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Being in a sorority is important to any girl looking to belong in college, but no one told me how scary Recruitment Week would be. I felt young and out of place. I was nervous about being selected out of the hundreds of girls going through recruitment.
I second-guessed everything I said and did, down to the outfits I had planned out for weeks. Most people would think it is crazy to worry over such little things, but recruitment was a huge deal to me. I yearned for a family and support system. I desired a smaller group of friends to have in this huge school of over 25,000 undergraduate students.
Recruitment participants make their way up Broadway to attend recruitment activities. (CU Independent File/Amanda Good)
Recruitment week consisted of six days full of talking and persuading. We all wanted to persuade the house that would give us a perfect fit. It was almost like speed dating. Girls in the house would switch every 10 minutes or so to talk to you, meaning we would talk about the same things over and over again. But no one could reveal how they truly felt about you, and since there was a schedule to stick to, you never felt you had enough time to connect.
We gathered at assigned lecture halls at the end of every evening to vote for our favorite sororities, and the houses voted on who they wanted to see again. The voting was all about mutual selection: some girls got invited back for another visit to a house, while some girls were dropped.
If the house did not select you, you were dropped. However, if you dropped the house, but they wanted you, you had to go back to visit the house. Houses wanted you to give them a second chance because they saw something in you they liked. What began as two auditoriums packed with hopeful girls was quickly cut in half.
I thought to myself, out of the hundreds of girls going through recruitment, how could they like me? But the connections grew deeper. By the final night of visiting the houses, girls were brought to tears, myself included. The houses told us great stories about their values and cherished memories, but most importantly, they talked to us individually about what they thought of us. It was such an incredible relief to finally hear they liked me as much as I liked them, and saw me fitting into their sorority. One house hand-wrote a letter saying how much they wanted me to be a part of their family.
I knew which house I wanted — and very badly — and suddenly my fears were gone. On the final evening of voting, we ranked our top three choices, and each house made their final selections. The following evening each of us received a sealed envelope and after 45 excruciating minutes of having to wait before opening them, we found out which sorority chose us. The auditorium erupted in squeals and shrieking. The anxious week of recruitment was over.
Some might say that sorority life is full of fake girls with absolutely no depth. To those people, I say: go through a week of recruitment with these amazing women and then come talk to me. They shared personal stories with me on the last night and really opened their homes and hearts to me. I don’t understand where these stereotypes of dumb, superficial girls came from. After what I’ve seen just in one week, those prejudgments are way off the mark. These girls excel in academics, are student leaders and volunteers on-campus and in the community.
After spending just a week as a sorority girl, I’ve already made amazing connections, both with older and younger girls. There is something to being recognized by so many more people when walking to class; it’s a good feeling to be greeted around campus and welcomed by so many girls.
Already, the house is busy with activities and meetings planned out for two months. Sisterhood bonding events have already been held and our first philanthropy event is next week. I love being a part of something bigger than myself, and a part of something that does so much good for CU and Boulder, not just our house. I was told when you go through recruitment, you would know which house was right for you — it would feel like home. Well, I’m home.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer at Lauren.a.page@colorado.edu.
