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  #1  
Old 08-09-2011, 11:01 PM
crosscaravan crosscaravan is offline
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Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Southwestern US
Posts: 63
Looking Back a Year - My Recruitment Story

My school is a mid-sized campus with six NPC chapters. Recruitment begins about a week after classes do, both to give PNMs the chance to settle into their classes and see how busy they'll be, and to give Panhellenic the chance to get people to sign up. Compared to larger schools, we do not have a very competitive or a very dressy recruitment. The majority of PNMs coming through are not legacies, either because none of their family has been Greek or because none of their family has been to college - the legacies we do get are usually the younger sisters of current members, though we do occasionally get legacies from chapters in other states. Recs are not strictly required, but they do help to give a PNM an edge over the others. At the time that recruitment takes place, it's usually stupidly hot out but, thankfully, not terrifyingly humid. While Greek Life is not as prominent as it would be in, say, SEC schools, Greeks do have something of a "presence" on campus - I'm not really sure exactly how to describe it, but there you have it.

To preserve anonymity - since my recruitment happened during the 2010-2011 school year, and the chapters are still here on campus and only a handful of girls have graduated from each - the names of people appearing in this story have been changed, and I will be naming the chapters after places I hope to visit someday.

Andorra
Hong Kong
Malta
New Zealand
Seychelles
Sri Lanka

I don't plan on revealing the full code at the end, and I apologize in advance for that. If you think you know which campus I'm talking about, please just PM me and I'll be glad to confirm your suspicions privately.

Also, I don't have this written out in its entirety just yet - I'm writing it post-by-post and looking back on my recruitment booklet and emails I sent to my family while I was going through to refresh my memory. I'll try to get it all up ASAP and I hope to post once or twice a day, so you shouldn't be waiting too long. But, this school year is about to begin and I sometimes find myself getting carried away with work and last-minute class prep, so if I miss a day or two, I am very sorry in advance and I'll post as soon as I can.

And one more thing - if any of you with more experience notices things that I or other PNMs did that were either good or bad, please point them out so that anyone reading can learn from these experiences. Thank you very much!
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  #2  
Old 08-09-2011, 11:49 PM
crosscaravan crosscaravan is offline
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Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Southwestern US
Posts: 63
If I said that I'd known all my life that I would go Greek, I would be lying. In fact, I didn't even think about Greek life until my first semester of my freshman year, when I passed a table on my way to class and a girl waved me over to ask if I'd thought about sorority life at all. Call me stupid, but I hadn't. She was really nice and answered my questions, helped me fill out my recruitment registration sheet, and sent me on my way with a booklet of information.

I didn't really give what I signed up for much thought until later that night, when I was back in my room and my roommate Alison and I were settling down to watch a movie. She noticed the booklet peeking out of my bag and asked what it was. I brought it out and told her, and she made a face - sort of an "Oh, you too?" kind of thing. A high school friend of hers had registered for recruitment earlier in the week and was trying to get her to do it along with her, but she wasn't interested. She said she hadn't pegged me as someone interested in sororities and said that she hoped I wouldn't go all "Greek-crazy" during recruitment week. We watched the movie, but I'd seen it before and was only half paying attention - I kept flipping through the recruitment booklet to read up on the chapters. Oh, there were dress codes for each of the days, too... I felt glad that I'd brought more than just jeans and T-shirts along with me.

Fast forward to orientation.

There were so many girls. I mean, I knew Greek life was present on campus - after signing up, I'd noticed a lot of girls wearing Greek letter shirts or carrying totes with letters on them (I'd taken astronomy in high school, and our teacher had us memorize the Greek alphabet because of naming conventions). But I hadn't realized that there were quite so many people who were interested.

I was like, "Oh my gosh, there has to be hundreds of us, how are we going to find where we fit in at just six places???" Silly me!

Our orientation was sort of a mini-introduction to Greek Life and an overview of each chapter; it sort of felt like a lot of what was covered, was what had been in our recruitment booklets. They went over the dress codes for each round, too, with a different girl coming up onstage in what would be considered acceptable for each party. Then they introduced our recruitment counselors - they called them something different at my school, but I usually see them called Rho Chis here, so I'll just go with that to make it easier to remember.

There were four rounds: Open House, when you could visit every chapter; Heritage, when you could visit up to five chapters; Philanthropy, when you could visit up to four chapters; and Preference, when you could visit up to two. Bid Day was the day after Preference, but because of classes, the ceremonies weren't going to be starting until evening.

Then, each of the Rho Chis called out groups of girls. These were going to be our recruitment groups, though we were cautioned that as time went on our schedules weren't going to match up perfectly. Mine was a group of nine other girls, plus me - ten in total, eleven if you counted Mandy, our Rho Chi. We introduced ourselves, talked about our hopes for recruitment, and listened to Mandy as she explained that while we were looking to find a chapter full of girls that would become our sisters, the girls we were doing this with could also be our sisters as well, so we should try to get along and support each other. She was probably required by Panhellenic to say it, but I think it's a good sentiment nonetheless.

A couple of the girls in my Rho Chi group tried to guess which chapter Mandy was from. Her answer to everything was "Maybe!" - no hesitation or any other verbal or visual cues. After that, we exchanged phone numbers, decided on where we'd meet Mandy the next day, and hung out for about an hour before a passing professor reminded us that we had homework that needed doing.

I'm not sure how much sleep the others got that night, but I know I had trouble falling asleep - Alison finally threw a pillow across the room at me and said she'd be investing in a pair of earplugs, if I remember correctly. Her snores were a lot louder than my tossing and turning, but I tried to stay quiet until I finally drifted off to sleep.

Ready or not, recruitment, here I come...
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  #3  
Old 08-10-2011, 09:24 PM
crosscaravan crosscaravan is offline
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Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Southwestern US
Posts: 63
We were due to meet Mandy at 11:00 that morning, a Saturday, and though I'd had trouble falling asleep the night before, I found myself awake just a little after 9:30. Alison was not there. I guessed she was out to find that pair of earplugs she was talking about or something, I dunno. It was nice to have the room to myself as I was getting ready, but I was a little worried because I didn't have anyone to bounce my outfit ideas off of.

I finally settled on a purple, white, and black top with cut-out sleeves (not identical to these sleeves, 'cause they were a bit shorter, but this is kind of what I'm talking about as far as sleeves go), paired with denim shorts similar to ones that had been worn by Rho Chis during orientation and black sandals. I straightened my hair and left it hanging down my back, and once it was time to go I headed out to meet Mandy and the rest of my Rho Chi group.

When we all arrived, Mandy explained the process: We'd have about 25 minutes at each party to get to know the girls, we'd have to arrive at each house early, we couldn't bring our purses or cell phones in, there'd be water and stuff outside so that nobody passed out, if we needed to use the bathroom we should do it before going into a party. It all made sense. I mean, why would you want to bring stuff in that could distract you when you're trying to get to know the people you're talking to? ...that's what I thought, anyway. Some of the other girls seemed a little miffed, but they ended up having to accept it and left their stuff outside with the Rho Chis once we arrived at our first house, with a few of the other groups.

Hong Kong - Even though we'd talked about what would happen on the visits, I was not prepared for the clapping girls when the doors opened and we were brought inside. It was so loud! But the girls had so much energy that it wasn't really possible not to feel swept up in the excitement. I was smiling as I met Maria, the girl who was going to be showing me around. She was about my size, but had darker coloring and her outfit was just too cute. She was wearing an adorable necklace which I found out later was one of her chapter's symbols, and we talked about it for a minute before moving on to why we'd come here for school, what we were studying, and stuff like that. As we talked, she started showing me the pictures that were hanging up in her house's hall. We wound up in the living room, and she sat me down on one of the couches with another active and PNM. They'd been talking about movies, and the other active, Jamie, asked what the last movie I'd seen was. Alison had begged me to see Vampires Suck with her not too long before, and I wasn't thinking when I answered - but I wish I had! Jamie looked shocked for a minute before she was like "Oh, I really liked Twilight." Awkward... I couldn't figure out how to say I didn't hate Twilight, that I'd only gone because my roommate hadn't wanted to see the movie alone, but... everything I thought of sounded like backpedaling. We changed the subject and talked about music instead, and it turns out all four of us liked some of the same bands. The whole time, though, I was really scared I'd slip up and accidentally insult someone's tastes again... The conversation flowed more easily between Maria and me than it did between Jamie and me. I was a little disappointed that I'd messed up so quickly, but when it was time to go, I was determined to not do the same thing at the next house I visited. The actives sang to us as we left and we headed over to our next party.

Seychelles - After the last party, I was super-scared that I'd end up saying something bad again, but I wanted to try really hard to make a good impression. There were a lot of girls in my group who really, really wanted to pledge here, and it was easy to see why when we entered their home. The girls were so bright and energetic - it was obviously a strong chapter, and they all seemed really happy to see us. It felt like there were more actives than PNMs, that's for sure. A girl named Tiffany came up and introduced herself to me, and started showing me around the house, which was... well, gorgeous. There's really not any other way of describing it. Not too long into our conversation - about majors, classes, professors - one of her sisters, Megan, came up and introduced herself as well, and after the three of us talked for a little bit Tiffany left to go talk to other PNMs. Megan and I ended up talking about the Pretty Little Liars books; midway through that conversation, another sister, named Vanessa, joined in and after Megan left, the conversation shifted to movies (I didn't mention Vampires Suck, this time!) and she talked about how she and her sisters watched movies together a lot. From there the conversation turned to their sisterhood and the things they did together on campus, which I found really interesting. While we were talking about some of their events, we were told that it was time to go, and both of us had lost track of time so we were like, "Oh!" I left the house feeling much better. I thought that had gone well, and I hoped the next party would go just as well, if not better.

Malta - This was another strong chapter, and I think they had just as many, if not more, members than Seychelles. They were chanting, but their claps were a lot less frequent, so that was a nice change of pace. This time, the first girl I met was named Brooke, and she was just so cute - she was the definition of petite, but she was so enthusiastic about everything and talked with her hands and just had so much energy. We talked about where we came from, majors, what we did in high school - I mentioned playing volleyball, and she said she had been on her chapter's intramural team the year before. Turns out, Brooke and I play the same role whenever we play - we're the ones who chase after the balls and dive for them even when it looks like it's out of our reach. We giggled over the various "battle scars" we'd ended up with, and then one of her sisters came to join us. Sophia hadn't played intramural volleyball, but she did play racquetball with a group of sisters every weekend. I was really impressed by how much time it seemed like the girls were spending together. Brooke, Sophia, and I ended up talking about sports for awhile, and somehow were on the topic of riding bikes (Sophia and I couldn't to save our lives; Brooke biked everywhere) when it was time to go. I was smiling as I left - the first party hadn't been anything that was going to set the tone for the day. I was having fun.

New Zealand - This was the newest chapter on campus and they were unhoused, but according to the more "worldly" PNMs - the ones who claimed they knew everything about Greek Life - they were very strong and were "the next Seychelles." I didn't know about that, but I figured it'd be interesting to see what these girls were like. I was under the impression that the girls at the other houses had been so close because they lived with each other, but obviously housing was not everything because New Zealand was doing great. My first impression of them? "Oh my god, I love these girls." If I hadn't known better, I'd have thought they'd all grown up together - they all seemed to know each other so well. The room we were meeting them in was a little crowded, but they thoughtfully provided ice water for us indoors. The first girl I talked to was named Michelle, and while we didn't have much in common, majors and classes carried us well until one of her sisters bumped in. The other girl was named Sara and we talked a lot more - about their projects around campus, their symbols, the things they did together, and we were just getting on the subject of theme parks when we were told that, once again, it was time to go. This seemed to be becoming a theme - right when we'd start getting into a conversation, we had to leave! Well... we only had 25 minutes, so I guess it was to be expected. They sang to us as we left. Four down, two to go!

Sri Lanka - I hadn't heard much about this chapter from the other PNMs, but as we were walking over a girl in my group, Chloe, started talking about how she was a double legacy here because her mom and sister had been Sri Lankas on another campus and how she was a shoo-in. Another girl, Macy, asked about it... and was like "Dude, that doesn't count!" when Chloe let it slip that her mom had depledged before initiation and that her sister was still in the new member period at her campus. They were sort of bickering about it until it was time to go inside. There wasn't chanting and clapping at this chapter - instead, the members were singing as they walked us in. I remember thinking it was really cute but being surprised about it - after four parties I was starting to think chants and claps were the norm! Once again, our conversations started out with our majors, our classes, and stuff like that. One of the PNMs, Naomi, had the same major as me, and one of the actives had taken a class with one of the same teachers we'd both had. However, the subject soon changed to magazines, jewelry - since both actives were wearing interesting necklaces, and Naomi and I had complimented them - and things we did in our spare time. When we both got bumped, our new actives took us off on our own. Mine was named Rachel and we ended up talking about our favorite things to do. I love baking, so I ended up talking about that, and she seemed sort of interested but not especially impressed. The subject got changed to TV shows, which I didn't know much about, but we were able to make small talk until, once again, it was time to go. Maybe it was just because the houses I'd visited right before this one hadn't really made me struggle to keep talking, but I was feeling kind of iffy about this chapter. But I tried not to dwell on it. Now there was just one more left to visit...

Andorra - These girls were clapping, but they were also singing - it was sort of a cross between what I'd seen at Sri Lanka and the other chapters. While it wasn't as loud and out-there as some of the other chapters, it still had a very powerful effect. We were paired up with actives as we walked in and were shown around the house, which made it easier for the conversation to flow - there were a lot of interesting trinkets up that were serving as decorations, and whenever I'd ask about them it seemed like the girl I was talking to had an amazing story about how it meant something to the chapter. They had a lot of pictures out, even of girls who had graduated in the last few years, and I heard a lot of stories about how they kept in touch with everyone. I think one of the girls I talked to, Willow, said it best, when she was talking about how Andorra had provided her with a sisterhood that was going to last a lifetime. From there, we talked about so many different things - Willow and I clicked really well and I had a great time, and we never seemed to run out of things to talk about. The time passed way too quickly. When it was time to go, I was really sad to have to leave.

Now that our last party of the day had finished, it was time to go and rank our choices. Since we'd be able to visit five chapters the next day, what we were really doing was listing our top five chapters in no particular order, and listing the one chapter we wouldn't mind not returning to if we were invited back to all six. Our Rho Chi was careful to remind us that it didn't mean we were cutting them, though - it was just ranking. With that in mind, I stared down at my card and considered my choices. Finally, I ranked the chapters the following way:

Andorra
Malta
Seychelles
New Zealand
Hong Kong
Sri Lanka

I handed in my card and left to go back to my room. When I got back, Alison was there. She asked how I'd liked the chapters, and I said they were nice and that I'd had a good time. She seemed unimpressed, and immediately changed the subject to a movie she'd rented that she wanted to watch. I said I'd watch it with her as soon as I called my mom and let her know how the first day had gone.

So far, so good. I'd enjoyed myself and was looking forward to what was in store the next day.
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  #4  
Old 08-10-2011, 09:38 PM
ree-Xi ree-Xi is offline
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: State of Imagination
Posts: 3,400
Quote:
Originally Posted by crosscaravan View Post
My school is a mid-sized campus with six NPC chapters. Recruitment begins about a week after classes do, both to give PNMs the chance to settle into their classes and see how busy they'll be, and to give Panhellenic the chance to get people to sign up. Compared to larger schools, we do not have a very competitive or a very dressy recruitment. The majority of PNMs coming through are not legacies, either because none of their family has been Greek or because none of their family has been to college - the legacies we do get are usually the younger sisters of current members, though we do occasionally get legacies from chapters in other states. Recs are not strictly required, but they do help to give a PNM an edge over the others. At the time that recruitment takes place, it's usually stupidly hot out but, thankfully, not terrifyingly humid. While Greek Life is not as prominent as it would be in, say, SEC schools, Greeks do have something of a "presence" on campus - I'm not really sure exactly how to describe it, but there you have it.

To preserve anonymity - since my recruitment happened during the 2010-2011 school year, and the chapters are still here on campus and only a handful of girls have graduated from each - the names of people appearing in this story have been changed, and I will be naming the chapters after places I hope to visit someday.

Andorra
Hong Kong
Malta
New Zealand
Seychelles
Sri Lanka

I don't plan on revealing the full code at the end, and I apologize in advance for that. If you think you know which campus I'm talking about, please just PM me and I'll be glad to confirm your suspicions privately.

Also, I don't have this written out in its entirety just yet - I'm writing it post-by-post and looking back on my recruitment booklet and emails I sent to my family while I was going through to refresh my memory. I'll try to get it all up ASAP and I hope to post once or twice a day, so you shouldn't be waiting too long. But, this school year is about to begin and I sometimes find myself getting carried away with work and last-minute class prep, so if I miss a day or two, I am very sorry in advance and I'll post as soon as I can.

And one more thing - if any of you with more experience notices things that I or other PNMs did that were either good or bad, please point them out so that anyone reading can learn from these experiences. Thank you very much!
Quote:
Originally Posted by crosscaravan View Post
If I said that I'd known all my life that I would go Greek, I would be lying. In fact, I didn't even think about Greek life until my first semester of my freshman year, when I passed a table on my way to class and a girl waved me over to ask if I'd thought about sorority life at all. Call me stupid, but I hadn't. She was really nice and answered my questions, helped me fill out my recruitment registration sheet, and sent me on my way with a booklet of information.

I didn't really give what I signed up for much thought until later that night, when I was back in my room and my roommate Alison and I were settling down to watch a movie. She noticed the booklet peeking out of my bag and asked what it was. I brought it out and told her, and she made a face - sort of an "Oh, you too?" kind of thing. A high school friend of hers had registered for recruitment earlier in the week and was trying to get her to do it along with her, but she wasn't interested. She said she hadn't pegged me as someone interested in sororities and said that she hoped I wouldn't go all "Greek-crazy" during recruitment week. We watched the movie, but I'd seen it before and was only half paying attention - I kept flipping through the recruitment booklet to read up on the chapters. Oh, there were dress codes for each of the days, too... I felt glad that I'd brought more than just jeans and T-shirts along with me.

Fast forward to orientation.

There were so many girls. I mean, I knew Greek life was present on campus - after signing up, I'd noticed a lot of girls wearing Greek letter shirts or carrying totes with letters on them (I'd taken astronomy in high school, and our teacher had us memorize the Greek alphabet because of naming conventions). But I hadn't realized that there were quite so many people who were interested.

I was like, "Oh my gosh, there has to be hundreds of us, how are we going to find where we fit in at just six places???" Silly me!

Our orientation was sort of a mini-introduction to Greek Life and an overview of each chapter; it sort of felt like a lot of what was covered, was what had been in our recruitment booklets. They went over the dress codes for each round, too, with a different girl coming up onstage in what would be considered acceptable for each party. Then they introduced our recruitment counselors - they called them something different at my school, but I usually see them called Rho Chis here, so I'll just go with that to make it easier to remember.

There were four rounds: Open House, when you could visit every chapter; Heritage, when you could visit up to five chapters; Philanthropy, when you could visit up to four chapters; and Preference, when you could visit up to two. Bid Day was the day after Preference, but because of classes, the ceremonies weren't going to be starting until evening.

Then, each of the Rho Chis called out groups of girls. These were going to be our recruitment groups, though we were cautioned that as time went on our schedules weren't going to match up perfectly. Mine was a group of nine other girls, plus me - ten in total, eleven if you counted Mandy, our Rho Chi. We introduced ourselves, talked about our hopes for recruitment, and listened to Mandy as she explained that while we were looking to find a chapter full of girls that would become our sisters, the girls we were doing this with could also be our sisters as well, so we should try to get along and support each other. She was probably required by Panhellenic to say it, but I think it's a good sentiment nonetheless.

A couple of the girls in my Rho Chi group tried to guess which chapter Mandy was from. Her answer to everything was "Maybe!" - no hesitation or any other verbal or visual cues. After that, we exchanged phone numbers, decided on where we'd meet Mandy the next day, and hung out for about an hour before a passing professor reminded us that we had homework that needed doing.

I'm not sure how much sleep the others got that night, but I know I had trouble falling asleep - Alison finally threw a pillow across the room at me and said she'd be investing in a pair of earplugs, if I remember correctly. Her snores were a lot louder than my tossing and turning, but I tried to stay quiet until I finally drifted off to sleep.

Ready or not, recruitment, here I come...
Quote:
Originally Posted by crosscaravan View Post
We were due to meet Mandy at 11:00 that morning, a Saturday, and though I'd had trouble falling asleep the night before, I found myself awake just a little after 9:30. Alison was not there. I guessed she was out to find that pair of earplugs she was talking about or something, I dunno. It was nice to have the room to myself as I was getting ready, but I was a little worried because I didn't have anyone to bounce my outfit ideas off of.

I finally settled on a purple, white, and black top with cut-out sleeves (not identical to these sleeves, 'cause they were a bit shorter, but this is kind of what I'm talking about as far as sleeves go), paired with denim shorts similar to ones that had been worn by Rho Chis during orientation and black sandals. I straightened my hair and left it hanging down my back, and once it was time to go I headed out to meet Mandy and the rest of my Rho Chi group.

When we all arrived, Mandy explained the process: We'd have about 25 minutes at each party to get to know the girls, we'd have to arrive at each house early, we couldn't bring our purses or cell phones in, there'd be water and stuff outside so that nobody passed out, if we needed to use the bathroom we should do it before going into a party. It all made sense. I mean, why would you want to bring stuff in that could distract you when you're trying to get to know the people you're talking to? ...that's what I thought, anyway. Some of the other girls seemed a little miffed, but they ended up having to accept it and left their stuff outside with the Rho Chis once we arrived at our first house, with a few of the other groups.

Hong Kong - Even though we'd talked about what would happen on the visits, I was not prepared for the clapping girls when the doors opened and we were brought inside. It was so loud! But the girls had so much energy that it wasn't really possible not to feel swept up in the excitement. I was smiling as I met Maria, the girl who was going to be showing me around. She was about my size, but had darker coloring and her outfit was just too cute. She was wearing an adorable necklace which I found out later was one of her chapter's symbols, and we talked about it for a minute before moving on to why we'd come here for school, what we were studying, and stuff like that. As we talked, she started showing me the pictures that were hanging up in her house's hall. We wound up in the living room, and she sat me down on one of the couches with another active and PNM. They'd been talking about movies, and the other active, Jamie, asked what the last movie I'd seen was. Alison had begged me to see Vampires Suck with her not too long before, and I wasn't thinking when I answered - but I wish I had! Jamie looked shocked for a minute before she was like "Oh, I really liked Twilight." Awkward... I couldn't figure out how to say I didn't hate Twilight, that I'd only gone because my roommate hadn't wanted to see the movie alone, but... everything I thought of sounded like backpedaling. We changed the subject and talked about music instead, and it turns out all four of us liked some of the same bands. The whole time, though, I was really scared I'd slip up and accidentally insult someone's tastes again... The conversation flowed more easily between Maria and me than it did between Jamie and me. I was a little disappointed that I'd messed up so quickly, but when it was time to go, I was determined to not do the same thing at the next house I visited. The actives sang to us as we left and we headed over to our next party.

Seychelles - After the last party, I was super-scared that I'd end up saying something bad again, but I wanted to try really hard to make a good impression. There were a lot of girls in my group who really, really wanted to pledge here, and it was easy to see why when we entered their home. The girls were so bright and energetic - it was obviously a strong chapter, and they all seemed really happy to see us. It felt like there were more actives than PNMs, that's for sure. A girl named Tiffany came up and introduced herself to me, and started showing me around the house, which was... well, gorgeous. There's really not any other way of describing it. Not too long into our conversation - about majors, classes, professors - one of her sisters, Megan, came up and introduced herself as well, and after the three of us talked for a little bit Tiffany left to go talk to other PNMs. Megan and I ended up talking about the Pretty Little Liars books; midway through that conversation, another sister, named Vanessa, joined in and after Megan left, the conversation shifted to movies (I didn't mention Vampires Suck, this time!) and she talked about how she and her sisters watched movies together a lot. From there the conversation turned to their sisterhood and the things they did together on campus, which I found really interesting. While we were talking about some of their events, we were told that it was time to go, and both of us had lost track of time so we were like, "Oh!" I left the house feeling much better. I thought that had gone well, and I hoped the next party would go just as well, if not better.

Malta - This was another strong chapter, and I think they had just as many, if not more, members than Seychelles. They were chanting, but their claps were a lot less frequent, so that was a nice change of pace. This time, the first girl I met was named Brooke, and she was just so cute - she was the definition of petite, but she was so enthusiastic about everything and talked with her hands and just had so much energy. We talked about where we came from, majors, what we did in high school - I mentioned playing volleyball, and she said she had been on her chapter's intramural team the year before. Turns out, Brooke and I play the same role whenever we play - we're the ones who chase after the balls and dive for them even when it looks like it's out of our reach. We giggled over the various "battle scars" we'd ended up with, and then one of her sisters came to join us. Sophia hadn't played intramural volleyball, but she did play racquetball with a group of sisters every weekend. I was really impressed by how much time it seemed like the girls were spending together. Brooke, Sophia, and I ended up talking about sports for awhile, and somehow were on the topic of riding bikes (Sophia and I couldn't to save our lives; Brooke biked everywhere) when it was time to go. I was smiling as I left - the first party hadn't been anything that was going to set the tone for the day. I was having fun.

New Zealand - This was the newest chapter on campus and they were unhoused, but according to the more "worldly" PNMs - the ones who claimed they knew everything about Greek Life - they were very strong and were "the next Seychelles." I didn't know about that, but I figured it'd be interesting to see what these girls were like. I was under the impression that the girls at the other houses had been so close because they lived with each other, but obviously housing was not everything because New Zealand was doing great. My first impression of them? "Oh my god, I love these girls." If I hadn't known better, I'd have thought they'd all grown up together - they all seemed to know each other so well. The room we were meeting them in was a little crowded, but they thoughtfully provided ice water for us indoors. The first girl I talked to was named Michelle, and while we didn't have much in common, majors and classes carried us well until one of her sisters bumped in. The other girl was named Sara and we talked a lot more - about their projects around campus, their symbols, the things they did together, and we were just getting on the subject of theme parks when we were told that, once again, it was time to go. This seemed to be becoming a theme - right when we'd start getting into a conversation, we had to leave! Well... we only had 25 minutes, so I guess it was to be expected. They sang to us as we left. Four down, two to go!

Sri Lanka - I hadn't heard much about this chapter from the other PNMs, but as we were walking over a girl in my group, Chloe, started talking about how she was a double legacy here because her mom and sister had been Sri Lankas on another campus and how she was a shoo-in. Another girl, Macy, asked about it... and was like "Dude, that doesn't count!" when Chloe let it slip that her mom had depledged before initiation and that her sister was still in the new member period at her campus. They were sort of bickering about it until it was time to go inside. There wasn't chanting and clapping at this chapter - instead, the members were singing as they walked us in. I remember thinking it was really cute but being surprised about it - after four parties I was starting to think chants and claps were the norm! Once again, our conversations started out with our majors, our classes, and stuff like that. One of the PNMs, Naomi, had the same major as me, and one of the actives had taken a class with one of the same teachers we'd both had. However, the subject soon changed to magazines, jewelry - since both actives were wearing interesting necklaces, and Naomi and I had complimented them - and things we did in our spare time. When we both got bumped, our new actives took us off on our own. Mine was named Rachel and we ended up talking about our favorite things to do. I love baking, so I ended up talking about that, and she seemed sort of interested but not especially impressed. The subject got changed to TV shows, which I didn't know much about, but we were able to make small talk until, once again, it was time to go. Maybe it was just because the houses I'd visited right before this one hadn't really made me struggle to keep talking, but I was feeling kind of iffy about this chapter. But I tried not to dwell on it. Now there was just one more left to visit...

Andorra - These girls were clapping, but they were also singing - it was sort of a cross between what I'd seen at Sri Lanka and the other chapters. While it wasn't as loud and out-there as some of the other chapters, it still had a very powerful effect. We were paired up with actives as we walked in and were shown around the house, which made it easier for the conversation to flow - there were a lot of interesting trinkets up that were serving as decorations, and whenever I'd ask about them it seemed like the girl I was talking to had an amazing story about how it meant something to the chapter. They had a lot of pictures out, even of girls who had graduated in the last few years, and I heard a lot of stories about how they kept in touch with everyone. I think one of the girls I talked to, Willow, said it best, when she was talking about how Andorra had provided her with a sisterhood that was going to last a lifetime. From there, we talked about so many different things - Willow and I clicked really well and I had a great time, and we never seemed to run out of things to talk about. The time passed way too quickly. When it was time to go, I was really sad to have to leave.

Now that our last party of the day had finished, it was time to go and rank our choices. Since we'd be able to visit five chapters the next day, what we were really doing was listing our top five chapters in no particular order, and listing the one chapter we wouldn't mind not returning to if we were invited back to all six. Our Rho Chi was careful to remind us that it didn't mean we were cutting them, though - it was just ranking. With that in mind, I stared down at my card and considered my choices. Finally, I ranked the chapters the following way:

Andorra
Malta
Seychelles
New Zealand
Hong Kong
Sri Lanka

I handed in my card and left to go back to my room. When I got back, Alison was there. She asked how I'd liked the chapters, and I said they were nice and that I'd had a good time. She seemed unimpressed, and immediately changed the subject to a movie she'd rented that she wanted to watch. I said I'd watch it with her as soon as I called my mom and let her know how the first day had gone.

So far, so good. I'd enjoyed myself and was looking forward to what was in store the next day.

You have a great memory to recall all those small details and conversations.
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Old 08-10-2011, 09:44 PM
crosscaravan crosscaravan is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ree-Xi View Post
You have a great memory to recall all those small details and conversations.
Thanks! It definitely helps that I've got old emails to look over, though. My mom used to complain that my emails to her read more like diary entries - and looking back on them, they kind of were.
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Old 08-10-2011, 11:38 PM
BadRomance BadRomance is offline
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I can't wait to read some more of your story!
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Old 08-10-2011, 11:55 PM
crosscaravan crosscaravan is offline
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About an hour and a half had given me more than enough time to get ready the day before, so since I was supposed to meet Mandy at 10:30 Sunday morning, I set my alarm for 9:00. Alison was, once again, gone. Dress code that day was "still relaxed and casual, but dressier than day one," so I chose a navy-blue dress that was similar in style to this, with a white ribbon belt and white stitching on the hem. I had white sandals that sort of criss-crossed over my feet that I loved, so I wore those. I left my hair down again, but this time used a little eyeliner and a very light mascara instead of just using foundation and a light blush.

10:15 rolled around and I went to meet Mandy for my schedule. Her expression seemed strangely sympathetic as she handed me my envelope, but I didn't think anything of it until I realized that there were more breaks on the list than there were chapters. I'd been dropped by all of the chapters but two. My schedule, minus the breaks, was as follows:

Andorra
Sri Lanka

I wasn't really sure what to think. Being dropped by Hong Kong wasn't much of a surprise, but I'd thought things had gone well at New Zealand, Seychelles, and Malta. Was it normal to be dropped by two-thirds of the chapters on the first day? I didn't know. So I asked. Mandy explained that it was more uncommon to have a full schedule than it was to be dropped - and she wasn't sure how many chapters each girl would be visiting, but that it only takes one and that I should give the two chapters I'd be seeing that day a chance. I intended to - no way was I going to just quit - but despite her reassurances, I was still a little worried, especially as I heard other girls discussing where they'd be going with their friends...

Because I was only visiting two chapters that day, I was going to be starting later and leaving earlier than the other PNMs. That was manageable. "I can do this," I told myself when it was time for me to head to my first party. "I can do this."

God, I hoped I could do it.

Andorra - I'd enjoyed myself at this chapter the day before, so I was really hoping I'd like it as much today! According to the scribbles in my recruitment booklet, I had very high hopes. And they certainly were not dashed! This time we were paired up and seated so that the chapter president could give us a quick talk about Andorra's history as a whole and about their history on our campus. After that, we got to talk to our actives. This time, the first girl I talked to was named Jenna, a junior who had pledged Andorra at another campus and then affiliated with this chapter after moving here. She talked about how the sisters were very different from campus to campus but that the bonds of sisterhood were still strong no matter where she went. Honestly, that sounded amazing - being able to go anywhere without being really alone was something that I was really liking about sororities, and it was easy to see what had attracted these girls to it. After that, Jenna and I talked about the different fundraisers they did on campus, and as we were talking about one of their bigger events that a lot of other chapters participated in, her sister Brianna joined us. They were really patient and answered all of my questions, even the ones that seem pretty silly in hindsight. And I was full of questions - I'd never experienced anything like this in high school, and it was amazing to see what these chapters had to offer and what individual girl brought to the table. We talked a little bit about their philanthropy, since it had come up along with their chapter's events, and Brianna told a story about how she'd done some work for the cause even before joining Andorra, since one of her family members had been affected by the things their philanthropy was raising awareness for. Once Brianna finished her story, Jenna said she had to go, and Brianna and I ended up talking until the end of the party.

Sri Lanka - I wasn't really sure what to expect here. I felt bad for ranking them so low the night before; it seemed like these girls had seen more in me than I had in them, and I hoped this wasn't going to come back to bite me later. I made up my mind to do my best. When we were led in this time, we were taken into a side room where they had a video projector set up, and after a really brief talk they showed us a video about their history on our campus and their sisterhood. I had a bunch of questions I wanted to ask, but it seemed like it would be rude to talk in the middle of the video, so I waited until it was finished and we were taken around the house to ask them. My active, Rebecca, answered my questions enthusiastically and since I noticed there had been pictures of a group of them at the beach in the video, I asked about it - it had been a joint spring break trip they'd taken together, and from the sound of things it had been a ton of fun. I grew up around the beach, so it was nice to hear about something familiar! Rebecca and I talked a lot about the beach and things we liked to do outside of school - I loved skiing, but couldn't balance on skis very well, and she was an avid snowboarder. From there the conversation shifted to things we liked doing while in school - sports for both of us, and Rebecca mentioned that Sri Lanka had a team that competed in the volleyball intramurals, and that they did kickball as well, which sounded like a ton of fun. While we were talking about kickball, another sister, Taylor, bumped in and we continued the kickball discussion before talking about some of the events they did around campus that had appeared in their video. I was interested in these - their philanthropy centered around something that was very important to me, personally - and Taylor was really informative and seemed eager to answer my questions. We were still talking when we found out it was time to go.

My rankings for this round didn't matter so much, but Mandy made sure I filled out the card anyway and wished me luck. I was still liking Andorra a bit more than Sri Lanka, but I was enjoying what I'd learned about them that day and couldn't wait to go learn more about their philanthropy.

When I got back to my room, Alison asked me how I'd liked visiting Andorra and Sri Lanka. According to her she'd been off-campus all day, but I had no idea how she could have known my schedule! She warned me about getting too attached to any one chapter, brought up another movie to watch, and talked about an assignment she had due in class the next day while I wrote an email to my mom - I'd talked her ear off the night before and she'd asked that I email her about my first and second days so she could read it over when she wasn't busy with work. Whoopsie!

I wasn't really looking forward to having to wait 'til classes were over to see my next round's schedule, but I was looking forward to the next day of parties.
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Old 08-11-2011, 12:16 AM
crosscaravan crosscaravan is offline
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Classes, classes, classes. Monday was one of my busier days that semester, and I can honestly say that I don't remember a whole lot about how classes went that day because I was too distracted to pay much attention. Lucky for me it was earlier in the school year, right?

I had a good feeling about that day. I'd enjoyed myself the days before, I was discovering that I liked one of the chapters a lot more than I had on the first day, and I'd had what I felt were good conversations at my favorite both days. If I could just make it through that night's parties and preference the night after, I could maybe, possibly become a sister to one of those amazing organizations.

When my last class of the day got out, I had a few hours before we were supposed to meet up with Mandy for our schedules, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to grab a bite to eat. I made for the cafeteria, got a nice grilled cheese sandwich and some fries, and sat down to eat.

...

And then my phone rang.

Mandy's name and number flashed on my caller ID.

I'd heard of this - it was what so many of the girls in my Rho Chi group were afraid of. Being cut. Being dropped from recruitment. Was it really happening to me? Maybe she just had something else to talk about. A change in the meeting place, maybe.

I answered the phone.

It wasn't a change in the time or place for the meeting. No, of course it wasn't. She was letting me know - and it honestly sounded like she felt bad for me - that I'd been released from recruitment and that I didn't need to show up tonight to pick up my schedule. She said that this happens sometimes, and that I could register with the Greek life office to let them know I was interested in spring informal recruitment, and that if I wanted to talk I could call or text her anytime. I thanked her. We hung up.

I ate, but I was only barely aware of the food. Dropped. I'd been dropped. I remember trying to frantically pinpoint where I'd messed up - had my questions been insensitive? Had I said something bad about something one of the girls liked? Were my grades too low? I'd graduated high school with a 3.7, but maybe they were looking for girls with a solid 4.0.

Informal recruitment... I didn't know if I wanted to do it or not. Would it be the same? Different? Mandy'd said that the spring recruitment was a more relaxed way of getting to know the girls on a personal level, and that it worked well for people who didn't have the time for formal recruitment or for people who'd been too nervous to get to know the other girls.

It might be good to try, maybe. I'd had my first taste of Greek life and I'd loved what I'd found there.

The chapters had been full of girls who had something to contribute to the world around them. During the next semester, I'd focus on getting good grades... and discovering what I had to offer a chapter. After all, if I went through with this and it worked out, not only would I be gaining sisters, but they'd be getting me as a sister, too. Sisterhood is a two-way street, after all.

Over the next few days - as the shock of being dropped started to wear off, after I heard that Alison's friend from high school had pledged Hong Kong, as I got to know the other people living in our dorm and as I got better at balancing school and work - I decided that I wasn't going to let one failure keep me down.

Come spring, I was going to give informal recruitment a try.
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Old 08-12-2011, 05:07 PM
sigmagirl2000 sigmagirl2000 is offline
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you're killing me here. I keep checking back and no more of the story yet.... help a girl out. I need to know what happened!
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Old 08-13-2011, 09:14 PM
aab225 aab225 is offline
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you have such a good attitude about all of this! it's so inspiring! i hope PNMs read this! can't wait to hear what happens next!
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Old 08-14-2011, 02:29 PM
crosscaravan crosscaravan is offline
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Many apologies for the wait! I got a little swamped with stuff - today's move-in day for the freshmen so we've been helping out, and I have work in a few hours. This is my downtime before my shift starts, though, so I'm gonna try to get at least one post up!

ETA: Never mind. My parents need some help up at their place, so I'm going to be up there until my shift starts. But since I get off early tonight, I'll come back and finish my post first thing! I'm about halfway done with it now.

Last edited by crosscaravan; 08-14-2011 at 03:24 PM.
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Old 08-16-2011, 06:39 AM
sigmagirl2000 sigmagirl2000 is offline
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Get out of your shift yet?
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Old 08-16-2011, 05:57 PM
crosscaravan crosscaravan is offline
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Shift finished, but I've been mega-busy! I've been writing a bit each night but I didn't want to post anything until I had it up so nobody would be like "Oh hey an update! ...oh..."

Anyway, here's the next bit. I'm just going to finish it all at once so there's not an issue with getting the posts up.

You know how sometimes, you'll have a really good feeling as you go into something? That was what the start of spring semester was like for me.

Fall semester had ended well, with my grades high enough to keep my scholarship and be classified as an honor student, and that meant I was able to register for classes early. As time passed I'd stopped spending so much time with Alison and started spending more time with people I was meeting at work, in classes, and around the dorms. Apparently I'd "proven myself" or whatever during the holiday rush at work, so my boss was giving me more hours. My lineup of classes for the spring was exciting - I'd managed to get into a lot of my core classes for my major, and had even managed to get into a darkroom photography class, in which I'd be able to use the Canon EOS Rebel XSn I'd gotten for my birthday. It's my baby. <3

So, all in all, I was pretty happy going into spring semester. Alison, at one point, called me "stupidly optimistic" - I preferred to think of it as just looking forward to what the future could hold.

Informal recruitment at my school is a very different animal from formal recruitment - and I'm sure it's the same way in other places, though maybe to different extents. It was arranged so that each of the sororities - even the ones that weren't participating - had the opportunity to set up their tables and get their names out there, and the spring PNMs would register at the tables to signify their interest.

Seychelles was not going to be participating in informal recruitment, because they were already full - as they generally were each year, I found out later. That left Hong Kong (rumor had it that they only had one spot available, but Alison's friend told me that wasn't true), Malta (which a lot of girls really wanted, but were intimidated by), Sri Lanka (according to the spring version of "tent talk," they only had a few spots, too), Andorra (a lot of girls wanted them but were surprised that they were COBing), and New Zealand (no one was really surprised by their participation, but the girls were so sweet at the tables that a lot of people signed up).

Unfortunately, the Hong Kong open house was scheduled to start at the same time as a shift at work, and I wasn't able to find anyone to cover for me, nor was my boss able to just have me come in a little late. Malta's open house was scheduled towards the end of that shift, though, and I was able to find someone to cover for me at that time. Andorra and Sri Lanka were scheduled for times when I was free, and New Zealand was scheduled to start fifteen minutes after a class I had on the other side of campus. If I dressed for it before class and left right away, I should be able to make it.

They were spread out over a couple of different nights, but for the sake of finishing this story I'll talk about them all right now in the order I visited them.

Malta - I'd liked this chapter a lot in the fall, and I was hoping that this time I'd make a better impression. Without Rho Chi groups, the PNMs were left to gather outside of the house in the minutes leading up to when the party would start, and we'd be let in. There was a group of about seven of us, and we chit-chatted a bit until the actives brought us inside. The house was as pretty as ever and was well-kept, but it seemed a little strange seeing it without it being so full - just as there were fewer PNMs for the spring, there were also fewer people to pair with the PNMs. It felt very much like the open house round from the fall, to be completely honest, and for some of the PNMs - I only recognized one of them, though I guess some of the others could have just been in different Rho Chi groups - it was probably their first time seeing the place, so it made sense. The girl I ended up talking to showed me around, with a special emphasis on the study room. I guess she was a friend of Brooke's - she also played volleyball, and we ended up talking a lot about intramurals and the things the sisters did together. I had a good time, and left in a good mood.

New Zealand - I meant to get there on time, I really did. I'd already dressed and everything, had told my teacher before class started that I'd need to leave exactly on time, and I thought things were going to work out okay. But halfway through class, my teacher brought in a guest speaker and told us that in no uncertain terms, nobody would be leaving until the speaker was finished. Not only that, but even if I had been prepared to disobey her - which I wasn't - I'd been told that my campus Panhellenic had a rule that if you ditched even a minute of class to go to an event, you would immediately be ineligible for any other events. I was not prepared to risk that. So I was very antsy towards the end of class and when the speaker finally finished, about five minutes before the party was going to start, I literally ran across campus. Despite my best efforts, I got there a few minutes after they started and the door was locked. One of the sisters saw me through a window and let me in, and I apologized, but while I had a good time talking to the girls about TV shows, campus activities, and stuff like that, I really felt that I hadn't made a good impression at all. (Not-so-fun-fact: Alison, who had the class with me, had kept muttering that it was a sign that I should not be involved with Greek life.) I hoped that I'd been able to make up for it, because I really did like this group, but one of the other PNMs told me on the way out that I must have been "so embarrassed" to be "that girl." Urk!

Andorra - This one, thankfully, I got to early. Some of the same girls from the Malta party were gathered out here, and we caught up with each other, asking about how classes had been and such before we were let in. Andorra was, as they had been the semester before, a ton of fun. The other PNMs and I met so many girls who all seemed happy to have us there, and we talked about pretty much anything under the sun - it was a blast. As we were leaving we were told about another event we could come to, off-campus, for the next round of informal recruitment. Unfortunately, I had work that day. When my active heard that, she said it was a shame and that she'd see if they could get in touch with me about another time, or maybe I could try again the next fall. She seemed encouraging, and one of her sisters - who'd been in their fall pledge class - recognized me on the way out and said she was really glad I'd given recruitment a second try.

Sri Lanka - I was excited to go back here, since I felt like I'd only just started to get to know them when recruitment had ended for me last semester. Again, it was very similar to their open house. I met a number of very nice girls, one of which remembered me from the semester before when we'd gone through recruitment together. Since this party was the same night as Andorra's, it was honestly kind of a blur. But I remember being incredibly impressed with how well everyone seemed to be getting a long, I loved their philanthropy, and I just overall had a great time. It was a good way to end my night.

What came next was the waiting.

Oh, the waiting was hardest. I went back to my dorm after the party and Alison was gone - she had a shift at work most nights that I was free, so we mostly saw each other during the day and at night before we fell asleep. I wasn't sure how this sort of thing worked. Would they call back that same night? Or tomorrow? What if I was supposed to have received the next invitation at the party, like I had at Andorra? That would mean I'd been dropped by three of the four sororities that were doing informal.

Just in case, I wanted to be near my phone. Eventually, though, I fell asleep, and since there were classes the next day, I went about my business.

The next evening, I got a call. I don't remember what was said exactly, but it went something along these lines:

"Hi, Crosscaravan? This is Leah, from Sri Lanka. Some of us are going to get coffee next Saturday and we were wondering if you and some of the other PNMs would like to join us..."

I was excited! I agreed, after double- and triple-checking that work wouldn't interfere, and the next few days passed way too slowly.

Saturday finally rolled around and I went to go meet them. There were four of them and three of us - me, and two girls named Missy and Jana. The seven of us had a really good time and we talked about how the week had gone, what we'd been up to, and general stuff like that. Then we talked a little about Sri Lanka, why we were interested in joining, and what the chapter meant to them. It was strange - I can't speak for the other two, or for the actives, but I didn't feel awkward even once while I was there. I was having a great time, I felt like I was connecting with the girls, and all was good.

It seemed like it was over way too soon, and as we all went our separate ways I found myself really, really hoping that Sri Lanka would call me again.

And they did! On Sunday I got a call and they invited me to have dinner at their chapter house after classes were over later that week. I was so, so stoked. They let me know that we were supposed to wear nice clothes - "business casual" is how they described it - and I was a ball of energy as I laid out every possible combination in my room. I think Alison was about ready to throw something at me a few times.

Monday night, I went to the dinner once my last class of the day had finished, and once again, I had a great time. Jana was there, too, though I didn't see Missy, and there were a few other PNMs as well, one of which I recognized from the parties at Malta and Andorra. I was meeting more members of the chapter and really liking everything I found. The house was starting to feel cozy and comfortable - I could picture myself being there. I hoped they wanted me as much as I wanted them.

When it was time to go, Jana and I were headed in the same direction, so we walked out together. She had a different attitude.

"This means we've been cut, you know."

I was flabbergasted. I didn't understand what she meant, and asked her. She responded, telling me her roommate had been invited to pledge and had already signed her bid a few days before. What she said was pretty much something along the lines of, If they'd wanted us, they would have had us stay that night. But since we were walking home now, we weren't going to be able to join Sri Lanka.

And then she said something else.

"I don't know what I did wrong. I mean, I know I'm pretty enough."

...in all honesty, it made me wonder. I have NO IDEA if this is the case or not, but hearing that made me think - if we really hadn't received bids, in her case, wouldn't it be more likely that it was because of her attitude? Had I done something that they'd taken as copping an attitude and let me go?

I just didn't know.

We talked a little bit more before she had to go one way and I had to go another. We swapped phone numbers, and Jana made me promise to text her if I heard from them at all that night. And she'd do the same to me.

I headed to work, because I was covering a late shift. I tried to concentrate, but it wasn't easy. I was jittery. Hoping. Wondering.

Half an hour before my shift was going to end, my phone rang. I think I might have forgotten to breathe for a moment before I picked up!

Again, I don't remember exactly what was said, but it was something along these lines -

"Crosscaravan? Hi again! This is Leah, from Sri Lanka. We'd like to offer you a bid, and we were wondering if tomorrow was a good day for you to come down and sign it!"

I agreed, unable to stop smiling no matter what I tried. A few of my coworkers congratulated me. I'd received a bid to Sri Lanka...

Also known as...


















Pi Beta Phi!!!







And what happened next?

Well, my new member period was a ton of fun. My pledge class was very small, since it was spring informal - there were five of us when it was time for initiation. I have a wonderful big sister who I love to pieces, I get along well with my pledge class, and I'm now living in the house - and have been for about two weeks. Fall recruitment is going to start very soon, and I've been busy (so busy that I haven't always been able to post as promptly as I want to, lol) because we've been getting the house ready, doing recruitment workshops, and spending lots of time together! This is going to be my very first recruitment on the other side and I really can't wait to see how it goes.

As for Jana... I'm not sure what happened with her. After I heard from them, I texted her to let them know they'd called me and asked if she'd heard anything. She never responded, and I haven't heard from her since.

Alison, meanwhile, was a bit iffy after I signed my bid card to Pi Phi. A few times she accused me of acting "differently," but I think the difference was that I'd never experienced a sisterhood before, and I was starting to try new things and become more outgoing. My only biological sibling is a younger brother, and while we're close - it's not quite the same thing. As time went on, though, she saw how much fun I was having and stopped being quite as vocal in her objections. And she actually texted me awhile back to tell me she was planning to try to rush as a sophomore! I wasn't able to do much other than say I hoped that her recruitment went well and that I hoped she enjoys visiting each of the chapters. She told her friend who'd joined Hong Kong the same thing, and we're interested to see how recruitment goes for her.

Is this a happy ending? I tend to think so, because I love my sisters and I'm very happy with where I ended up, and I hope they're just as happy with me. But it's also a wonderful beginning, and I can't wait to see where things go from here.

PNMs - when/if you do go through recruitment, please keep an open mind!! Pi Phi was not my first choice on my first day of fall recruitment, or on my second. But as I got to know them I grew to love them, and I honestly can't see myself anywhere else. Give everything a try if you can - it may be one of the most rewarding things you ever do!

Last edited by crosscaravan; 08-16-2011 at 06:00 PM. Reason: fixing a typo!
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Old 08-16-2011, 06:39 PM
DeltaBetaBaby DeltaBetaBaby is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by crosscaravan View Post

Is this a happy ending? I tend to think so, because I love my sisters and I'm very happy with where I ended up, and I hope they're just as happy with me. But it's also a wonderful beginning, and I can't wait to see where things go from here.

PNMs - when/if you do go through recruitment, please keep an open mind!! Pi Phi was not my first choice on my first day of fall recruitment, or on my second. But as I got to know them I grew to love them, and I honestly can't see myself anywhere else. Give everything a try if you can - it may be one of the most rewarding things you ever do!
Thank you for sharing! You are right, opinions of chapters can change, and many women find great homes once they look past their first impressions.
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Old 08-16-2011, 08:36 PM
barbino barbino is offline
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Great thread, crosscaravan! I'm so glad you went Pi Phi.
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