When I came to Appalachian as a freshman, I knew about four other people on campus, all of whom were older than me. However, joining a sorority never crossed my mind at all. In my freshman seminar I met a girl named Jenna who was planning to go through recruitment and she asked me why I wasn’t planning to rush. I simply responded, “I know nothing about sororities and it is just not for me.”
Little did I know, I’d soon be jealous of all of her new t-shirts and semi-formal pictures that she posted on Instagram. Although I was jealous of Jenna for almost a whole year, I do not regret my decision to not go through recruitment as a freshman. I do not think I was committed enough and I do not think I could have balanced my time well enough. However, I do regret saying “It’s just not for me,” because I was obviously wrong.
At the end of my freshman year I experienced a few big changes in my life. With these changes I found myself confident and interested in my own personal growth. At the end of my freshman year I decided that when I came back in August, I was going to go through recruitment.
Now, being a junior, I realized that one of the best decisions I ever made for myself was to rush my sophomore year instead of my freshman year. This gave me the opportunity to build a whole other group of friends outside of my sorority, the friends that I can now call neighbors, and the first friends I call when it’s time to do something spontaneous. This group of friends have impacted me in a different way than the friends in my sorority can, mainly because they have known me since the very beginning. They saw me during the highs and lows of freshman year, they were the first people I ever partied with in college, the first people I sledded down Suicide Hill with, the first people I tried Hokkaido with, and the first people who had my back whenever I just needed a good cry-fest on my bunk bed in Frank Hall. These girls and guys are also the ones who had to listen to me whine and complain about the recruitment process because my anxiety levels were as high as Grandfather Mountain.
Because I rushed sophomore year, I have made more best friends in Sigma Kappa that I have had the pleasure of introducing to my, as I like to call them, “staple friends.” Having multiple sets of friends has so many advantages. Oh you don’t want to go to the football game? (Calls other group). Oh what party are you going to? (Decides which party is better between the groups). Oh you don’t want to eat Dos tonight? (Makes other friends go). You see what I mean? Not to even mention the fact that you have a million closets you can go through at any time.
So, for all of you sophomores out there thinking you are too late to go through recruitment, you’re not. Sophomore year is such a great time at App because you’re not old and buried in work yet, but you’re not first-timers at this whole college thing either. Also, you’ve already experienced a Boone winter, and anyone here who has is already a step above everyone else.
The main piece of advice I have for sophomores going through recruitment is to not forget about the friends that had your back freshman year. They most likely helped you grow more than you even realize and they were there for you when your parents drove away after move-in.
So, GO MAKE NEW FRIENDS! KEEP YOUR OLD ONES! GO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT YOURSELF! It will all pay off.
Also, Jenna, the girl I was jealous of my freshman year is now my best friend and my Big… crazy how things work out right?