, but seemed a little excessive. The girls which I talked to seemed fun, and I couldn't wait to get to know them better by talking a little more. As I walked out of the party, my rusher grabbed my arm and told me that she really loved talking to me, and that she couldn’t wait to see me tomorrow and for us to be sisters. Woah. I smiled back at her, but I felt as if this was going a little too far, and compared it to saying ‘I love you’ on the first date.

The next chapter was in the room right next door, and I was excited as I had talked to a couple of girls in this chapter before and they were super sweet. The CHOCOLATE CHIP that picked me up at the door was funny at first, and I felt totally at home, but then she started going on a rant about how bitchy girls are, and about how all girls do is backstab and screw each other over. It was surreal, and I was thankful when the next girl in the bump group came to pick me up. Why exactly is talking about that meant to make me want to join your sorority? Yet, when she introduced me to the next girl, the prefaced it with ‘and we were talking about how bitchy girls can be.’ Awesome. Again, as I was leaving, the final girl that I was talking to told me that she couldn’t wait to see me tomorrow, just like the house before. Okay, I thought, maybe that’s just something that all of the sororities say.

Eight down, two to go. Again, DONUTS was another house that there were a lot of rumous about, both ones about them being promiscuous, which really didn’t bother me, as that’s nothing to judge people on, and another rumor which unsettled me a little more. Again, I pushed them aside, and made my own opinions. Walking in the door, I was double rushed with an awesome girl in my group. After going through the name and hometown questions, we started talking about hobbies. I mentioned that I was really into musical theatre, photography and art, as well as that I had really gotten into web design recently, as nerdy as that may sound. The girl in my group mentioned that she really liked to bake. Our rusher wouldn’t take this, and kept pushing her to mention someone else, claiming that baking wasn’t a real hobby, and that even mentioning it was pathetic. It got really uncomfortable, to the point that I felt as if she bas bulling my fellow rushee, and I was glad when we got out of there.

Onto the last house. BROWNIES. I was tired, losing my voice, and I really just wanted to be done, but I drank some water, took a deep breath, and brushed my hair. One more house, and then I could go home, I told myself. Maybe grab some tea on the way back to my dorm. Walking into the room and talking to my rusher, oh my gosh. I had the best conversations that I’d had all day. I genuinely laughed out loud, and I felt as if I had known these girls for months, years, not just a few minutes. One of my rushers kept apologizing that she was losing her voice, but it really didn’t make a difference, she was so captivating that it didn’t matter. As we were walking out, my rusher asked me a completely random question, prefacing it with a disclaimer that she’d asked everyone that she talked to today it. It was such a strange question, but it just confirmed to me, these are my people. Giving my answer, she paused for a second. Wait, did I say something stupid? Oh no, did I mess up my chances with these awesome girls? Uh oh. Luckily, I hadn't, and she told me that mine was the best answer that she’d heard all day, and she said it with such sincerity that I genuinely believed her. I loved these girls, and I really hoped that they invited me back.

Ranking the houses, we could go back to a maximum of 7 the next day, so we ranked our top 7 in alphabetical order, as our 7 number 1’s, and our bottom two as our number 2 and 3.

As number 2 I ranked PEANUT BRITTLE and as number 3 I ranked DONUTS. Honestly, I really didn’t mind which ones I was invited back to the next day, I had great conversations, and I met at least one girl which I liked at all of the houses, plus fifteen minute conversations with up to three people really aren’t representative of the whole chapter.