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  #1  
Old 07-06-2015, 05:05 PM
littlesquirrel littlesquirrel is offline
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Barely Retro Vera Bradley Recruitment

All right… so I’m several pages deep in re-reading/reading recruitment stories and thought that hey, maybe I’ll post my sort of retro recruitment!

Obviously we know where I’ll end up, but at least we know it’s a happy ending, right? ☺ I attended a very small Midwestern LAC. Greek life is very popular there and we have a deferred recruitment with House Tours (5), Philanthropy (3), and Preference (2).

I also happen to work for a little store called Vera Bradley—so that’s my theme; current patterns. Here we go with my pre-recruitment thoughts and some minor happenings. I’m not a legacy to any house on campus, but my mom was an alumna initiate into Delta Phi Epsilon as we was once their beloved house chef. In fact, those ladies showered me with DPhiE goodies as a little girl.

Ziggy Zinnia: I did not know any Ziggys, but Ziggy Zinnia was one of the “it houses.” Every girl dreamt of them going into recruitment, but all I thought was “typical sorority girl.” And me? Well, of course, I am NOT typical.
Pixie Blooms: If you didn’t go Ziggy, you went Pixie. Pixies were the MODEL sorority girls in my mind. Several people told me that the best brunettes went Ziggy and the best blonds went Pixie. Even though I had a dear Model UN team mentor in this house, she was perfect and blond and I was not.
Marrakesh: I thought Marrakesh girls were in band and they were all science-y type majors. However, my best guy friend at the time, J said that Marrakesh was TOTALLY me. His best friend from home was a Marrakesh. I was very hesitant.
Lucky You: Another great mentor from my MUN team was a Lucky You, but my RA I despised had also just joined. So, that’s all I knew.
Sierra: SIERRA WAS WHERE I WAS GOING! I knew this. That’s why I was in recruitment. These girls were quirky feminists who were in several of the groups I was in on campus. The MUN team had a long history of Sierras. Obviously, my destiny was in Sierra.


Day 1: House Tours
I wore black pants, a warm gray sweater with silver threading, and sensible flats. I wish I had worn something different, but it had also snowed quite a bit, so this outfit was probably a good idea.

Marrakesh
My first house of the day. Their theme was Hollywood. I heard screaming from most of the houses and Marrakesh girls flanked the stairs clapping and chanting. I felt a little overwhelmed, but these girls were very laid-back and open. I had this delicious fruit pizza, which was nice considering our dining hall wasn’t open before recruitment. Overall, I wasn’t in love with Marrakesh, but I was open to returning.
Ziggy Zinnia
Oh my goodness, the hype was right. These ladies were AWESOME. I thought that they would be so stuck up and rude, but every turn just got better. They all matched in their Paris-inspired t-shirts. After hearing about their scholarship in one room, I swapped stories about a ridiculous PoliSci class I was in with the two sisters. They were doing impressions of him and everything! It was so funny. I love Ziggy Zinnia and I absolutely had to go back.
Lucky You
I enjoyed Lucky You! They had a cute Superhero theme. These girls were very sweet and my MUN mentor spent some time with me there, which was a bonus. The Student Government president was also a Lucky You. I thought that was pretty rad that they were so involved. However, as I turned into a hallway, the worst thing happened: I dropped a FULL cup of BRIGHT RED punch. I instantly knew I wouldn’t be invited back.

Break
During break, a few Rho Gam groups mingled and ate Panhel-provided pizza. I met the nicest Rho Gam who turned out to be from a town right next to mine. As my Rho Gams weren’t very welcoming, I went to her for any questions.

Pixie Blooms
Candyland theme! I will say, I regret the way I behaved at Pixie Blooms. I was clearly completely unengaged—even though my MUN mentor in this house was great to me that day—and barely even spoke. These girls were great recruiters but I knew I wouldn’t be invited back and I didn’t really care. All of the girls on my dorm floor wanted this house (or Ziggy) and I didn’t care for them, so I was done. So rude. Ugh, I was the worst.

Sierra
Finally… Sierra! I was SO excited for Sierra. Of course, these ladies were too cool for a theme, so it was basically just a general open house. I was hoping to see the GSA president—who had talked to me about joining Sierra—but she was gone that weekend. The loose environment made it a little difficult for then-introverted me to really learn more. Luckily, another sister I knew came up to me and chatted about my time so far at college. I left wishing I talked more, but still loved MY Sierra.

(Ok sorry I have to go to work, but the rest is typed up so I'll post when I get home.)
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  #2  
Old 07-06-2015, 05:36 PM
KohawkAlumna08 KohawkAlumna08 is offline
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I love this story so far. I love Vera Bradley, was in Model UN, and majored in Political Science so this is beyond interesting for me. I'm going to root for Ziggy Zinnia or Lucky You even with the punch incident. I own both of those patterns.
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  #3  
Old 07-06-2015, 09:51 PM
ImJustAMom ImJustAMom is offline
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Oh my goodness! As a newbie on the boards, I have always been able to flip to the last page, see where the PNM lands, and then follow the story. The entire story in one sitting. What will I do while I wait for the rest of the story?
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  #4  
Old 07-06-2015, 10:32 PM
littlesquirrel littlesquirrel is offline
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Day 2: Philanthropy
Invites were ready the next day at 11am. We each had decorated bags that held our invites. We ranked when we received invites—meaning if you got 5, you picked your top three. I ran to my bag and dumped it out to see:

Sierra
Lucky You
Marrakesh

WHAT?! Ziggy Zinnia didn’t invite me back? I was heartbroken. I spent part of last night researching and falling more in love with Ziggy. I knew it was my fault—I was too frumpy, too awkward for them. So I moved on and put my faith in Sierra.

Lucky You
This party was on a separate day than the others. I wore this silk purple shirt that I am bummed I promptly lost. This chapter said their nationals was looking for a new philanthropy, so we ended up coloring and then the ladies told us there was a skit! But it wasn’t from them… the PNMs were putting on the skit. I was terrified. I was just getting over my deep fear of public speaking and now I was about to be put on the spot by women I barely knew. This threw Lucky You down to the bottom for me. (They no longer do this!)

Marrakesh
After my Lucky You experience, I was truly terrified to go on. I don’t recall what I wore for this party J’s best friend picked me up, who was a bit silly and definitely not your average sorority girl (but really, who is?). She seemed very nervous but was still quite nice. All of the girls were so welcoming. They asked me about myself and offered advice about freshmen year. I made a few jokes and they always genuinely laughed, not a fake polite one. They mentioned they had the highest GPA on campus as well, and I was very impressed. I really liked Marrakesh.

Sierra
Finally, more time with Sierra! We did a few team-building type games and they gave a short speech about their philanthropy, which I adored. However, I noticed that no one was coming up to me to talk. I was making small talk with the other PNMs until a Sierra would talk to them. I felt pretty lonely as they gathered us in a big circle—where they told us we all had to share an embarrassing story. All was funny until I shared my story (PM me for details about that) and NO ONE laughed. It was completely silent. I felt awful. I left the party and cried in my dorm.
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  #5  
Old 07-06-2015, 10:35 PM
littlesquirrel littlesquirrel is offline
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Preference
Invites were available at 8pm the next night, but the Panhel ladies had to stay until 11pm for myself and the other MUN girl rushing to show up. Our two bags sat in front of the selection of Rho Gams.

Lucky You
Sierra
Marrakesh

Thank God, Sierra invited me back after I was so weird! I said no thanks to Lucky You and the next night, would be heading to Marrakesh and Sierra for prefs.

Sierra
I walked in with a bit more confidence—wearing this dress I purchased in NYC and sky high heels—and knew tonight would be okay. Once again, most of the Sierras barely acknowledged me at first, but I sought out a few Sierra MUNers. They then had us gather in a circle and passed around a candle. Sisters said why they joined Sierra and PNMs said why they chose to go through recruitment. One girl was an honorary sister from another university and she began to tear up as she spoke about Sierra, which I thought was very sweet. But I still left confused.

Marrakesh
I was hoping Marrakesh would be better. J’s best friend greeted me again and she shared how much she enjoyed talking with me this week. Two seniors stopped by our table and were incredibly charming. They then moved into the ceremony, where women shared how Marrakesh had become their home away from home. Each PNMs was given a flower and the president read a poem, ending with the sisters reciting something together. We were asked to place our flowers together to make a bouquet and they sent us away with smiles.
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  #6  
Old 07-06-2015, 10:37 PM
littlesquirrel littlesquirrel is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KohawkAlumna08 View Post
I love this story so far. I love Vera Bradley, was in Model UN, and majored in Political Science so this is beyond interesting for me. I'm going to root for Ziggy Zinnia or Lucky You even with the punch incident. I own both of those patterns.
Small world! Fun fact, I didn't own any Vera until I worked there. I lived an entirely Vera-less college life.
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  #7  
Old 07-06-2015, 11:29 PM
thetalady thetalady is offline
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I see a Marrakesh ending coming....
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  #8  
Old 07-06-2015, 11:56 PM
littlesquirrel littlesquirrel is offline
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Now, when it came to rank, I thought I knew what I wanted. But I had come along a little website called GreekChat, and they said never to “suicide” at recruitment. So I ranked them:

1. Marrakesh
2. Sierra

We had to wait two days in between ranking and bid night. Bid night, I headed with my dorm floor girls (who graciously invited me to walk with them even though we were not great friends) to get our bids. See, they were extremely excited as all of them had suicided and knew they’d be getting. I definitely did not. I even wore a specific shoes that were a color of both groups.

We all gathered and were one by one handed our bids. We sat on them until everyone was there. I opened it. Didn’t hesitate. Signed it.
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  #9  
Old 07-07-2015, 12:00 AM
littlesquirrel littlesquirrel is offline
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Then I ran home to Marrakesh, which is Alpha Gamma Delta.
I went from “sure, recruitment!” to obsessed with Alpha Gam. I was on Exec Council for 2 years, lived in the house, and am now an advisor to two chapters.

By the way, my favorite Rho Gam is also an Alpha Gam. She serves on our Volunteer Service Team and was a great friend to me in college.

I felt like I wanted to post this to show how recruitment, even though it's crazy and stressful, can really help guide you to where you're meant to be.

I graduated and have been honest about my school on here. So the key is…
Pixie Blooms is Alpha Xi Delta
Ziggy Zinnia is Gamma Phi Beta
Lucky You is Phi Sigma Sigma
Sierra is our Local Sorority
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  #10  
Old 07-07-2015, 12:01 AM
littlesquirrel littlesquirrel is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thetalady View Post
I see a Marrakesh ending coming....
well... to be honest, Marrakesh IS my favorite pattern.
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  #11  
Old 07-07-2015, 10:44 AM
DeltaBetaBaby DeltaBetaBaby is offline
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I was wondering if at least one of these was a local, because some of the things you've described are seriously WTF? PNM's putting on a skit? NOPE.
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  #12  
Old 07-07-2015, 11:12 AM
littlesquirrel littlesquirrel is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby View Post
I was wondering if at least one of these was a local, because some of the things you've described are seriously WTF? PNM's putting on a skit? NOPE.
Just one is a local. I believe my recruitment was the last year that chapter did that at Philanthropy Day. Interestingly enough, you definitely saw a bigger return for them after they ended it.

After my recruitment, I would say the whole process itself became a lot more competitive. We have a semi-structured fall recruitment that was all in all a flop for all chapters and that was a wake up call for Greek life on campus.
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  #13  
Old 07-07-2015, 01:12 PM
Katmandu Katmandu is offline
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I am so glad this ended well for you. Congrats on a great organization!

I am glad also that things have changed on campus. Having PNMs put on a skit, and sitting in a circle and asking PNMs to tell embarrassing stories about themselves is just
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  #14  
Old 07-07-2015, 02:13 PM
littlesquirrel littlesquirrel is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Katmandu View Post
I am so glad this ended well for you. Congrats on a great organization!

I am glad also that things have changed on campus. Having PNMs put on a skit, and sitting in a circle and asking PNMs to tell embarrassing stories about themselves is just
Thank you! I love Alpha Gam so much. It has truly driven me to so many good opportunities and decisions.

Yes, I am glad too. I think the local sorority still does the same for recruitment, but it seems like all other chapters have been influenced (in a great way!) by the international/nationals.
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  #15  
Old 07-07-2015, 03:32 PM
jolene jolene is offline
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What school did you go to?
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