I'm Back Part 2- Formal Recruitment

My freshman year of college, I had considered going through sorority recruitment, but due to the fact that I has already committed to field hockey I opted not to.  Ever since last Spring, I have been back and forth with do I go through recruitment at my new school or not.  Well I will be honest, as recruitment approached I was leaning more towards not going through it just because I did not get a good feeling about it.

The Wednesday night before recruitment started I was sitting in my extremely long and boring night class, Teaching English Language Learners, when I got a text from my mom.  She said that she talked with my dad and they wanted me to check out meet the Greeks after class.  Initially, I was reluctant to attend the event, but my class ended a few minutes early so I thought why not just pop in.  The very least that happens is I get  free cupcake to hold me over until I get home for dinner.  

I attended the event and was pleasantly surprised at what I encountered.  I discovered that there were eight soon to be nine sororities on campus.  The women I spoke to were all really friendly.  I found each of their stories, about why they went Greek, to be so fascinating. After the event, I left with a lot to think about, since registration for recruitment ended the next day.  On Thursday morning I went to the Panhellenic website and registered myself for Fall 2013 formal recruitment.

Friday night: There was a meeting we were required to attend.  Here we were given information about how the recruitment process works, DOs and DON'Ts of recruitment and its rules, and our recruitment leader/groups.  After meeting our recruitment leader, we were given name tags and asked to write three morals on them.  This year Panhellenic was doing a big push for moral based recruitment. 

Saturday: Open House Round 1

In my state sororities are not allowed to have official houses, so each sorority was given a room within our student union center.  After checking in with our peer mentors, we were then split into groups of about 50 girls, by last name.  There were 8-10 groups so over 450 women were going through recruitment.  We spent 25 minutes in each of the four sororities we visited.  When you weren't visiting a sorority you had to wait in the "break room". Mind you they take away all your personal belongings at check in, so during this wait time you literally have nothing to do.  With four breaks throughout the night, people get irritated very quickly.  Me, being the nerd I am, was constantly thinking this is quality time I could be getting work done for school. After visiting each of the four sororities, we met with our recruitment counselor, debriefed about the evening, and then were given details about Sunday.

I wore black jeggings, a shirt from Francesca's, and my Clark's boots

Sunday: Open House Round 2

On this day we were supposed to go around and meet the remaining five sororities.  Sunday morning I woke up not feeling well, so I was forced to stay in bed and rest, instead of attending recruitment.  On this day were to pick our top five and bottom three choices. Yes, I know this only adds up to eight, but the ninth sorority had a different recruitment process because they are colonizing on campus this semester.

I now had to wait a week for the other half of recruitment...

Friday: Philanthropy Round

Each woman had the potential to receive up to five invites back based on the preference they and each sorority did.  This night, the rounds were 30 minutes with 10 minutes in between each round.  After watching a short slide show, we received our invites.  I received two: one sorority was in my top 5 the other one was my very last choice. I had to wait 40 minutes in the break room before I attended my first party.  After my first party, I had to go back wait and additional 40 minutes, and then I attended my last and favorite party of the night.  At the time, I had thought things went really well at the second party. After visiting each sorority and learning about their philanthropy, we filled out yet another preference sheet. I then, discussed my options with my recruitment counselor and then went home for the night.

For some reason the stripes look odd in this picture, but I wore a black and white striped maxi dress with my jacks.

Saturday: Pref Night

On this night, each woman had the potential to attend three parties.  Each party would be 50 minutes long with 10 minutes in between.  After watching another PowerPoint, we were given our invites for the night.  I receive just one invite, and it was from my last choice.  I knew I did not want to join this sorority, it just didn't feel like the right fit for me.  I did not even attend the party, I just talked to my recruitment counselor and chose to drop out of formal recruitment.  

I wore a strapless dress from GAP, with a white cardigan, and black pumps.

(sorry the lighting is awful)

At the end of Saturday, I was a little disappointed. But just like anything else I do, I told my self that everything happens for a reason.

Looking back at the whole formal recruitment process, I felt like I was just an animal being herded around.  The large amount of girls going out for recruitment along with the short amount of time spent in each sorority just made the entire experience feel superficial and not personal at all.

I am glad, I decided to go through recruitment because I think I would have looked back and regretted my choice not to do so, later on in life. 

Xoxo

-mQs-