Now Ohio University does this Greek Recruitment a little bit differently than other schools. Usually some schools do this a week before school starts. That way they can dedicate their entire week to just rushing. But Ohio likes to let you get settled first. This is a good and bad thing. While this lets us get settled into school, it also creates a LONG period of time between days leaving us anxious and nervous all week.
The first weekend was so much fun. Kickoff and Welcome Days, although exhausting, are where I met most of my friends that I would be close with throughout the entire rush process. Although we went separate ways, I still consider us all close friends. With my Rho Gam group, I went and visited all the houses. To say this was crazy is an understatement. It was so hectic and loud. You open the door and there are 3 million girls in the same outfit clapping and singing and smiling and ahh! It’s all so overwhelming, but then when we sat down and talked, it wasn’t as scary as everything seemed. The girls genuinely wanted to get to know you, and I didn’t realize how excited they were for new members. On this day, one house stuck out to me in particular.
The next day was Philanthropy Day. This is when you find out more about the charity that the sororities support and this is when all the stereotypes about sororities went out the window for me. Luckily on this day, I got to visit eight houses and seeing how invested these girls were into their charities was so amazing. Everything they do for fundraising is fun and interactive, so people will come out and help, and they take pride in doing it. I talked to a handful of girls at each house and there was never a moment that I felt that anyone was trying to sell me their sorority. On this day, it was all about what they do to give back. Again, on this day, one house stuck out to me in particular.
Now we get a nice long week break right? Wrong. We did get a week break, but this meant a week of not knowing which houses call you back or if you got any of your top five. But, then soon enough Sisterhood Day finally came around on Friday. This was so cool because we got to see the houses of our top five. All the houses were beautiful of course, and the bathrooms were like heaven considering most of us are still in the dorms at this point and everything beats those community showers. The rooms were so clean and organized for us and you got to see a glimpse of what living in the house would be like. Once again, one house stuck out to me in particular.
Finally, Preference Day which limits it down to two houses. Probably the most confusing day of all because by the end of this day, you have to have your top choice made and this was definitely the hardest day for me. On Preference Day the sisters of each chapter get so personal with you. When I say "personal," I mean the conversation changes from “where are you from?" and "what is your major?” to just having conversation like you would have with your bestfriend. Even on this confusing day, one house stuck out to me.
You guessed it. The place that stood out to me everyday is the place that I ran home to on Bid Day. Chi Omega was the place where on the first day and the last day, I felt like it was a home away from home. Bid Day was the most fun. Kind of like the first day when you walked up to a bunch of loud girls all wearing matching outfits, but this time these girls are your new sisters. And instead of being intimidated and overwhelmed, you are screaming right along with them.
