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Haha aw I love it! I am not from an area where there are Friendly's restaurants, though I have been lucky enough to make a few trips to them over the years, and I absolutely LOVE Friendly's! Sorry for the disappointment, though!
I'll begin my story now.
My first semester of college was tricky. I was living very far away from home and admittedly was having a lot of trouble adjusting to a new environment with very different types of people. I also found myself having a lot of trouble making friends with girls, which was unusual for me because I had spent my school years in a big group of close female friends. I was so excited to come back from winter break and start recruitment because I genuinely felt that joining a sorority was going to get my college life finally started and give me the niche I so desperately wanted.
It was snowing (there's a clue!) very heavily on the first day. A girl I had met earlier in the school year and I had very similar last names, so we were excited to find out that we were in the same rho chi group. She was pretty on the fence about the recruitment process, but I was incredibly enthusiastic about it, so we stuck together to balance each other out. Our school doesn't have sorority houses, so recruitment takes place off campus.
We visited all 9 chapters the first day for 15 minutes.
First up was Phoebe. I had heard a lot of girls talking about how fun this particular group was, but I didn't know anything else about them. I was shocked at how loud their door chant it, as I imagine most PNMs are the first time they hear a door chant. It was incredibly loud inside their room, and I felt awkward because I hadn't heard what the girl's name that was talking to me was. The room was decorated with their mascot, which happens to be my favorite animal, so that gave us something to talk about. Although I didn't know her name, I really liked the girl I talked to. She was absolutely beautiful and had such a warm smile. I knew I could see myself being friends with her. She was the only girl I talked to and after what felt like 3 minutes, the party was over. It was a great way to start the day.
Next was Monica. I was extremely nervous about this party. These girls had a reputation that attracted a lot of PNMs. They were extremely glamorous, and when I walked in I was pretty sure I had never seen so many drop-dead gorgeous girls in one room before. I was definitely feeling overwhelmed and extremely plain. I talked to three absurdly beautiful women, and as the conversations went on, I felt so much less nervous and a lot more at ease. The last girl I talked to was so sweet and it turned out we were from the same area and knew some of the same people. It was a great feeling, because I was really genuinely worried I wouldn't fit in at this chapter before this conversation. There was one girl there, however, that had previously dated my boyfriend at the time, and I knew that was slightly awkward. I saw her walk by and I was sure to smile, but I'm not sure if she saw. Anyway, I really enjoyed Monica and left feeling really good about the process thus far.
The next party was Mike. This is another chapter I hadn't heard much about before recruitment, so I was interested to see what was ahead. I talked to two different girls, but as much as I tried, I really struggled to hold a conversation with either of them. One girl talked to me about the summer camp she went to every year, but it was a religious camp, so I didn't really know what to say about it because I'm not religious. I nodded politely for most of the party, but I just couldn't come up with anything more to say. I complimented their color scheme, and I immediately felt awkward about that, but I genuinely didn't know what else to say! It was very nerve-wracking.
Last party before we had a lunch break was Ross. I had a lot of friends that were in Ross at other schools, so I felt like I knew quite a bit about their philanthropy, symbols, etc. I was definitely excited to meet them! They were one of the smaller chapters on campus, so I hadn't actually met anyone in their chapter before. The girls were extremely sweet that I talked to. I was so relieved to be seated for the first time all morning. We talked about art pretty extensively, which was interesting to hear about, but I'm not an artist, so I didn't feel I had much to contribute. Two girls came to talk to me at once and I found out they were big and little. They spent the rest of the conversation talking about the art school, and again, I nodded along politely. I felt pretty awkward when I left because I hadn't made any connections.
It was finally lunch time. I used the break to look at my notes on each chapter and reflect. I wasn't hopelessly in love with anyone yet, but I still had 5 parties to go, so I was pretty confident by the end of the day I would feel differently.
Next up was Gunther. I had heard good things about this chapter and was super excited to meet them. They seemed like a really classy group of ladies, most of them wearing pearls and high heels. There was a definite sense of mellowness and calm in the room, and I actually really enjoyed that. The pressure was off to make a good impression because I felt so comfortable. I found that a lot of the girls I talked to were dancers, and so was I, so we had plenty to talk about!
Chandler was another chapter I was excited to visit because they were brand new on campus. They had just finished their colonization in November, so their alpha class was very eclectic, which made for a lot of different and interesting conversations. I really liked the idea of being a member of the beta class, which they assured me would have a huge hand in shaping the chapter. The girl I talked to for most of the party talked about her boyfriend and academics the whole time, which was sort of an interesting contrast.I take school seriously, so I liked the academic talk, but the boyfriend thing seemed really inappropriate, so I felt kind of awkward because I knew we weren't supposed to talk about boys. I left a little unsure of this chapter.
Next was Joey. And I was really nervous! This was one of the biggest chapters on campus and one that the PNMs talked about a lot. I went in with the sort of attitude that if this is a chapter that can have their pick of girls, they wouldn't want me. But I put that negativity out of my head and walked in with a smile. The girl I talked to was so cute and funny. We had a great conversation and what I loved most was that she never left me! Other girls came in to join our conversation, but the first girl stayed with me the whole time, which made me feel so comfortable. I really liked her. I still remember how sweet her smile was, and all of my nerves truly melted away. I finally was getting those warm and fuzzy feelings you're supposed to get during recruitment. I was so happy there!
Next was Rachel. This group also had a great reputation on campus and were known for being very scholarly. The girls I met were so funny and cool. I was kind of juggling a sizable group of them at one point, but I felt so comfortable there that I didn't mind at all. We had no shortage of things to talk about and the conversation never ran dry. I just truly enjoyed getting to know them and they made me feel like I was already a part of their chapter. It was an amazing feeling and I was absolutely loving them. I knew I could see myself in this chapter for sure.
Last party of the day was Emma. The girls were super friendly and I had always heard they were a genuinely nice group of people. The president came over to me and introduced herself, which made me feel like I was very special. We talked about leadership in Greek life, and she seemed to like that I had so much interest in being a part of the panhellenic council at some point in my college career. We had a really great conversation and I was sad when the party ended because it felt far too short.
I went to make my selections for the day and felt pretty confident in what I was going to do. We could visit up to 7 chapters the next day. I ranked like this:
0. Rachel
0. Phoebe
0. Chandler
0. Monica
0. Joey
0. Emma
0. Gunther
1. Ross
2. Mike
Admittedly I had some favorites at this point. I loved Joey, Rachel, and Monica the most, but knew I would be so happy just to have a few good parties the next day!
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