My Colorful West Coast Recruitment Story

[TriDeltaSallie]

Wow.

[ChioLu]

Wow, indeed!
Can’t wait for chapter 2!

[sigmagirl2000]

sounds like you're grounded and open as you gave it a chance. can't wait to read the next installment!

[LuvMyPNM]

Ditto on the wow. Didn't see that coming.

[ChioLu]

Have you gone thru Recruitment at your new school yet or will that be this fall?

[SigmaCat]

Biting off my nails here! This is a thrilling read!

[Sister Havana]

Plot twist! Can't wait for Chapter 2!

[elle1776]

Originally Posted by ChioLu

Have you gone thru Recruitment at your new school yet or will that be this fall?

I’ve gone through recruitment at my new school already! this fall will be my first time as an active!

[GreekOne]

Originally Posted by elle1776

I’ve gone through recruitment at my new school already! this fall will be my first time as an active!

Can't wait to hear about the final part of your journey.

[elle1776]

Okay, here we go part two!! I was beginning my my new school and preparing myself for recruitment a little bit more than I had for the last year. My school is still on the West Coast but has a smaller Greek Life presence on campus compared to my last school. There are 9 NPC chapters and one associate chapter. However, one NPC chapter and the associate chapter don’t participate in formal recruitment. I got Letters of Rec for nearly all the chapters this time instead of just two. Eventhough most girls going through recruitment at my school didn’t know anything about sororities and I’m sure Letters of Rec are somewhat rare, I wanted to be extremely prepared this time around.

I had all of my outfits picked out and was ready to go. During 0 Week, I went to a Meet the Greeks/Activity Fair event and made sure to talk to girls at each chapter. This time I wasn’t going to focus on the “ranks/tiers” of the houses, but rather how I felt when I was in them and how they treated me. Focusing on other people’s opinions had hurt me the year before now I knew that this wasn’t the way to go.

With 8 Chapters, instead of using just colors I’ll use colorful fruits instead!

Watermelon
Strawberry
Grape
Green Apple
Coconut
Orange
Blueberry
Kiwi

DAY 1: OPEN HOUSE

I drove to school and met up with my Rho Chi group where the Greek Houses were. We were a super mixed group of freshman, sophomores, juniors, and even a senior or two. It was nice to have such a diverse group. The Panhellenic website had said that today everyone should dress casually and showed examples of jean shorts, jeans, tank tops etc., but I didn’t feel like that was appropriate so I wore a casual sundress with fancy sandals. I'm glad I dressed up a bit because I felt like it would've been better to be overdressed than under. With the actives wearing dresses and heels, a crop top and ripped jeans (what most girls were wearing) didn't feel like it would've made a good first impression

BLUEBERRY: My first house of the day was BLUEBERRY. I went in and was picked up by a sophomore who was super bubbly and asked me the usual first day questions like ‘what’s your major, and where are you from.’ She was really pretty and sweet. Another girl came over and was so outgoing that we were cracking up the entire time. I remember this house being so hot, because of the way their house faces it gets direct sunlight all day. Which is nice in some occasions, but with no air conditioning, we were all sweating during this party. The active I was talking to then led me out to their patio where they did a little song. They had remixed a current song with stuff about their sorority and I thought it was cute but a little cheesy at the same time haha.

GREEN APPLE: My group was then led over to our next house. I really liked how the outside of this house was designed and where it was located compared to the other houses. I was picked up at the door by one of their girls that they showcased a lot on their social media. She was on the cheer team and had a major similar to mine which made the conversation really flow. Another girl came over and we both had the same minor as well. She brought me over a water bottle with the paper wrapping being designed to say their sorority’s name. I thought it was really cute and I greatly appreciated how well they had done trying to match me up with girls they thought I would get along with.

Coconut: This house was known as being the struggling chapter on campus. They were super small and normally only got about a third of what quota would be for a new pledge class. I was picked up at the door by a junior and she grabbed the girl behind me as well. This other PNM was in my Rho Chi group and I had already gotten the feeling that she was a girl who would just say whatever was on her mind, no matter the context. This girl was so rude to the active and kept bringing up super inappropriate topics. I was shocked. I tried to ignore her and just talk politely with the active, even changing the subject a few times on my own away from what this girl was trying to talk about. I didn’t want the COCONUT girls to think I was rude like this girl was! Another girl came over and we chatted for a bit as a group of 4 before we were led out.

GRAPE: The next house was right next door to COCONUT so we didn’t have to walk far. I was picked up and led to their patio where the active I was talking to had the same major and was also a junior transfer from an area near me. We had a lot to talk about and the conversation went really well. However, when the next girl came over there were a couple of awkward pauses which made me feel like I had not had the best time there.

ORANGE: ORANGE was the next chapter that my group went to. I had a close friend who had gone to my community college in this sorority and she was super excited that I was going through recruitment. The active that grabbed me was so outgoing and nice, but there were sometimes where she came off as being a little to “tryhard-ish.” She was selling her chapter HARD and I felt like it was a little much for it just being the first day. My friend came over for a little bit to chat and say hello which I thought was really sweet. She was one of their sisterhood chairs and told the active I was talking to how awesome I was. Overall, when I left I could definitely picture myself in this chapter.

STRAWBERRY: I was a little nervous going to this house next, as it is known as one of the more competitive houses to get into. But I reminded myself not to feed into the stereotypes that each house had and to base it on how I felt coming out. I was picked up at the door by a super beautiful active who was extremely involved on campus. She made me feel at home right away and the short party flew by. Another active stopped by to say hello and chat briefly, but I only talked to that one active for the entire party. It made me a little nervous not to have been able to talk to more girls and I hoped I made a good impression because I really wanted to come back to this house the next day.

WATERMELON: At this point in the night I was so tired from such a long day. But when I left WATERMELON I felt renewed. A petite senior picked me up at the door and led me to their patio. It was finally cool outside and was a welcomed relief compared to the heat we had experienced during the day. She was from out of state and we didn’t have much in common on the surface but she was so kind and welcoming that we clicked right away. I talked to four more girls that party including, a sporty waterpolo player, a girl who was in a campus program I wanted to join, one of their seniors who (based off of social media) was really well respected in the chapter and who I had met at the Activities Fair, and their Recruitment Chair. It was a whirlwind of a party, but each one of them connected to me in a different way. I walked out absolutely loving this house.

KIWI: After having such a great time in WATERMELON I was hoping to have a great time in KIWI too but the conversations here felt flat. I honestly can’t even remember what I talked about in this house but I left not really wanting to return.

WOO! Day 1 was done! I walked back to where we would be ranking our houses and talked to my Rho Chi a bit before submitting

1. WATERMELON
1. STRAWBERRY
1. ORANGE
1. GREEN APPLE
1. BLUEBERRY
1. GRAPE
2. KIWI
3. COCONUT

[ChioLu]

I think I know which university this is, but know nothing about the chapters other than what’s on the internet/social media. Since we know that you have a happy conclusion (yay!), can’t wait to hear about your journey!

[FSUZeta]

You are so descriptive. I feel like I am there!

[sigmagirl2000]

please post more quickly if you can! I may be being totally selfish, but it's rough to go back and have to reread previous posts to figure out what was going on before reading newest installments. Are any of the chapters from previous school at new school?

[elle1776]

Originally Posted by sigmagirl2000

please post more quickly if you can! I may be being totally selfish, but it's rough to go back and have to reread previous posts to figure out what was going on before reading newest installments. Are any of the chapters from previous school at new school?

I'm so sorry! I'll finish it up by this weekend and post a double thread today! And yes all of the chapters, except for COCONUT, had been at my old school!

[elle1776]

DAY 2: Philanthropy

I woke up bright and early this day, super excited to see what my invites back would be! Today was philanthropy day and the suggested dress code was Business Casual. Panhellenic recommended wearing pants, a blazer, and maybe flats or small heels but that wasn’t really my style (plus it was probably 90+ degrees outside). I had bought a long sundress over the summer that I thought would be perfect but I was worried about straying too far from the dress code. My mom gave me some great advice, saying, “Would you want to be in a chapter that cuts you just for dressing in your style and what you feel comfortable in?” and so I wore the dress. I was glad I did too because a lot of girls decided to ignore the blazer suggestion and dress a little more fun instead.

I walked over to my Rho Chi and was handed my schedule…

BLUEBERRY
WATERMELON
GREEN APPLE
ORANGE
STRAWBERRY
GRAPE

I was so happy that I got my top 6 back!!! I couldn’t wait to meet more actives and learn about their philanthropies! All of the chapters I was returning to today were also at my last school but I wasn’t super familiar with all of them so I was ready to see more!

BLUEBERRY: Once again my first house of the day was BLUEBERRY. I was picked up at the front door by an active that had such amazing eyes. She was so pretty and we sat out on their patio to talk. It was super hot again at their house. Being out on the patio in the sun, I was dripping sweat trying while trying to keep a good conversation haha. We talked about where we had travelled that summer before another girl came over and grabbed me, leading me to a table where they had little philanthropy set up and a craft to complete. They had little felt squares that we would draw on with markers and they said they were going to sew them together and make a quite to donate. I knew that the type fabric they had wouldn’t have been able to make a quilt so it felt like a bit of a white lie to me. Either way, the girls I talked to were sweet and I had a pretty good time here.

WATERMELON: I was a little nervous going into this house for the second day because I had such a good time the day before. We were all led in and placed in a semi-circle in the house. Before any actives came to pick us up, the president said that they had a speech and a video to show us. The video was from their national offices and seemed a little outdated but was still quite heartwarming to see what the chapter was involved in not only at this school, but what this sorority worked on throughout the country. After the video, an active stood up and gave a sweet speech about a philanthropy event that they had the year prior and how being there and working with their group really showed that they were making a difference. She was extremely poised and I knew that she had been a junior transfer which showed to me that even older PNMs had the chance to make a difference and get involved in this sorority. After the speech an active grabbed me from the semi-circle and we walked around the downstairs as she showed me the different tables they had set up for each of their events. However, when another active came over our conversation felt a little forced. She had a somewhat sarcastic personality but it came off as a little too sassy, so I didn’t really like her too much.

GREEN APPLE: I then headed over to GREEN APPLE and talked to some amazing women. I don’t remember exactly what we talked about during this party but I remember that the actives were so welcoming and I felt pretty at home here. They showed me around the living room again with tables of their events they had throughout the year. My active then sat me down and another active gave a speech about how she had been affected by this cause personally and because of her chapter and the philanthropy work she had done, that it had changed her life. It was a super personal speech, and could’ve been considered “risky” considering how it was only day 2, but I thought she was really brave to be so open and her sisters really seemed to be there for her.

ORANGE: GREEN APPLE’s party had run a little bit late so I ran to ORANGE and made it just as they were calling the final lineup. Feeling a little flustered from running all the way there, I quickly caught my breath before I walked in. They started off their party with another video and it was a tearjerker. Having a cousin that was supported by this philanthropy, it hit super close to home and I held back some tears. The active I was paired with talked about their events and showed me their tables again and my friend came by to say hello. Overall it was a really successful party and I definitely wanted to come back.

STRAWBERRY: STRAWBERRY was next and I was grabbed by an out of state active who told me all about their event and how much money they had raised the past year. It was really impressive and a really cool philanthropy. The girl I had talked to the other day came over to say hi, as well as their recruitment chair. I was then taken out to their patio and two girls talked to me about a philanthropy event the school put on annually that they had both been a part of. It was definitely something I was super interested in and so the conversations went really well.

GRAPE: Last party of the day and I was so exhausted. This house didn’t show their philanthropy and what they did as well as I thought they would have and the girls seemed a little uninterested (they were probably just tired like me) in the conversations. I kept trying to keep the convo going but they kept falling flat. I found myself at one point holding back a yawn as to not be rude while the active struggled to find something else to talk about.

I left GRAPE and headed over to rank my houses again. I was pretty sure about what I wanted to rank but I wasn’t too sure about where I wanted to put GREEN APPLE and BLUEBERRY. I had good conversations in both and knew that I would be happy to return to either. BLUEBERRY was considered the more “prestigious” chapter of the two, but I thought about their philanthropies’ and how the sisters had seemed to act with each other, and ultimately decided that I had enjoyed GREEN APPLE more. Their speech had been really moving for me and I thought about how much I had liked it there the first day. So I ranked…

1. STRAWBERRY
1. WATERMELON
1. ORANGE
1. GREEN APPLE
2. BLUEBERRY
3. GRAPE