It's that time of year again. No, not summertime, though that is a good guess. It's formal recruitment season, and for girls looking to join sorority, that means it's time to brush up your resume, whiten your teeth, and permanently affix a smile to your face for what will feel like the longest three days of your life. One year ago, I was in your shoes. I stalked each house on social media, got as much information as I could, and prepared myself to go Greek. The worst part about recruitment, I found, was that my research was useless. When I walked into my number 1 house, it felt like wearing someone else's clothes. I fit, but not well, and certainly not comfortably.
The best part about recruitment? Walking in with useless research. One of my last placed houses on Day 1 became my home before the end of Day 2. The thing is, you don't know what a sisterhood can hold for you when you only look from behind the screen of a computer. In many ways, every sorority is the same, but you will know when you have found your new home.
At Fresno State, we have 5 social sororities, each one filled with unique, talented, intelligent, and beautiful women. Every single one of them strives to live up to the standard of the ideal sorority woman, and if you follow my advice, you'll be moving in to Sorority Mall soon.
1) Uniqueness
If you are picturing a house full of perky, blonde, future - Stepford - wives, I ask that you stop watching Legally Blonde. I'm not kidding when I say that each woman within each sorority is completely unique. We've had a set of twins come through my chapter, and they have only highlighted how diverse Greek ladies can be. I have seen LGBT+ women repping letters on campus, as well as women who have faced indescribable hardship. We have tattoos, we have piercings, we have scars, we were just like you during recruitment.
2) Talent
Every house is filled to the brim with talented women. With the amount of crafting that goes on, of course artists can be found behind every door, but everyone has something to offer. Not only will you find dancers and singers, but gymnasts, and poets, and chefs. There are seamstresses up until 3 am hand sewing their costumes for next week's philanthropy, and there are athletes and band geeks spending all of their free time dedicated to our school. No gift goes unused in Greek life.
3) Intelligence
You're in college. Obviously, your goal should first and foremost be your education. Most sororities have a minimum GPA requirement for membership, and they don't play around when it comes to school. Within my own chapter, there is an Academics Chair, designed to keep our chapter on track, and I'm sure the other houses have a similar position. Many Greeks on campus are also members of various honor societies and programs, including Fresno State's own Smittcamp Family Honors College. We make the best study buddies, Starbuck's dates, and tutors.
4) Beauty
With the messiest buns and last night's mascara, sorority women are still some of the most beautiful on campus. It has nothing, and yet everything, to do with being in a sorority. When you go through initiation, in any house, you promise to uphold the values of your sisterhood, and to better yourself as a person. It takes a strong person to acknowledge their faults, and actively seek to improve upon them, but it is within that strength that sorority women find their beauty.
Formal Recruitment registration is officially open, more information can be found here.
