Sorority recruitment: It’s the most wonderful, yet dreadful time of the year. As a freshman, sorority recruitment is a stressful, tearful and joyous experience all in one. I would be lying if I said I didn’t shed a few tears during the process. You’d assume that on the other side of the process, it’s less stressful with the redeeming assurance that your already in your “group.” Well, that’s not quite true. Sorority recruitment unfortunately does not get any easier, and if anything, it’s much more intense and stressful. Here’s a take on recruitment from the other side of it all:
First off, before rush even starts, there’s a whole week dedicated toward preparing for the event. Each day requires hours of practice, which mainly is just an endless repetition of singing, clapping and smiling. And I should use the term singing lightly, because it is more like yelling. Recruitment is not taken lightly, it is called work week for a reason. As someone involved in theatre, I can say I’ve never practiced harder or lost my vocal cords more than from recruitment. Those songs will probably forever be ingrained in my mind.
Next is the real thing, the actual recruitment. Things start off with a day of small talk, varying from 6-12 hours (that’s not even an exaggeration), with different freshman. There are so many PNMs (potential new members) that they all blend into the same person. And like everyone else, I’m terrible at remembering names so it’s a struggle. It’s undoubtedly noted that, as a freshman you’re constantly nervous about saying the wrong thing or not seeming interesting enough. As a sorority member, those feelings don’t diminish, but only get heightened. You have to learn how to keep a conversation going, be present in the conversation and have to be observant of the person your talking to. Everything is up to you to make the conversation go well and most times, it’s just awkward small talk. Okay, so small talk isn’t rocket science, but repeating the same conversation over 40 times a day can get confusing and usually very tiring.
Even though it’s a long week, what made it all worth it was that I got to be with my friends. Even after talking, singing and smiling nonstop, we would somehow all end up at dinner still talking and smiling, but no not singing. It’s not a simplistic or relaxing couple of weeks, but at least you’re doing it all with your best friends. It does create some interestingly hilarious memories. Funny enough, people I’ve talked to during recruitment rounds ended up becoming good friends as well and my friends and I still talk about that til this day.
So the process is a bit different than expected, and by that I mean more work and pressure to not mess up a conversation. It’s basically a bunch of singing and clapping with the underlying intensity of getting a new pledge class. What is similar is the same mix emotions: tired, excited, anxious and worried, just for opposite reasons. They say trust the process, and that is still true as a member. Ultimately, when the bids have been given out, it all reiterates why I chose to be in the sorority I’m in and what I value most about it (It is definitely not the singing though).