Polish Week: A week when members of a sorority get themselves and their house prepared for rush.

As a freshman in college, I went through recruitment, looking for a house to call my own. While going through the whole experience, I never really thought about how much work these girls had put into making me feel at home. Everyone looked like so welcoming, and were perfectly in sync with every step. Each house left me speechless, all I could think about was where I would end up. After five extremely long, hot days full of non-stop 'girl flirting,' I found my home. It is a home I am forever grateful for; I found friendship, support, and endless love.

As my second year of college was getting ready to start, so was Polish Week, or what we sometimes call recruitment practice. For some, this is just a few days; for others, it is a few weeks, but nonetheless, it seems to be a dreaded time by many. I quickly heard about how much work and time was going to be put in by all of us. What they didn’t tell me was how much more in love with my sorority I was going to fall.

A few days before the start of Polish Week, I prepared myself for the worst, like spending 10 hours in heels and walking out a door in a straight line, and all in 100 degree weather. This sounded quite awful, and it really did not give me the right mindset for the week. What it did do was give recruitment the ability to surpass my expectations by a million.

Although recruitment did consist of practicing lining up at least 10 times a day, mock conversations in heels for four hours straight, and repetitively singing and dancing, it strangely enough brought me happiness and reassurance. All 150 girls could have chosen to be miserable and rude, but instead, we all worked together to have the best time we could. We bonded in many ways I never new possible and gained a deeper understanding of the house we are all a part of, as well as of each other.

While practicing for preference night (held on the last night before you make your decision) the whole house began singing, and right away, it brought me back to when I was rushing and listening to the girls sing the same song to me. This was the exact moment I felt at home during rush and finally knew what my decision was going to be. Reminiscing on that moment brought me instant chills, and I felt an undeniable smile arising on my face.

After that moment, I made a decision to not talk bad about Polish Week and to always come at everything with a positive attitude. We practice so much in hopes of allowing girls the same feeling I had when going through rush. No matter what sorority you're in, polish week is an opportunity to remember why you joined in the first place, and to remember why you can't wait for the new members to feel the same.