For six months out of the past year I chose not to wear my letters. For the last month all of my social media was on incredibly private. For three weeks I could not have any communication with my sorority sisters who are my best friends and my roommates. And for one week my Facebook was deactivated. On the surface this sounds like some sort of twisted, exile punishment but it is most definitely something I chose to do and would do again in a heartbeat.
As a recruitment counselor for recruitment at the University of Georgia, or a Gamma Chi, we disaffiliate from our sororities closer to the time of recruitment in order to present a fair and balanced, unbiased opinion to the potential new members in our group. Seeing and experiencing recruitment from the Panhellenic side was exhausting, overwhelming, and the best, most unique experience I have ever had.
The actual week of recruitment was the highlight of my college experience, and I do not say that lightly. Running on four or five hours of sleep was okay because I got to spend time with 90 girls who very quickly became very close and see my beautiful group of potential new members each morning!
The first morning was awkward and every recruitment counselor will agree. I was sitting with 15 girls I met merely the night before at orientation. It was 6 am. I looked like I just rolled out of bed (which I did) and they’re thinking, how did this girl manage to get in a sorority, she looks like a peasant. But I looked forward to every morning.
My goal was to make my group feel as comfortable as possible. Doing this required me to be way more awkward and silly than they ever could be, which was not hard at all. It took a few morning of incessant babbling and dad jokes to get them to open up but by the end I felt like I could really help each one and I hope they felt as comfortable around me as I did around them.
I felt every emotion the girls in my group did right along with them. I felt their confusion in deciding between houses, I felt their anxiety in getting their schedules each day, I felt their relief after each gruelingly long yet incredibly interesting day was over, and I felt their joy when they finally realized which sorority they wanted to make their home. I felt like I was getting my bid all over again as each girl in my group turned around and saw the sorority on the card in her hand. The excitement leading up to bid day was contagious. And in a way it was like my first bid day all over again. This time, the anxious excitement turned into pure joy and adrenaline as the bus pulled up to my house. The reunion with my sorority was worth the weeks of halted communication and months of giving up my letters.
The idea of disaffiliating myself from the girls who had so quickly become my family in the past two years was daunting in the beginning. I only became comfortable and the nerves went away when I met the other Gamma Chis. They were all spirited, kind girls and meeting them opened up multiple new social circles.
Above all, I learned about the importance of Panhellenic and how incredible it is that a student run organization can pull off an incredibly important and massive event like recruitment. Panhellenic women are well rounded and intelligent. Sororities across the nation are some of the biggest contributors to different philanthropic organizations.
So apply!! Get involved in Panhellenic. If the idea of replacing your blood with junk food and coffee for a week sounds appealing, this is for you.
(Shout out to all my gamma chi homegirls ily xoxo)
