My Recruitment Story

Charisse A.

I don’t have the typical recruitment story. I didn’t sign up as a wide eyed freshman fresh outta high school, anxiously waiting for this process to begin. I didn’t meet so many sororities on campus during recruitment to where I lost track of faces and names. My recruitment experience is just the opposite.

               I had struggled with the thought of seeing myself in a sorority, but figured “hey, why not?” So I told my parents I wanted to go through recruitment during first semester of college. Needless to say they were not on board because they wanted academics to be my number one focus, understandably so. So I waited until spring semester. At that point, I was fully immersed in my school work and other extracurriculars that I didn’t even know how I’d be able to balance everything! But after a lot of back and forth from my parents, they finally became a little bit more understanding.

               Because I went through spring semester, I had an informal experience; meaning I would go to some events that each sorority was hosting and see where my best fit was. (It was pretty easy to decide, considering my school at the time only had 2 sororities.) I knew which house I belonged to. I knew where I wanted to establish my roots. Getting my bid was just perfect yet so surreal! And at first, I thought I wouldn’t feel the same as someone who went through recruitment before felt when they were greeted by so many sisters singing and yelling, waiting for new sisters to embrace them! I did in fact felt that way! Here’s where everything gets a little weird.

               Towards the end of second semester, news broke that my school and another one were “merging” which meant that my university and another were to now be housed under the same name and jurisdiction. This also meant that for the fraternities and sororities who existed on both campus would also consolidate and we’d have to take on a whole new group of guys/girls whom we didn’t even know! After a lot of back and forth and trying to fit all the pieces together, everything turned on alright! I was initiated with a pledge class of 4, but now have a pledge class of over 70, will be recruiting with more than 80 sisters, and are expected to recruit HUNDREDS of PNMS!

            

   So like I said, I don’t have the most traditional recruiting story, but it’s unique and something special that I’ll always carry with me. 

Impromptu Memories

My years in Delta Zeta afforded me some awesome opportunities I would have never experienced on my own. I’m not talking about business contacts or having to buy chapter clothes that now double as interview outfits—I’m talking about sisterhood events that brought me all around Columbus, and even outside the city limits, and the memories I made with both sisters I saw regularly, and those I didn’t.

I had never even heard of Sky Zone before we started planning 2013’s bid day. Now I’ve been there twice, both times with my chapter, and I absolutely loved it. Though I love hockey, I probably never would have attended a Blue Jackets game. But when the Greek Life office offered us seats in the press box, I was beyond excited. And when my sisters and I had so much fun we decided to make a weekend of it and hung out at a local spot before heading to an Ohio State hockey game, it combined for a weekend I won’t forget.

Tip: only jump off the walls if you want to snap your neck

Because even though I would probably not have made it to Nationwide Arena without DZ, it’s the impromptu sisterhoods like the OSU game that have always been my favorite.

OSU hockey game

The entire month of October was devoted to scary movies in the informal room. And, subsequently, Insomina cookies to make us feel better after The Exorcist girl rotated her head all the way around. It’s my favorite thing to talk about every year during recruitment when I pass through the informal room during house tours.

It’s the sisterhoods we have after the Mirror Lake jump each year, all congregated in our dining room tracking mud all over the house (much to our house mom’s dismay, sorry Barb!) and talking animatedly about the night and potential hypothermia we faced to show *ichigan we’re still better than them that I remember the best.

Or the times I’ve spent on the mouse mansion floors upstairs, talking about the most random topics until four in the morning when I had to get up for an early class the next morning.

Even though planned sisterhoods are all about bonding with one another, it’s always the unplanned ones that have the most lasting impact. They're worth the late nights; the relationships last far longer than the desire to take a nap.