No one in my family has ever been a part of Greek life; it’s not because they don’t approve, but simply because they have never been exposed to it. So here I am, pretty clueless about the rush process, but also intrigued to learn it all. I am excited to join a tight-knit organization. From what I’ve been told, I am heading into a world of girls who enjoy community service and social activities and who value academics highly. At one of the mandatory meetings I’ve attended so far, the girl who led the meeting described sororities as being all the same – same values, same academic requirements, same focus on community service, etc. Of course, they are not actually the same, but they all share the same core values. All of the sororities value sisterhood, so no matter where you end up, you are bound to find a great community of girls. Their basic values are the same because the main purpose of a sorority is the same; a sorority is, in my opinion, an organization of women motivated to uplift each other and help others. As vague as that sounds, let me break it down into why I want to join a sorority. I want to join a sorority because it is a place where I can meet girls with similar values as myself, and where I can find other girls who are motivated like me, who are caring like me. Put simply, it’s a group of friends.
I am stressed, though, because the process has lots of requirements that do not generate a guaranteed “yes” for all girls. There is a lot of of buzz about making sure to do the right thing in order to get a bid. “If you go on lots of rush dates…” or “if you have the right connections…” or “if you don’t look good all the time…” or “if you say the wrong thing…” But I try to ignore the “if” statements because they tend to give us anxiety for no reason. These “if” statements are nothing more than rumors created by stress. I constantly have to remind myself of this when friends of mine come up to me flustered, worried about what other girls will think of them. I believe that as long as you are considerate of others and diligent with your work, the best result will come your way because, in the end, the active girls just want to find good friends too. It is important to keep an open mind and not be set on only one sorority, because limiting yourself to one group keeps you from meeting other girls and could result in you not taking part in a sorority at all.
I may be clueless about the process of rush week, what is mandatory and what isn’t, etc., but I am ready to figure it all out. All we PNM’s can do is put our best self forward, because, in the end, we have no control over the process.