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Rushing as a Sophomore

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at WM chapter.

I chose to rush my freshman year, and I definitely should not have. I hadn’t fully adjusted to college life yet, and right after just meeting the people on my hall, I then had to meet even more girls. Some people can be extremely outgoing, charming, and friendly all the time; I am not one of those people. I am a naturally quiet and introverted person, so my personality combined with my nerves made it really hard for me to make conversations with sisters during rush. I was overwhelmed by everything: the noise, the cuts, and the sheer number of girls going through recruitment. I ended up not finishing rush as a result.

After having a year to get acquainted on campus, I decided to go through the recruitment process again. Having a year to see what Greek life is all about at W&M gave me a more realistic view on the system: I know girls who had gone through both great and not-so-great times during their first year of sorority life. After going to various sororities’ philanthropic events last year, I know that I fit in better in some organizations than others; there were some houses that I could really see myself in. The girls in my freshman dorm seemed to have so much fun in their sororities, and I knew for sure that I wanted that experience now.

The first weekend went a lot more smoothly than it did my freshman year. I now knew friends in sororities, and it was nice seeing a familiar face as I walked into the houses for each round. It was much easier for me to have conversations with sisters because I now felt like a part of the W&M community: I’m involved in organizations and can talk about things other than what I did in high school or which classes I’m taking or my freshman dorm. For me, the only thing that did not change since freshman year was that I still didn’t know how rush would end for me and for countless others. It’s an emotional process for anyone going through it, from brand-new freshmen to sophomores like me to even PNMs rushing during their senior year. I imagine it’s just as emotional on the other side of rush as well.

I probably got about four hours of sleep after Pref Night; I was so nervous. I only went to one house on Pref Night, which meant that there was a chance that I could end up bidless. I really liked that sorority, but I was afraid that they didn’t like me as much as I liked them. Either my recruitment counselors would give me an envelope with my bid card, or they would tell me that unfortunately I was released from the system. On Sunday morning, I heard a knock on my door. I opened it to see my recruitment counselors smiling. One handed me an envelope. I tore it open and saw that my one sorority had offered me a bid! I was so excited to be part of the Bid Day frenzy on the Sunken Gardens and to meet my new sisters! And now, a little more than two weeks later, I’m still so happy I joined a sorority. I gained so many new friends, and it’s nice having a group of sisters who always have my back and will support me. I know I belong in my sorority, and I’m so glad I decided to rush again my sophomore year.

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Phoebe is a senior at W&M double majoring in economics and classical civilization. When not writing articles, she can be found streaming Netflix, watching her beloved Washington Wizards, and finding ways to procrastinate on things that actually need to get done.