There are hundreds of articles out there telling you to go through recruitment and how you should feel after, but I thought that I would add one more from my point of view.

The summer before freshman year, I knew that I wanted to go through recruitment so I’m not going to pretend I was ever questioning whether I wanted to or not. Going through the process, I did, however, meet tons of girls who did not want to join a sorority, but were still going through the recruitment process. Freshman year is a weird time because everyone is trying to make friends, and recruitment is a great time to meet so many different girls. In the end, even if you do not end up joining a sorority, you can say you have met tons of different girls.

Now speaking from my experience, I wasn’t sure what to expect during recruitment. Looking back, it was the best decision of my life. The process of recruitment is stressful, I’m not going to lie, but you meet so many people that it is beyond worth it. All of the houses are full of different girls and you are bound to meet someone you connect with. As the week or weekend progresses, it becomes more clear which house you want to be a part of, or if you actually want to be part of a sorority. I had two houses that I was equally in love with, and on preference day I had to make a tough decision. I realized that I wanted to be part of one of the sororities only because of how awesome their house was, and I wanted to be part of the other sorority because I saw the real sisterhood bond they had. On bid day, the excitement of becoming part of the sorority I wanted was fantastic. It all was truly overwhelming and I felt so much love from all of the women.

To be honest, after bid day the excitement died down and I did not feel as at home as I thought I would. I also did not feel connected to any of the older women. I almost dropped, but ended up staying despite my feelings. I realized that you get out of your sorority what you put in, and I was not putting in anything. I was intimidated by all of the pre-formed relationships and did not attend many events, so I didn’t get to know many people. At the end of the year I decided that I would go to more events and reach out to girls in my pledge class. Then I realized that I get along with tons of these girls and that I made the right decision staying in my sorority.

Overall, I am still proud of my sorority and will continue to become more involved this upcoming year. I will be living in my sorority house with my wonderful sisters, attending all of the events I can, and crafting for my kick-ass little I will be getting in the fall.