Last week was the Greek formal recruitment at Washington and Lee University. Hundreds of potential new members (PNMs) and sorority members flocked back to campus a week early to participate in this tradition. A semester of organic hangouts and awkward conversations at Lexco have culminated in the past week of parties, a million conversations about your break and what you want major in, and of course, Bid Day this past Sunday.
Throughout the week, you’ve been stressing about where you’re going to end up and where your friends are going as well. Maybe you all "preffed" the same sorority or maybe you knew where you wanted to go the entire time even if your best friend wanted to go somewhere else. However, every Bid Day, the inevitable happens -- some girls don’t get their first choice and some girls do. Furthermore, you heard whispers about girls who got dropped by their favorite sorority or girls who withdrew because they decided at the last minute that Greek life wasn’t for them. Everybody’s recruitment experience is different at Washington and Lee, but at the end of the day, you end up in a sorority or you don’t.
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So what happens if you don’t get into the sorority that you had your heart set on? I’m going to tell you, it’s not the end of the world. At the end of the day, you gain a hundred new sisters and they all think you’re amazing. You’re in that sorority because they wanted you -- they saw something in you that they felt aligned with their values. Maybe it was your killer jokes or your awkwardly endearing conversations about seeing your friends’ moms in Zumba class. Whatever it was, you now have a group of sisters who want to get to know you for you and want to embark on a journey of sisterhood that can’t be replicated anywhere else.
It might be daunting. All of your friends might be in a different sorority, but maybe getting into a different sorority is the best thing that could ever have happened to you because it pushes you out of your comfort zone. College is all about pushing yourself to try new things and to meet new people. There are so many wonderful opportunities and maybe your new sorority offers ones that you never would have thought to try before. Maybe, just maybe, next year you’ll find yourself laughing uncontrollably with a group of your new sisters, while you’re all dressed up for Halloween like a taco or a pepper. Who would have thought that you would feel so at home and have so much fun with that crazy group of girls?
So, congratulations on surviving formal recruitment week. You made it and you didn’t freeze! Hopefully you’re happy with wherever you ended up. However, from what I’ve heard, everyone tends to end up right where they belong, with girls who will end up their best friends for life. So, if you didn’t get into the sorority that you thought you would, it's not a big deal. It very well could be one of the best things that could have happened to you!
