My (retro) Recruitment Story!

[●upwardsparks●]

Originally Posted by LucyKKG

Wow, all of the kids' projects sounds really redundant.

It seemed redundant while I was writing it but when we were actually doing them it didn't seem that way because all of the crafts were so different from each other. It would help if I could elaborate and say what they all were but I don't know if any of them are GLO-specific or if each chapter nationwide does the same project and details would give them away.

[Leslie Anne]

Originally Posted by ●upwardsparks●

-Fleece: This was the new chapter on campus. Knew 1 member.
[I]

Originally Posted by ●upwardsparks●

Time for Round 3! [Sisterhood Round]

Next, and final, stop: Fleece. Their skit was about belonging and I had very positive feelings about it. They also had an INCREDIBLE slideshow of pictures from the time they were founded on campus to the present and I loved how happy all the girls looked together and how much they really loved each other and their sorority.

Wait, I'm confused. Did you switch a name or something? I thought Fleece was new on campus.

[angels&angles]

I'm guessing the chapter's a year or two old? So the slideshow is all about, say, their first year, and getting everything established? On some campuses, you're the "new" chapter for 10 years until someone else colonizes.

[●upwardsparks●]

No, I didn't switch names. I suppose I should have said they were the newest. They were less than 3 years old on that campus but they were already a chartered org, not a colony.

[Merci11]

I'm guessing when she said Fleece was new on campus she meant that the chapter was newer then the others. She said she knew one member, so maybe Fleece had colonized a year or two before she went through recruitment.

I've never experienced recruitment (from either side) when there was a colony, but don't colonies usually wait until after formal recruitment is done before they recruit? Or give a presentation during round 1 and then wait before they start their process? At least that's what I've picked-up from my friends' stories and gc.

[Leslie Anne]

Originally Posted by ●upwardsparks●

No, I didn't switch names. I suppose I should have said they were the newest. They were less than 3 years old on that campus but they were already a chartered org, not a colony.

Oh, okay. I get it. Sorry to interrupt the thread.
Please, continue!

[●upwardsparks●]

Sorry for the delay. I caught the cold/flu bug that's going around and I've been spending as much time in my bed as possible.


Round 4 [Preference]

I showed up to get my list of who I was invited back by and I was a little surprised that Shirt wasn't on it. I was okay with it since I still had Fleece to go to but I didn't like that my chances of joining a sorority had just been cut in half....
Fleece wasn't until the 2nd time block so I had a while to kill. Myself and anyone else with an empty block were sent to a lounge area to wait. We all discussed chapters we liked/didn't like, what we think we did right/wrong, tried to guess which chapters our Rho Chis were a part of, etc.....but it was still the looooongest 2 hour ever.

Finally it was time for our group to go get on the buses. We all got dropped off at our respective locations and waited till it was time for the ceremonies to start.
When we finally were let in to the room I was SO impressed with how beautifully decorated it was. It was simple and elegant and peaceful. The ceremony itself was also incredible. The active who stood behind me [she shall be called Jenna] during the whole thing (along with a bunch of the sisters) started to cry and the combo between that and the ceremony, I cried too. On one hand, I was glad that their ritual was touching to me, on the other hand, I felt like a weirdo for crying in the Pref ceremony cause most of the other PNMs weren't.... [[after reading other people's recruitment stories, I realize that's pretty typical]].
When the ceremony ended we were seated with the actives for refreshments/light snacks and we got to ask any last minute questions and make our final impressions on the girls. Jenna was my "host", she was refilling my drink & bringing me cookies, and we chatted the entire time even though it seemed that we were supposed to be switching off...we clicked well and she made me super comfortable. She made me sure that I wanted to be a Fleece. Her best friend, "Krista", hopped into the conversation and I liked her right off the bat too. We chatted for a few minutes and then the Rho Chis gave a 2 minute warning. I told Krista how much I liked Fleece and how I was now very nervous for the next day because I was nervous I wouldn't get a bid. She gave me an encouraging smile and said "nothing to worry about" and escorted me to the door. I definitely didn't want to leave that room. I liked them soooo much and if I wasn't offered a bid by them the next day I was going to be majorly bummed.....

[●upwardsparks●]

!!!!! BID DAY!!!!!

Nothing had been mentioned throughout the week that if you didn't get a bid on Bid Day, you would get a phone call earlier in the day so I was not waiting or dreading a phone call like most. I was oblivious to this concept. I'm pretty sure we were supposed to go to the Greek Office at 5pm or so and we were supposed to line up and wait to be individually called in to find out IF we got a bid and if so, which chapter it was from. So after hours and hours and hoooouuuuuuurrrrrssss [it's a painful wait, for anyone who hasn't had to experience it], I went to the Greek Office and saw that a significant line had already formed. More waiting.

Finally it was my turn...
I walked in the office, sat down, and was handed an envelope.
I opened it.......and closed it right away....and just burst into tears.....

The Greek Advisor anxiously asked "Good tears or bad tears?!" I gave him a thumbs up and he let out a big sigh of relief and handed me a pen to sign with.
Before he let me leave the room, he asked to see who my bid was from so I took it out of the envelope and showed him that I was extended a bid from the fabulous ladies of Fleece!!!!!

At my school, we don't do "The Running of the Girls" or whatever other schools call it.....Instead, when you leave the Greek Office, you go to the main area of the Student Union and wait with the girls who were already there. Then the Rho Chis come in and put everyone in order and we are escorted onto a stage 5 at a time. One of the faculty members acts as the announcer and, one-by-one, she says the name of the woman and which chapter she's now a member of and then the new member jumps into the crowd of sisters standing on the floor. I am mildly biased, but I prefer this method over running any day!

[ASTalumna06]

I think I might know who you are. I've been thinking the same thing since reading round 2. And assuming I knew who you were, because of what you said about Fleece during that round, I thought you might end up being a sister of that GLO.

But if I'm wrong about who you are, I somehow made a really amazing guess as to which sorority you joined

[●upwardsparks●]

OOPS!
Just realized I never posted who the chapters are!!!
It'll be up tonight!

[ASTalumna06]

Ahhh! I want to know who Fleece is! And whether or not my guess was just a really good (and random) one

[●upwardsparks●]

Because I was honest about my feelings toward "Jeans", I think it's best not to reveal them. I don't think that the actions/attitudes of this particular chapter should be reflected on the rest of the org because I have met "Jeans" from other shools and they are nothing like the "Jeans" from my campus. So I'll just leave it at that.

"Sweater" is the lovely ladies of Zeta Tau Alpha. This chapter is fabulous and like I said in my "Round 2" post, even though this wasn't the group for me, it's definitely a great place to call home for other women on my campus.

As far as "Hoodie" (who I also choose not to reveal) goes, as badly as I wanted them during recruitment, I'm so glad I didn't end up there. It turns out that they are nothing like they are during recruitment...and they have a low retention rate to show for it. During recruitment they are so classy and poised, and then the rest of the year, they are the exact opposite.

"Shirt"....I got quite a few PMs with guesses as to the identity of this group, and there were a lot of correct guesses. It is Delta Zeta. I am sure their colors have very beautiful and significant meaning to them but I have never liked pink and the only shades of green I like are the dark or earth-tone greens. I am now very close friends with a few of the DZ's and my "recruitment buddy" (she was in my Rho Chi group and we just kind of gravitated toward each other) is now the president of the chapter!!!

and last, but absolutely not least, "Fleece" is.............................









Theta Phi Alpha . I definitely found my home.


And now, a follow-up on people that were mentioned during the story.....

*"Zoey": We had a history class together the next semester and the first time I saw her after recruitment, I ran up to her and showed her my new letter bag and she was so happy for me but then she told me she disaffiliated shortly after recruitment. Still to this day I don't know what caused it, but since she was the only girl that I really connected with there, I was kind of relieved that I didn't choose her chapter and then have her quit.

*Even after my little slip-up with "Tanner", we have remained friends and laugh about it every once in a while.

*"Jenna": Ended up being my Pledge Sister Educator that quarter. I really admire her for her dedication to Theta Phi and I can't imagine having a better PSE. :-)

*"Krista": I got to know her during my pledge sister period and liked her so much that I put her as #1 for my choices for Big Sister... too bad she wasn't taking a little that quarter. She still teases me about how nervous I was about potentially not getting a bid.



That's it :-)
Thanks for reading my recruitment story, even if it is from a few years ago.

- ●upwardsparks● .....also known as TPA85.


ETA: While it's probably not hard to figure out who "Hoodie" and "Jeans" are thanks to the powers of Google, guess privately or PM me. I don't want the actual GLO's names posted on this thread in a negative light. Thanks!

[ASTalumna06]

Nope, completely wrong. But I somehow knew it would be Fleece

Congratulations to you and TPA... even though it was a while ago