Day One. Go Greek Part One.
Six houses, 20 minutes, one day. I was first extremely nervous because I had no clue what was going to happen and how I was going to talk to a total stranger for twenty minutes. As I was in line waiting to go into my first house, I immediately started bonding with the other girls because of how nervous we were. The two girls who were part of the sorority start banging on the door of their house, and I don’t think I’ve ever been so nervous in my life. The doors open and all the girls are there doing their sorority’s chant, and they start taking each girl one by one. After the first house, I realized how much fun it is to talk about myself and ended up enjoying the day, despite the fact that it was nearly 100 degrees outside.
Day Two. Go Greek Part Two.
The same thing as the previous day, except I went to the remaining houses I had left. It was a lot more nerve wrecking because all the houses that I knew about and really wanted were on this day, so I needed to make a good impression. At the end of the day, all the girls waited in an insanely long line to pref their top ten houses, however, it was very easy because all I had to do was choose the three houses I did not want to go back to.
Day Three. Philanthropy Round Part One.
The first round of cuts started this morning, and all the girls were very nervous. The maximum number of houses a girl can back for this round is ten, and I only got back four. Easy to say, I was not happy, however, two of them were my top houses, so not all hope was lost. This day I went to three houses and felt very good about my visits and conversations I had.
Day Four. Philanthropy Round Part Two.
This was definitely the longest day for me. I only had one house, and it was in the middle of the day, so I had to sit in the sun for hours and read, since we are not allowed to talk to other girls or be on our phones. At the end of the day, we have to pref our top six houses. Since I only had four houses that round, I preffed all of them. I also almost got into a fight with this girl who was complaining (maybe bragging) about how she got invited back to ten houses.
Day Five. Sisterhood Round.
My top house dropped me, but I still had three others to look forward to. A lot of girls cried this day when they received their party list because they had been dropped by their top houses. My second top house became my top house, and I let the girl I talked to know that I wanted to be in that sorority. I even told her how excited I was for bid day and to meet my big, and I truly thought I was going to get an invite the next day.
Day Six. Preference Round.
Easily the most stressful day, for me at least. We spent half of the day talking about hazing and how amazing Greek life is, and I was so ready to get my party list for the day. When I finally got it, I wanted to cry so badly. I got dropped from the house that I was so sure I was going to get. I told my Rho Gammas that I wanted to drop so I can be eligible to try later for Continuous Open Bidding or Spring Recruitment. They were extremely nice and supportive and reminded me how this does not define me and honestly just helped me keep myself from breaking down.
Day Seven. Bid Day.
Since I dropped and did not receive a bid, I was lying in bed devastated. For as long as I could remember, I had wanted to be in a sorority and I was so confident of myself that I would be able to receive a bid. As I cried talking to my parents on FaceTime, I realized that while this sucked, there was also a purpose. Even though it was a stressful week, I had fun and got to meet a lot of girls that I would have never talked to any other way. Also, since I was so busy worrying about recruitment, I was able to forget about all the other problems I had. Most importantly, dropping recruitment made me realize that not everything in life is going to go as planned and that is okay. This semester I am focusing on my grades and being involved in organizations that will help me with my major, and hopefully next semester, I can try again and receive a bid.