Going Greek can seem like a huge part of your college life, and recruitment can sound like the scariest thing. There are crazy videos online of girls popping out of doors and chanting at you, and let’s be real, the idea of having to stand in heels for hours on end never sounds like fun. But the two weeks of running around Iowa City in the humidity of late August/early September is all worth it when you get your bid.
Although it seems a while a way, we all know that if you want to go Greek the minute you figure out which college you are going to attend (hopefully it’s Iowa), you will be doing all the research you can to see which house will be right for you. And although google seems to know all, let me tell you that the anonymous rankings and the endless recruitment videos on Youtube don’t really help at all. Sure, they can tell you who has a nice house or who seems to love blowing glitter at the camera most, but it doesn’t tell you where you are going to fit in. It doesn’t tell you that the house you have never even heard of may be the one that makes you feel most at home. It doesn’t tell you that you could find a new best friend in the newest and smallest house on campus, it will tell you none of this. The only thing that can actually answer these questions is the process itself. It’s the long days going from house to house meeting hundreds of people until you find someone who you can spend 30 minutes with talking about finding spiders in your shower instead of telling the story of why you came to Iowa for the 50th time (shout out to my little).
So with all of this in mind the best advice I can give you, is advice I got before I came to school. Trust the system. That can sound really crazy and almost like a scifi book when you pick your district or faction but it is so accurate. The girls who are recruiting you know their house better than you think. They know who would fit in and if you don’t get invited back to the house that you were head over heels in love with, it isn’t because they don’t think you are an amazing girl; it is because they know that you will find a better fit, you will find your home somewhere else. Everyone I have talked to who ends up getting dropped or taking a bid from a house that wasn’t their top choice, always talks about how they are so glad they ended up in the house they did because it is where they belong. So go in with an open mind, sure do some research if it will put you at ease. Plan your outfits for each round six months in advance, or sign up the day before the deadline. But either way, trust that you will end up where you are supposed to be.
Take it from the girl who found a home in the sorority she didn’t even know was available on Iowa’s campus, because that girl is still at home there over a year later. That girl knows that it is the best fit for her and that girl is going to be forever grateful that she found people who love her for just being her.
Until Next Time…
Go Hawks!