The time of the year is upon us again for Greek life recruitment. Those of you reading this who are non-Greeks are probably really sick of hearing about it, and those of you who are Greek are probably just ready for it to be over. As a recruitment counselor, and a member of a sorority, I am ready for it to start so I can meet the women going through the process, and also for it to end so that I can start getting to know the new members of my chapter. Tomorrow is the first day of sorority recruitment (and the last day to register for it) so with some inspiration from thought catalog, I thought that I would make a list of the reasons that I think everyone should consider participating in Greek recruitment.
**Note: this is primarily focused on the sorority side of things because I have never participated in fraternity recruitment.
- Meet new people.
Not only is there an opportunity to meet your recruitment counselors and other people in your group, but you will also be meeting probably at least 10 people in every chapter. Even if you never talk to some of people again, maybe one of them will become a new friend, who ever says they have too many friends? The answer is no one. - It’s the first week of classes.
You probably don’t have much homework to do yet, so what could you possibly be doing on Saturday and Sunday morning/afternoon that is better than meeting a bunch of new people? Even if you do have reading or other homework to do there is down time between visits to the different chapters; this way you can do your work, and also meet new people. And if you don’t have work to do we will have Friends playing in the background, so you can watch Ross’ failed relationships for hours. - You might be invited to join a chapter.
Going through the recruitment process is not really about meeting new people, it’s more about meeting them so that you are able to find a group of women with whom you think that you will be able to become a better version of yourself. I know that sounds cheesy, but it’s true. When I accepted my bid I had extremely mixed feelings because even though I didn’t think I cared about the process, but I also felt upset that I wasn’t invited to join my first choice chapter (which I didn’t realize was my first choice until I wasn’t invited to join that one). Even though I didn’t know it at the time accepting that bid was one of the best decisions that I have made in college, since accepting my bid I have met a ton of women in all of the chapters, and I have had a ton of leadership opportunities. I could not be more proud to be a member of my chapter. - Joining a sorority is like a semester long birthday.
When you join a sorority there are a lot of gifts associated with being a new member. On bid night the active members will be completely overwhelming, but they are super excited to meet all of the new members and to give you things, which is precisely the reason that they are so overwhelming. On my bid night we all got a few new shirts in addition to some other fun things. Throughout the semester there is big reveal, where your big sister gives you a ton of things for a whole week, and initiation, where your big also gives you things for a whole week. Basically the whole semester is centered around the new members, and that usually involves giving them things. And at the end of the semester the graduating seniors will down things to new members, so you can get even more stuff. Who doesn’t love stuff? - It’s the beginning of a lifetime membership.
Joining a sorority is not only during college, it is a lifetime membership. While it might seem like a big time commitment to spend a weekend going through recruitment; that is a minuscule portion of your life in comparison to the rest of the time that you will spend as a member of a new organization. By committing to one weekend, there is the possibility for so many benefits that will last the rest of your life.
So, if you haven’t already done so I highly encourage anyone who is not currently a member of a Greek house to sign up for recruitment and consider joining our community.
Sorority recruitment link: https://secureapp.icsrecruiter.com/ICS/GM/v3/Pan/Web/Enrollment/RegistrationV3b.aspx?UID=PGTSND
Fraternity recruitment link: https://secureapp.icsrecruiter.com/ICS/GM/v3/Ifc/Web/Enrollment/RegistrationV3b.aspx?UID=PGTSND