SORORITY RECRUITMENT: PREPARATION AND DAY 1 (DAY OF VALUES)

Hey ladies! I'm about to embark on a little bit of a series type of thing here that will directly reflect my real life. I apologize if you do not care about Greek Life but I hope the majority of you at least find this series interesting, if anything.

Now. Sorority recruitment. First off, congratulations on deciding to join a sorority! I know that they are a big commitment financially, emotionally and socially so it's awesome you have decided to take the plunge. I tend to think of myself as a master of the process now that I'm entering my second year of participating in it as a PNM (or a Potential New Member). You may wonder how this is possible and I will explain in more detail in a bit. I went through a week-long recruitment at my old school and am about to journey through my second time at my new school this weekend. I go to a completely different college now than I used to so I understand both kinds of rush at a larger, Southern school and at a smaller, urban school. So depending on your school, you may have different rules than I mention. That's okay! This is just going to be the basic gist of things.

As a fair warning: don't let yourself believe that sororities are only for preppy people. Go out for recruitment as yourself and if you're not the preppiest, rock it! It's not a requirement to wear Lilly Pulitzer, Jack Rodgers and monogrammed necklaces to get a bid.

Each day I will cover a different day of recruitment and today's post involves preparation and Day One activities. Click on the correct link for other days: Day Two/Three | Day Three/Four | Pref Day | Bid Day

Here's a bit of my personal story.. you guys may be moving into school early in order to participate in recruitment or they may be right after classes start OR after you return from Winter Break! My old school was two weeks before classes began and this weekend is when I enter my second week of classes so I get to experience two different kinds. The photo above is me and my roommate after we had gotten our dorm all together before rush.

Before you begin getting your outfits ready(such a stressful part!), you should sit down and think about what you value in a sorority. What is the most important to you? Grades, sisterhood, service, partying? All are great but if you value one entirely more than the others, be sure to be aware of that so you can look out for the perfect house from Day One. Research the chapters from your school online prior to recruitment so you know how many houses there are and what they value the most. Most have Facebook pages as well!

Also many times before the officially start of recruitment, your schools may have an orientation. They're nothing to dress up for but I did a bit anyway so here's my getup from that:

Now outfits. You will start out casual but quickly escalate to more formal wear throughout your week. Most of the time you will receive a shirt that you wear on your first day:

photos I found off of Pinterest!

my shirts from the past two recruitments

Some will require you wear the shirt which will force you to accessorize (typically with unique shorts and a chunky necklace!) However, my school does not require we wear the shirt to any event and suggested that we wear comfortable jeans, sandals and a nice blouse for the first day. Keep in mind that you will be visiting EVERY chapter today! It will be a long, tiring and extremely fun day full of lots of talking and walking so don't be mad at yourself later.. wear comfortable things.

Above photos are what I wore for day one. You can't see my bottoms but they were just dark wash skinny jeans and these flats! Lots of girls just wore normal sandals that I know you all already own :) My hair was back in a braid on one side and I got sooo many compliments on my necklace. Forever 21! My blouse is a few years old and is Michael Kors. Got it at Lord & Taylor.

On Day One you will again visit every house so you won't be getting too into details of the chapter on this day. You may possibly learn about the specific values that each chapter holds and they'll ask you about what you value as well. There will be lots and lots and lots of questions about where you're from, what you did in high school, what year you are, what your major is and more of the sorts. By the end of the day you'll be able to rattle it all off within 12 seconds. Really! Be sure to save enough of your voice for the whole day as well as you may tend to lose it at a school with a lot of houses. Sounds crazy but it's true!

The one thing I want to mention for all of you preparing to go through this process is to not be overwhelmed. Especially on the first day! It may seem super hectic and stressful but if you remember to have fun, you'll enjoy the process so much. There will be clapping and door songs and girls grabbing you out of nowhere but again just keep it cool and it'll pay off in the end. The first year that I did all of this I had no clue what to expect. I ended up not choosing the first two houses that I had at the beginning of Day One because I thought they were crazy when really they were just like any other sorority. Looking back, that very first house that I visited probably would have ended up as the best house for me(looking back at all of the people I knew who pledged that chapter). So don't let the first few set the tone! Keep an open mind throughout the entire day and you will be golden.

Want to go to another recruitment day post? Here's all of them: Day Two/Three | Day Three/Four | Pref Day | Bid Day