Sorority recruitment was something I never thought I would be a part of as a freshman in high school. I always thought my personality was just not one that would be a part of greek life. As my freshman year continued I started seeing what greek life was actually like. The girls I had previously judged seemed more like me than I thought. I had found myself wanting more and more to be a part of this type of sisterhood. As my sophomore year approached I kept going to the panhellenic requirement page but chickening out over and over again.
I was nervous. Nervous if people would like me and what the opinion of those in my life would be. As formal recruitment passed I had the biggest sense of regret and realized I was letting the opinions of others dictate my life more than I should. I was mainly interested in one sorority at the time and decided to push myself and dm them about possible spring recruitment. To my surprise, they were still doing COB recruitment and I decided to take part.
COB recruitment is defined as continuous open bidding, which is a more complicated way of saying informal recruitment. The whole process consisted of me meeting with three girls over the course of a week. Due to COVID each little “meeting” took place over Zoom or Facetime. Despite that I found myself getting along with and feeling welcomed by every girl I met. As a person that is usually more reserved, I found myself coming out of my shell and feeling confident enough to share my personality. The process that I thought would be nerve-wracking and judgemental left me feeling excited to be a part of a sisterhood. At the end of the week I ended up getting a call that I have received a bid and I accepted. If there are any girls out there unsure about joining a sorority let me tell you COB is the way to go if you can.
Having no set time limits and concentrating on one chapter really led to having meaningful conversations that weren’t bound by rules or what is the “right” thing to say. I got to really see how these girls felt about their chapter and the sisters within them. It really gave me the insight to see if it was the right fit for me!
In the end, if you’re debating joining greek life. Do it for yourself. Don’t do it for others and certainly don’t stop yourself from doing because of opinions. College is only four years and you deserve to push yourself to do the things YOU truly want.