I defined my "rush crush" as the girl that made recruitment too good to be true. We met, clicked right off the bat, and things only went up from there. That is, until I figured out that the feeling wasn't quite mutual, that she found her home somewhere else, and to put it to you straight-she didn't choose my sorority. It makes me question if there was something I did, something I said that changed her mind, but knowing that God has a plan for all of us (yes, even during times like recruitment), I have to understand that it wasn't meant to be. When you make a connection with a girl so easily, so quickly, it seems to be a beautiful moment. Although sometimes that is just too good to be true. Your rush crush won't always choose you, but it is important that you make every girl in recruitment feel wonderful and special. I may have imagined her running out to me on bid day for weeks, or maybe even jumping up and down when she found out I was her Big, but all of those things were shadowed by me, and essentially, this was her decision all along.
Recruitment is ultimately the biggest event for sororities each year. We are choosing the women who will soon take over the chapters that we will soon be leaving. It is crucial, and honestly a lot more overwhelming, emotional, stressful, and exhausting than what it's made out to be. However, the light at the end of the tunnel is knowing your rush crush will run out to you on Bid Day. The sleepless nights, countless hours, chanting until your voice is gone, standing until you can't feel your feet, clapping until your hands go numb, eating mints in between rounds like it's your lunch, rationing water with your sisters as if you'll never drink again, and most of all, talking about your sorority like it is the best God-given thing on this Earth, ultimately to feel like all of it has gone to waste on one girl does not feel like the happy ending you've been dreaming of.
However, was I disappointed with the lovely girl who ran out to me on Bid Day? Absolutely not. Was recruitment a waste for the 85 girls we welcomed home on August 30? Of course not. I am so proud of the newest pledge class, and I am thrilled to see how they will form into beautiful, strong, and loving women within their time being in my sorority. I know the girls who ran out to us were the ones who were meant to be all along. That is essentially part of God's plan, just as my rush crush running into the open arms of another sorority was meant to be. It isn't easy to trust the system, to rely on fate to see how things pan out, especially when it blind-sided you like you'd never believe.
Maybe all in all this was a good thing. Maybe being caught off guard was the best way to finish recruitment; the element of surprise. It made things new and exciting, and overall gave me a whole new perspective in my sorority. Although my rush crush will always be my rush crush and never my sister, my element of surprise will be my sister and so much more.
