Hello Potential New Members!
You’ve made the right decision on signing up for formal recruitment- we promise it’s a choice you won’t regret. Formal Recruitment takes place over a course of 3 days. During this time you’ll meet tons of girls, and at the end you’ll find yourself surrounded by 50+ new friends you’ll come to love as your own sisters. The Formal Recruitment experience includes a lot of talking about yourself, combined with laughter, tears, and some awkward situations. So here’s a gift from current, active sorority members to you on how to enjoy every minute of Formal Recruitment:
1. Your number one regret will be wearing cute but uncomfortable shoes. You would think that by now we’d have learned that those cute nude flats we love are actually our worst enemies. Wear shoes you can walk in that don’t make you want to rip off your feet, and comfortable underwear while we’re on the topic. In the words of one sorority sister, Grace-Ann Onishea, “Make sure to wear comfortable shoes… And underwear. Now’s the time to pick your friends, not your wedgie”. Pain may be beauty, but don’t hurt yourself girls. Also, remember that it is January, so be sure to wear warm clothes. Don’t overdo it though- you don’t want to be a pile of sweat when you’re trying to make life long bonds.
Sidenote: For the first two days (Friday & Saturday) the attire is casual, so jeans are acceptable!
2. Please eat the food. PLEASE. We’re not testing you and it’s not there to taunt us all. It’s there for you, please take it all or else we’ll end up fighting for leftovers. This turns into the Hunger Games: Sorority Style, and it won’t be pretty. If a conversation between you and an active gets awkward, getting something to eat is always a nice way to transition into another topic. For example, talking about other food you may like, like CHIPOTLE. Who doesn’t love Chipotle?
3. Speaking of awkward conversation – yes, it will most likely happen, so prepare yourself. After meeting a few other sisters and answering questions like “Where are you from” and “What’s your major”, the conversation might die. However, this is your chance to take advantage of the conversation and ask questions about the girl you’re talking to. It might be handy to come prepared with basic questions, like “What did you do over break?” or the deep question of asking her why she joined her specific sorority. It is a conversation, so feel free to ask the actives questions you may have, even if they’re basic – we’ll be thrilled to feel like we’re not constantly drilling into your life.
4. And lastly – be yourself. My group of friends and I all went through formal recruitment together, and I’m still surprised that somehow a sorority picked us because we’re just straight up weird. And someone decided we were just weird enough to join their sorority, and now it’s our home. So the same goes for all you out there who are weird or awkward, someone will love you for all the weirdness that you are. Be confident and comfortable with you’re true self and you will find the perfect group of girls that accepts and loves you just the way you are.
In case you haven’t signed up for Formal Recruitment yet and would like to, here’s the link. This will also let you know the information on times, locations, and what to wear for each day! Hope to see you all this weekend!