In the beginning...

     With Formal Recruitment reaching it's close at my alma mater, so many memories are coming back yet again. What better way to start a sorority blog than with the story of how I joined my sorority. Enjoy!

     I remember going through Recruitment not that long ago. Just a couple of years really. I remember being really nervous and stressed out. Thinking ‘what if they don’t like me?’ ‘What if I say something stupid?’ ‘What if I have a bad hair day?’ ‘What am I going to wear??’ It felt like the first day of High School all over again. Only worse. 
     My High School was pretty small. 200 to 300 kids per grade, and within each grade everyone knew each other. We’d all grown up together. For the most part we’d all been in the same school since 6th grade. Coming to a big school like Rutgers was a huge transition for me. 
     College to me was a brand new start. A start that had one real requirement: join a sorority. I’d known even when I was a little girl that I wanted to join a sorority. I was an only child and had always wanted siblings. I may not have gotten the little brother I asked mom and dad for on Christmas when I was 6, but instead I got 100 amazing women to call my sisters. And that’s not even including alum or other chapters!
     Going through formal recruitment was terrifying. In fact, I only went through two rounds before dropping out of recruitment entirely. There were some chapters I knew weren’t meant for me after the first round, but there were even more that I just wasn’t sure of. After round two I was even more confused. I didn’t feel like I had a perfect fit with any of the chapters anymore. Groups that I thought I loved, I hated. Groups that I thought I hated, I second guessed myself on. Luckily for me, a new chapter was colonizing on campus. 
     I dropped out of formal recruitment and went to the interview process for the new chapter on campus. I was really excited, they talked about how we could build our own reputation, and create a chapter that we could really call home. Until my actual interview. Suddenly, it felt like an entirely different atmosphere than it did during recruitment. I felt even more lost and confused, but I knew this wasn’t the place where I was going to find myself.
     One of my friends saw how confused I was and dragged me to an event with the sorority she was joining. They were one of the chapters I would never have dreamt of joining. Honestly, they seemed to know who they were even less than I did during recruitment. But then suddenly at this little informal gathering at their house, they showed me exactly who they were: sisters. 
     This diverse group of women managed to show me in just one night, exactly what a sisterhood should be. Despite their differences, they truly loved each other. They cracked jokes, played apples to apples, hung out all together in one big room, and most importantly did everything they could to make me feel comfortable and welcome in their home. 
     After the event I told my friend, “I’m still scared. But I think I kind of love them.”
     Later that week, I signed my bid card and began the journey towards growing into the woman I am today, and the woman I will become. The journey with the rocky beginning, but the best story line anyone could hope for, and hopefully an even better ending yet to come.

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