AOEforme Jr.'s Badgerland Recruitment

[BuckeyeTriDelta]

Oh come let's sing Ohio's praise And songs to Alma Mater raise While our hearts rebounding thrill With joy which death alone can still Summer's heat or winter's cold The seasons pass the years will roll Time and change will surely (truly) show How firm thy friendship ... OHIO!

[AOEforme]

Orientation

AOEforme Jr thinks her eardrums have exploded. There are women screaming and cheering everywhere and music blasting. She goes off to find her Rho Gamma group alone, as the other four girls on her floor are in different Rho Gamma groups.

AOEforme Jr thinks she has made a mistake. There are too many women who are too loud and too perfect. She feels imperfect and years behind, even behind her perfectly chosen outfit and brand-new Coach bag. She finds her Rho Gamma group... and laughs and relaxes.

They have chosen Harry Potter as a theme and have capes and broomsticks. Maybe she can do this she thinks! She tries talking to the girls around her. Some are quite rude but by the end of the evening she has made two friends, who I will call Addie and Sarah.

Addie knows nothing about rush and is doing this simply because she got the mailer and wanted an all-female group again. (She went to a well-known all-girls high school in Milwaukee.)

Sarah is from the East Coast ("But she doesn't seem like a coastie!" my sister proclaims) and is a legacy to both Ohio State and Illinois. She is excited to go through recruitment. She watched 3 sisters and 1 brother go through their respective recruitments. In addition to being a legacy to Ohio State and Illinois, she is a legacy to Alpha Gamma Delta and another sorority my sister could not remember. Her brother is a Sigma Phi Epsilon, so Sarah is well-versed in Greek Life.

AOEforme Jr loves her Rho Gammas. They are sweet and offer to do nearly anything for the girls. "I wish I knew which groups they were in so I could try and be their sisters!" my sister proclaims over dinner. My chapter is not held to the period of silence so I invited her to dinner with some of my sorority sisters, just to relax before classes start. They are excited for her as well and ask her if she has any favorites yet. "Not yet," she says, "I want to try for our neighbor's sorority so we could be sisters but I am not sure what they are like here. I will just have to wait and see what they are like for myself."

"Hurrah!" I thought to myself, "We taught her well!"

[GeekyPenguin]

I am so excited to read this! I was in Madison this weekend and saw all the girls hurrying off to Pref.

[AOEforme]

First Rounds:

AOEforme Jr. and the other four girls on her floor head out and meet their Rho Gammas by 1 PM. The booklets are handed out and AOEforme Jr flips through hers rapidly. She knows Sarah is a legacy to Ohio State and Illinois, and even though Ohio State is considered a "top" house here, Sarah is determined to cut them. Her family is very greek and she wants a different house than her sisters, mom, aunts, and grandmother.

Addie, who knows very little about Greek Life, surprises AOEforme Jr. by swearing up and down that she won't be in Iowa. She wants to end up in either Michigan or Ohio State, as all the girls on her floor and men at fraternity parties say these are the best. They tell her not to be caught dead in Iowa. She also tells AOEforme Jr that both of them will be cut from 4 of the 11 sororities because they are the wrong religion. The Rho Gamma overhears this and quickly assures them this is not the truth!

They head up to the first house, Ohio State, and wait anxiously outside the front door.

Ohio State- Once again, AOEforme Jr thinks her eardrums have exploded as beautiful women pour out of the front door, screaming and clapping. She is stunned by the noise and the sheer amount of women in this house. Even though all women are supposed to want this house, she feels incredibly uncomfortable and just wants to leave. There are too many women who are too perfect. She is glad when time is up and heads for the door, knowing she'll be cut. She is surprised about how little she cares, especially because everyone else in her group is in love with Ohio State.

Illinois- This is one of Sarah's legacy houses and AOEforme Jr. loves it. Her dad always used to park his car outside Illinois when they were picking up AOEforme (that's me!) to go home for the weekend. It struck her as a beautiful house from the outside and the inside is even more lovely and the women inside match that. They are also smart and she feels comfortable with them.

Wisconsin- This was a group she hadn't heard any tent talk and wasn't quite sure what to expect. She really liked Wisconsin. She was first paired with another Biology major and found they had tons to talk about. She was sad to leave Wisconsin.

Iowa- The dreaded house all women were supposed to drop! She, however, really liked it here. She was surprised by the ease of conversation and didn't feel she needed to impress these women or pretend to be someone she wasn't. All in all, Iowa was one of her favorites. Addie felt the same way: she couldn't believe that was the same group everyone said to drop! Sarah, on the other hand, had hated Iowa and agreed with the tent talk. She said she'd rather drop out than be an Iowa.

Michigan- Here, AOEforme falls truely in love. This, she feels, is where she is meant to be. (The majority of our conversation about first rounds was focused on Michigan!). Their house is big and beautiful. Their girls are smart, poised, and classy. They have perfect jeans and shoes. Everything is decorated to a tea. The conversation flows. She knows she is meant to be a Michigan.

Michigan State- She is tiring and it shows in her recollection of events. She doesn't remember anything really noteworthy about Michigan State except that she was in need of a break!

Northwestern- "The house was beautiful," AOEforme Jr. said when telling me about recruitment. "And?" I asked. "I don't know," she said, "I just didn't get a good feeling from it. Maybe it was because I was tired." She admits to not remembering a great deal about Northwestern. "It was just a blur," she said. She did tell me the same legend that goes around every rush group: that the Northwesterns have three rooms for recruitment. Apparently, there is one room that all the pretty PNMs go in. They are all advanced to the second rounds. There is a room for ugly PNMs who are all automatically cut. Finally, there is a room for in-between PNMs who are judged on conversation before it is decided whether they are cut or invited to the next round. "Everyone was talking about it before we went in," she said, "It made a lot of girls really nervous!"

-Break- (Finally! She got Chipotle and sat with Addie and Sarah and discussed the houses).

Alpha Omega Epsilon- This, she said, was the most comfortable she felt all day. (I reminded her it was because she actually knew these girls!) "It made me think about trying to join your chapter," she said, "I guess if recruitment doesn't work out I might do that." (This was a surprise to me!)

Penn State- She said the girl rushing her at this house was super spacy and seemed totally disinterested in her. She couldn't wait to leave Penn State.

Minnesota- They were polite girls, but she felt they were trying too hard. "I would have liked them, I think. They were just trying too hard to be overly classy and perfect. I wish they would have relaxed."

Purdue- She said she had no strong feelings either way about this house. She felt indifferent about both girls rushing her.

Indiana- The last house of the day! She really enjoyed it and said she would not mind being an Indiana.

AOEforme Jr went back to the Red Gym and was glad that her big sister had impressed upon her the importance of taking notes.

Her rank:

1. Michigan
1. Indiana
1. Iowa
1. Purdue
1. Illinois
1. Wisconsin
1. Minnesota
8. Northwestern
9. Michigan State
10. Penn State.
11. Ohio State ("They were going to cut me anyways!")

[lovespink88]

I L L!!!!

Can't wait to hear more!!

[AOII Angel]

Speed it up, AOEforme....no one likes a recruitment thread that goes on for weeks!

[AOEforme]

Second Rounds:

Her schedule:

1. Wisconsin
2. Iowa
3. Break
4. Michigan State
5. Penn State
6. Illinois
7. Break

WHERE is Michigan? She was nearly close to tears. She called me. I told her to breathe, and look at the positives. She could change her opinions on chapters and she still was lucky enough to have 5 chapters, some of which she had really liked.

So, with less than a stellar attitude, she went off to Wisconsin.

Wisconsin- Maybe it was her attitude or maybe it was just the girls she met with but her opinion of Wisconsin totally changed. She no longer liked the house and was determined to drop it.

Iowa- The girl rushing her was "spacy" and seemed to concentrate on material things. She asked my sister where she got her cute skirt and when my sister replied "Johnson Creek" (a popular outlet store near our school), the rusher wrinkled her nose before moving on. AOEforme Jr. said the next girl she interacted with was very kind but the first girl had spoiled Iowa for her. Addie still adored Iowa however.

Break- She called me again and complained about the choices she had left. I was not kind to her. I told her to stop being rude and enjoy rush. These houses had liked her enough to invite her back and she should look at them with an open mind.

Michigan State- She again felt neither positive or negative things about Michigan State. She saw it for what it is (an amazing chapter) but she didn't believe she would fit in it. Addie was with her at this house and Addie was in love.

Penn State- Again, she got that vibe of trying too hard. She didn't feel she could stay in this house and be happy.

Illinois- At her last house of the day, she finally felt she enjoyed it. The girls were very kind, the house was beautiful, and she had a fun time. "I was really uncomfortable though," she said, "and I don't know why. I think I was just nervous that they will drop me."

She recounted all of the last three parties to me at what was actually an informal recruitment event for my chapter. One of my sisters was becoming close with AOEforme Jr. and had invited her just to hang out and enjoy free food.

As I walked her back to the dorm, she mentioned that she hoped she felt as comfortable with her future sorority as she did with my current group. She wanted a tight-knit group who she could be herself with. "Sitting there watching TV tonight made me want to drop out of Formal and join your chapter," she said.

I was surprised. I would adore to have my biological sister as a sister, but I wanted her to get parts of the sorority experience that I was missing as a small, new group. I wanted her to be able to go to any store and buy her letters, to live in a house, and enjoy the century-old legacy most chapters at my school have.

And that's when I stopped myself. Who was going through recruitment? Me or her? And wouldn't I love her to have the sisterhood I have?

I told her basically what I had typed out above. It was truly her choice. I gave her what I saw the pros and cons of being in a smaller, new, non-NPC sorority. "Duh! I know those. I've watched you," she replied.

I told her to take the weekend and think about it. There was no way she could attend both Formal Recruitment's Pref Party and our Pref Party. (They were at the same time, which is never a conflict because girls going through formal don't go through our Early Recruitment Period.) If she was truly unhappy after preference, she could leave her bid card unsigned and go through our informal recruitment in September.

"I'll think about it. I just want to feel at home like I do with you guys." (I pointed out that this takes time, but you know how freshman are!)

[AOEforme]

Pref Party:

I was busy prepping for our own pref party, but made sure to call AOEforme Jr. and calm her down. "I'm fine," she said, "I talked to my Rho Gamma the night of second rounds. I'm sure this will all work out for the best."

Imagine my surprise when we opened up the doors for our Pref Party and there was my sister.

I couldn't even conceal my shock. "What are you doing here?" I asked her. (Real classy, right?)

I pulled her aside quickly. She looked at me with a grin on her face. "I told you I talked to my Rho Gamma." She explained that she had called her Rho Gamma and told her the dilema. Her Rho Gamma was patient, but near the end of the conversation pointed out a fact that was obvious to everyone but the two of us."AOEforme Jr., it sounds like you have already made up your mind."

She dropped out of formal recruitment then and there. She then called the recruitment chair for our chapter and told her she was interested in being contacted about all future informal recruitment events. She went to another informal recruitment event (one that I missed because of darn Organic Chemistry lab) and recieved an invitation to our pref party.

She had kept it a surprise so I didn't try and influence her at all. (Who can blame her? I was terrible!)

She loved pref. "This was the right choice, AOEforme," she said, "I really feel at home here. I hope you all feel I belong, too."

[AOEforme]

Bid Day:

AOEforme Jr. and the four girls from her hall headed down to MU theatre. She waved good-bye to her friends and went to pick up her card.

At 12:50, she was allowed to rip open the card, which read:

"The Omicron Chapter of Alpha Omega Epsilon formally invites AOEforme Jr. to a candidacy period in Alpha Omega Epsilon Sorority."

My sister is now my sister! I am very, very excited!

As for the other girls:
Sarah ended up with a bid to Michigan, aka Gamma Phi Beta, and is apparently thrilled.
Addie happily accepted a bid to Michigan State or Kappa Alpha Theta, and loves it. She has a big new member class (51 girls!) and is enjoying it. She was, however, a little sad she did not get a bid to Iowa. She really enjoyed them and had a hard time choosing between the two.

As for the four girls on her floor: two got bids to Alpha Phi, one to Kappa Alpha Theta, and a third to Kappa Kappa Gamma.

And that's the ending of a happy recruitment story. Everyone we were following got bids and I ended up with my sister as my sister!

She is thrilled to be an Alpha Ep candidate and adores her candidate class. We had so much fun on Bid Day. Among the craziness of the honking horns, cheers, screaming girls, and confetti, she asked me a quick question. "What was that quote you and Lisa kept telling me?"

"Do you mean 'You'll end up where you are meant to'?" I asked.

"Yes!" she replied, "You were right!"

-The End-

(Sorry for the delay in telling. I have two labs back to back on Tuesdays!)

ETA: A picture of their group. I'll add other pictures from Wisconsin's Bid Day to the Bid Day Pics thread.

[Katmandu]

I am LOVING this story!

[badgergurl]

I PM'ed you, AOEforme

[AOII Angel]

Congratulations to you and your sister! I know how hard it must have been to watch her make this decision....I'm glad you'll be sorority sisters, too.

[FSUZeta]

how wonderful!! congratulations to your sister and to you.

[pinkyphimu]

What an awesome story!! I am glad your sister is your sister and that she found her home!!!

[Jill1228]

Hey hon! Loved the story, but can you please shrink the photo? Thanks