You did it. You graduated high school. Now you're going to college. The thought of meeting new people might scare you, but college is all about getting out of your comfort zone. You'll meet people that will profoundly impact you for the rest of your life. Going through recruitment was one of the best decisions that I have made. College is a chance to start over and reinvent yourself. A clean slate.
All through during high school, I was very much in my comfort zone. I sat with my same friends every day at lunch, ran in the morning with my cross country team, ate lunch with my team, ran again with my team, went home. Every day for 4 years. That was my high school experience, and as boring as that might sound to some, it was my life, and I loved doing it every day with great people. Going into college I was thinking that would the same experience which I had no problem doing. After graduation I was excited to meet my new team for the upcoming year as a freshman in college. Over the summer I was contacted by a couple of guys who were on the track team who happened to be in a fraternity on campus. I told them I was not interested in greek life and moved on for the summer. The stigma of college fraternities was something that had turned me off to greek life initially. That all being said, once I got to school I decided to take college by the horns and jump in. I signed up for recruitment.
The first two weeks of college as a freshman is something special. Being forced into what I thought were a bunch of awkward social encounters. My school is primarily female, so being male, I really stick out during recruitment. At the time that I went through my school had two fraternities on campus (we now have three). Here are some of the things I learned while going through recruitment:
1. Dress up! Wear something that represents yourself, but while making a good impression.
2. Have genuine conversations. People will come up and talk to you, and want to know what makes you special.
3. Ask questions about the fraternity. It shows that you are more interested in the organization and will get the members of the house to open up more to you.
4. Make yourself memorable. Depending on the school size, there could be hundreds of guys gunning for a spot at a certain fraternity. Tell a funny story, or something that you think will make people remember you.
5. Talk to other freshmen that are rushing. This will allow you to make connections with people that might join other houses, or you could potentially be talking to a future fraternity brother.
6. Don’t be upset if a house doesn’t want you. Everything happens for a reason. Don’t take it personally, some fraternities have strict rules on who they can take, regardless of how much they like your personality. (GPA).
7. Fraternities are in the business of building up people. I think every college man should go through recruitment and see if greek life is for them. If not, it’s okay! There are so many others ways to get involved on campus.
8. Most importantly: Have fun! Don’t stress yourself out. There are many more opportunities for that while in college.
Good Luck!
