It's hard to believe it's already been a year. A year since this whole crazy process started. But a year since the best time of my college experience began.
At the beginning of recruitment last year I started a blog post which I continued to write in every day during recruitment and ending with my final thoughts on bid day.
The blog reads as follows:
Coming from the North, I had absolutely no idea what to expect from the sorority recruitment process. You see Instagrams and Facebook posts of pictures with sisters proudly flaunting their letters on Bid Day or getting all dolled up for formals with their hot dates, but you never really know what it’s all about until you go through it and experience it first hand. Obviously, this is just the beginning of the journey for me so I won't even act like I know at all what’s to come, all I do know is that if it’s anything like the preview, I’m positive I’ll love it.
What’s funny for me to even admit, however, is that last year when my friends told me they were planning to go through sorority recruitment I laughed and tried to discourage them from the process. I said I didn’t want them to be one of “those sorority girls." LOL, sorry guys!!! But like many other things in today's society, Greek life is something that people like to stereotype into something that it’s absolutely not.
A few months ago, I probably would’ve laughed at myself if someone told me I’d be in a sorority now… I mean how could you not trust the public stereotype once you watch a movie like "Sydney White" or "Legally Blonde"? It’s our first instinct to feel like a sorority might be “paying for friends” or that they only judge you by your appearance because that’s all that we get when we see those movies. So many people think that it’s “only for blondes” or that every sorority girl is a fake, superficial b*tch, but they’re so wrong. While I’m sure some chapters around the country might fit their reputations or stereotypes, the reality is that those movies and media portrayal of sorority life could not be farther from the truth.
Throughout the recruitment process, girls are evaluated not on their outside appearance but on their inside self, allowing the chapters to see who would be a good fit for their sorority in various aspects. Additionally, each girl going through recruitment is assigned to a Pi Chi group along with a few Pi Chis to help them find their best fit. Pi Chis are girls who have temporarily disaffiliated from their own chapters in order to help out new members with the recruitment process. Girls will go to various parties each day and then hope to receive invitations back for the next round at their houses of choice. Then somehow; through a complicated mathematical formula which I certainly won't even attempt to understand, every girl ends up finding their spot; the place that’ll make them at home.
Day 1: Party 1: 80 girls lined up outside of a chapter in Greek Village in designated “PNM” (Potential New Member) shirts and some sort of stylish bottom. I had never seen so many Lily Pulitzer skirts or J Crew chino shorts in my entire life. I had no idea what to expect after the Pi Chis did their “1-minute knock” on the door of the house... was I nervous, was I excited? I wasn’t even sure. But in what seemed like just seconds later I was being cheered and greeted by hundreds of smiling faces saying “Welcome Eliza!” Suddenly, the nerves calmed down and I quickly began to realize how much I loved recruitment.
While waiting outside, I overheard tons of girls saying things along the lines of “OMG, I hope they like me, I’m a legacy," “Ah, I have butterflies,” or other comments I had to stop myself from laughing at because I couldn’t relate to at all. Although I had a relaxed and open mindset all along, it all became even clearer to me throughout each round just how important it was to be yourself. The process sounds rough and although it’s extremely exhausting, I figured it couldn’t be too bad if all I had to do was go in the house and act as I would anywhere else. Well, I was right. It wasn’t too bad. It became evident to me which houses I felt at home in and which houses weren’t for me. The process continued each day and what might have been initial disappointments when I saw my schedule ended up being a blessing in the end.
Finally, in the third round entitled “Philanthropy Round” it all started to become a little more real. After having been asked back a few times to the houses and getting to know girls past the classic “What’s your major?" "Where are you from?” conversation, it was getting easier to tell who was genuine and who was putting on a recruitment act. Where was I most at home? Where did I feel like I was just hanging out with my friends? Well, I thought I knew the answer to that then; and looking back now after having finished recruitment, I did. I walked into the Chi Omega house and was greeted the same as usual. A tall, dark-haired girl met me at the door and said “Welcome back Eliza, we’re so happy to have you here!” As the PNMs filed in, the rooms got more and more filled up as the girls started to engage in their conversations. I started talking to my girl and immediately felt a connection. She told me I reminded her of the actress Brittany Snow and we instantly bonded over "John Tucker Must Die" and "Mean Girls" quotes. Minutes later, we were cracking jokes about "Drake and Josh" and speaking in Irish accents. I knew this was the chapter I wanted to spend time with, this was the chapter where I could really be myself. I told her how I had a weakness for the "Mamma Mia" soundtrack and she stepped back to sing "Dancing Queen," only proving our commonality even further. So this is what everyone who had gone through recruitment had been talking about, this was when the decision was made easy. After viewing a video about the Make-a-Wish Foundation and having countless of other sisters flash me a smile, I felt at home. I walked out disappointed; disappointed only because I had to leave and move onto a house that wasn’t this one.
Going through the recruitment process, I would’ve never pegged myself to be the one falling head over heels for a particular house, the one losing sleep over the results of a 20-minute conversation with a random girl, but like everyone else, naturally, I got wrapped up in at all. I texted my best friend in my pi chi group and said “OMG I LOVE CHI O” with an embarrassing amount of emojis. Even worse, I found myself tearing up during preference round hearing the sisters’ letters to each other. After being escorted outside to “Make a wish” in the fountain, I was sure no other house could compare to this one, I was also very sure I would laugh at myself later for my level of obsession, which I did, but oh well.
When bid day came, after waiting for what seemed like forever, I was welcomed home by the very few familiar faces I already knew. With thousands of girls scattered about in the Colonial Life Arena, I thought it would be impossible to find my bid day buddy in the Chi O section of the arena. With an awkward expression of some combination of excitement and confusion on my face, I was greeted by a girl I met walking to class a few days prior. She wasn’t even my bid day buddy, so I’m guessing she must’ve just caught on to the lost puppy dog vibe I was giving off as I searched for my name among a hundred something sunflower signs. We had talked a casual conversation about whether I was enjoying recruitment and USC, little did she know I had just preffed Chi O. She said, “Welcome home Eliza! I’m so glad we’re sisters!!!” and after that I officially did feel both welcome and at home.
As cliché as it sounds, the whole “trust the process” motto is true. Having made many friends throughout the recruitment process, I’ve heard about everything from pure excitement to utter shock on bid day. But for the most part, that initial bid day shock of the foreign shirt in your hand symbolizing that unexpected invitation to a chapter turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to them. After all the craziness of recruitment, we’re all just beginning to get settled and I really can’t wait to see what our chapters bring for all of us in the years to come!
After being on the other side of things and experiencing a whole year since I was greeted with sunflower crowns and posters just 12 months ago, I love Chi Omega more and more every day.
It is my hope and goal that the names on our "Where the Wild Things Are" themed monster posters start to become familiar in no time and that our baby hooties feel as at home as I do every time I walk into the Chi O house.
