Embarrassing yourself at any point throughout formal recruitment is inevitable. This week, I’ve come to find that the harder you try to not do anything stupid, the more stupid things you do. I’ve also come to find that if you don’t constantly be down on yourself for every little embarrassment that happens and just embrace it head on, you will find the girls that love you and your quirks. So, with all of that being said, here’s my exstensive list of every dumb thing I did, said, or that just happened. I hope you enjoy.
Night one was sisterhood night at my school, and it was also the most nervous I was all of recruitment. First impressions are a big deal, and I’m not that good at making them. The first few parties I went to weren’t what I was anticipating, so to say I was overwhelmed was an understatement. By the time I got around to my third party, I was so nervous that my response to the “Are you comfortable?,” question was, and I quote, “this chair rocks!” I still haven’t lived that sentence down, and I doubt I will. But wait, there’s more.
I actually managed to get through night two without a ton of embarrassment, and because of how much happened on night three (preference night) I’ll just skip ahead.
Pref night rolled around and I wasn’t incredibly nervous, but I wasn’t incredibly calm either. At my school, you have a maximum of two parties that night and I managed to have enough moments for four. As I was entering one of the rooms, I noticed my chair was in the middle of the row, meaning there were chairs connected to both sides of mine. Keeping that in mind, this next sentence is not a joke. I missed my chair. And I don’t mean ‘kinda sorta’ missed it I mean ‘grasping for dear life’ missed it. Thankfully, no one noticed, at least no one said they did, so I collected myself and carried on. Then as I tried to get up, I realized I could not because, you guessed it, the fabric covering the chair was stuck in the zipper of my dress. “Playing it cool” is not a skill listed anywhere on my resume, so attempting to get it unstuck gracefully, without anyone noticing, was quite the challenge. After making up some small talk and almost ripping my zipper, I managed to free myself and leave the room. But wait, there’s more.
Once I got back to the theatre where all the PNMs meet, I saw one of my best friends in my Pi Chi group and ran to talk to her. While running, I had not processed that the chair seats in the theatre did not stay down, especially when you hit them with all the force your hand can provide. So, if you don’t see the end coming, I’m honestly shocked (spoiler alert: I missed the chair. AGAIN.) The only difference between this time and the time at the party was that everyone saw it, everyone laughed (including me), and there was no dignity left for me to use as a front. So what better way to make yourself feel better after all these things happened in the span of an hour? Go to dinner! (spoiler alert: PSYCH) I’ll give you the short version of what happened at dinner due to how long this article is already getting: girl meets fries. Bug meets girl. Bugs meets inside of girl’s shirt. Bug gets stuck inside girl’s shirt. Girl runs around restaurant patio frantically shaking shirt. Bug leaves. Girl leaves. Fries don’t get eaten.
The moral of all of this is to say that things are going to happen during recruitment week. If you are open to them and accept them, you will find your home. I find mine where the girls laugh with me when things like this happen, instead of laughing at me. I found my home in Alpha Omicron Pi, and I could not be happier (or more relieved now that the week is over)! So, to the girl who went through something similar, and to the one who will in the future, you are not alone.
