As a freshman going through formal recruitment, I was terrified and I had no idea what to expect. The few weeks leading up to the day I moved in, I spent days googling what type of things to expect and questions to be prepared for. Every school's recruitment will be a little bit different, but there are also a lot of commonalities between each experience. Here are eight things you can expect to happen while going through formal recruitment.
1. Being assigned a Rho Gamma.
A what? Yep, you read that correctly. A Rho Gamma, or, Rho Gam for short, is a woman who has gone through both sides of recruitment and is basically your go-to person all week for anything you could need. They're there to answer any questions you might have throughout the entire process, keep everyone's energy level up, be someone you can count on all of recruitment and ultimately help you find your home in a sorority. If you get lucky like me, they'll be your shoulder to cry on all day when you don't know what to do and maybe even take you to Target to make you feel better.
2. Being asked the same questions over and over and over again.
Every time you talk to a new woman you're most likely going to be asked the same basic questions. Where you're from, what your major is, why you chose to go Greek, etc. On average you're going to talk to 2-4 women at each chapter, and at my school, there's 17 chapters, so that means you're going to be talking to anywhere from 34-68 women in only two days. You'd never think that small talk could exhaust you, but when you're trying to make a good impression and make sure the woman you're having a conversation with can hear what you're saying when there's hundreds of other girls around you, it gets pretty tiring and you'll definitely look forward to crawling into bed that night.
3. Awkward silences.
There are going to be some houses that you absolutely love and you feel like you could talk to the women there forever, and there are also going to be some that you just don't click as well with, and it's completely fine. There will be awkward silences. Sometimes conversations just don't flow as well as others, but don't stress about it, because it's not your job to keep the conversation going. The women you're talking to are trained to keep the conversation alive, so when it gets awkward take a sip of water and just relax.
4. A lot of yelling and singing.
It's honestly something I don't really know how to explain unless you've been through it before. The second the door opens, hundreds of women will be singing their chapter's songs as loud as they can and before you know it you'll be swept away before you can even process what's happening. By the third or fourth house you're most likely used to it, but it's still something that can be really overwhelming.
5. You're not going to get asked back to every house you love.
And that's perfectly okay too. It may seem like the end of the world at the time, but all you have to do is trust that everything happens for a reason, and if you don't get asked back to your top house, it wasn't meant to be.
6. Getting offered water, but getting asked for it back before you walk out of the house.
Each chapter will usually offer the women a glass of water to sip on, but will politely ask for the cup back before the party is over. The reason chapters ask for the water back is so girls don't think of the water as a "gift" from the house, implying that the chapter really liked her. It seems silly, but that's just how it is. The same goes for touching. Members of the chapter are not allowed to touch the incoming women just in case someone thinks a member really liked her because they shook her hand or hugged her.
7. Smiling so much your face hurts.
Recruitment is all about positive energy and the fact that these members want you to feel welcome and want you to know that they're all excited to share their chapter with you and tell you what it means to them, so smiling is a given. I mean, who wants to walk in a house where every woman is straight faced and intimidating? Not me. It's natural for you to smile with all the singing and energy going around, and of course you want to make yourself seem friendly, but you don't realize how much you've been smiling the entire day until you get back into your room and your face is physically sore. It happens.
8. Finding your home.
Recruitment week can be a roller coaster of emotions, but no matter what, the best advice I could give you is to stick with it. Even if your top house drops you, even if you don't get asked back to any of your favorites, stick with it, because you will find where you're supposed to be no matter what. Take it from me, the girl who called her mom and best friends bawling on preference night because she didn't know what house to pick.
