Month: January 2018

All of my best friends in high school have been my friends since at least middle school. My two best friends I actually became close with in kindergarten, but for many of my other close friends, it started anywhere from fifth to eighth grade. Needless to say, we were all very close. We could practically read each other’s minds we were so in sync. I knew exactly what time to text Diana if I wanted to talk to her before her afternoon nap, exactly how late Amanda would be when she was picking me up or what song Katie would put on if I handed her the AUX cord. (It was unfortunately always High School Musical.)

These girls became so much more than just friends, they were like my sisters. We hung out in school, after school and on the weekends. I was as close with their families as I was with my own. We ate, worked out, shopped and slept together. We were inseparable.

Leaving to come to Penn State meant leaving my sisters back home. Luckily enough for me, I found a way to make even more sisters. Joining a sorority is something that I debated for a long time. Greek life has been highly criticized lately (for good reason), I didn’t really have the time to get involved with something else on campus because of schoolwork and The Collegian and I didn’t even understand how sororities and the whole process of rushing worked.

Rushing was a lot all at once and now that it’s over I’m very happy that I’ll never have to do it again. However, I am so so so happy with the end result. I’m a new member of Sigma Kappa and I’ve been loving all the new experiences that brings with it. The older members are warm and inviting, the other girls in my pledge class are funny and kind and overall I’m just really happy I ended up rushing.

Opening up my envelope on Bid Day and finding a bid from Sigma Kappa was beyond exciting. They were my first choice and I felt so lucky to get to run with the other members of my pledge class into the inviting arms of my new sorority. I felt immediately at home. In every conversation I had, I couldn’t help but be reminded of my sisters back in Carmel.

One girl that I talked to had the same witty sense of humor as Molly. Another new member had the same beautiful curly hair as Caitlin. Someone even slipped in the wet grass, reminding me of Katie’s clumsiness.

I’ve been hanging out with these girls a lot, which is fun and new in and of itself. We went to chapter together and got fro-yo together and we’ve been hanging out all over campus every day. It’s not very often that you immediately click with people, but I’ve felt a connection to almost every girl I’ve talked to in the sorority so far and that new and exciting feeling reminds me of what this blog is all about – the benefit of trying new things!

I never thought I would join a sorority. The process of rushing seemed tedious, Greek life has been getting a really bad name lately and I never pegged myself as a “sorority girl”. However, back home in Carmel I had a group of girl friends who I couldn’t live without and I have yet to find that same group of girls at Penn State. I have a bunch of friends here, but I truly believe you can never have too many friends and I’m intrigued by the idea of making friends who could become my “sisters for life” just like my high school friends have become.

Rushing started off easy enough. I signed up online and made a whole profile for myself. I then got a PNM (Potential New Member) number and a date to attend orientation. Once you go to orientation, you meet your Pi Chi group. This group is made up of about 40 girls who accompany you to all of your openhouses, which make up the first round of recruitment.

Openhouses take up the first two days of formal Panhellenic recruitment, or “rushing”. In this round, you and your Pi Chi group visit every sorority on campus for 15 minutes each. Here at Penn State that means 23 sororities in two days. Every one takes the same basic form, becoming a monotonous routine: they do their chant while you wait in the hall, you walk into the sorority suite and shake both the president and recruitment chairs’ hands, then you get paired with a sister to talk to for the duration of your visit. There can be some variations: sometimes you talk to one sister and then another walks over to split your time or other times you can have two PNM’s paired with one sister, but other than that it’s very much the same.

Openhouses almost killed me. I love talking to people, but these rooms aren’t meant for these many people so they get really hot and everyone sweats and you have to scream to be heard over every other conversation happening at the exact same time. Every sorority that you meet begins to mesh together after like the fourth one and most of the time you waste your 15 minutes in the sorority on trying so hard to be liked that you forget to even pay attention to if you liked the sorority.

After openhouses, you choose your bottom six sororities while the sororities also choose their bottom PNMs. The next day you report bright and early for first rounds, where you spend 30 minutes with each of the sororities that wanted to see you again. This round focuses on the philanthropy of each of the sororities. I liked this round better because it was a lot more laid back and rushed than openhouses.

Although I haven’t gotten to them yet, second rounds come next, then preference night and then finally bid day. I like the process of rushing. I love talking to new people and meeting all sorts of different individuals. I also love how I can picture some of these girls becoming my best friends. I love the way that sororities focus on giving back and maintaining friendships for life and I’m really excited to get involved. I just wish it didn’t take up all of my free time because the last week or so has had me in way over my head.