Recruitment is by far the longest week of any sorority girl's life. From the 5 a.m. wake up calls to running as fast as you possibly can in six-inch heels, it is an extreme sport. While it is both mentally and physically draining, I have never felt closer to my sisters. Through thick and thin, these girls have been with me through it all.
Recruitment is most definitely our biggest sisterhood event of the year. It's our time to show what we're all about: an organization that celebrates individuality, encourages uniqueness, and inspires strength. I am proud to be a member of my sorority because I know that without it, I wouldn't be the woman that I am today.
As I enter into my junior year of college, its crazy to think that my sorority wasn't even in my life two years ago. As a potential new member and rising freshmen, entering the recruitment process in hopes of finding my home away from home was overwhelming, to say the least.
If I'm being completely honest, recruitment is a bittersweet process. While it does bring us closer together as a sisterhood, unfortunately, there is a level of superficiality that some sororities sir come to. As a young girl starting college at a large university, looking to be accepted, it is easy to feel as if you aren't good enough. There will be some sororities that don't invite you back and it's hard to not take that personally, especially if you feel like you're being your authentic self.
Speaking from personal experience, I know that I wasn't invited back to certain houses because of my looks, where I went to school, and the town that I grew up in. I was judged for having graduated from public school over private, people assumed how much money I had to determine my worth, and if I wasn't wearing the right outfit one day, that was the end of the line. There were days where recruitment felt brutal, and I often wondered if Greek life was meant for me.
While there were houses that cut me almost instantly other houses, like the sorority I'm apart of today, appreciated me for who I was. As the week progressed, I kept coming back to my current sorority round after round, only to fall in love with it more. I felt a genuine connection with the people and the diverse sisterhood here. Reputations aside, if you can't picture yourself at a certain house, then it's not the house for you.
Now that recruitment here at UGA has come to an end, the truth is that some girls were lucky enough to receive their top choice, others who might be questioning where they ended up, and some who decided that greek like wasn't meant for them. Obviously, as someone who can attest to the pitfalls of recruitment personally, ultimately everything does happen for a reason. While you may not be able to recognize that reason now, eventually you will.
