Disclaimer: This guest submission is listed as anonymous so sorority affiliation does not distract from the message of the piece. It is not an attempt to shit on the longstanding traditions of sororities nor is it designed condone them as healthy practices. It is meant only as food for thought for all women going through the process.
If you’ve scrolled through any sort of social media in the past few weeks, you’ve felt the storm approaching.
Instead of black clouds or gusts of wind, however, this storm is recognized by the sudden influx of “#rush_____” captions and Tumblrs chock full of beautiful collegiate women with white teeth and long, shiny hair.
Sorority Recruitment, a Category 5 hurricane of judgment, fear, insecurity, joy, acceptance and just about every other contradictory emotion you could think of, is hitting a college town near you.
Bids on Bids on Bids
Instead of boarding your windows or stocking up on water and batteries, a survival guide of a whole different kind is required…one that protects the home of your sanity and the shelter of your self-esteem.
1. Do not forget about the genetic lottery.
The gene pool is a messy, complex place where DNA twists, turns, breaks and bonds. The crazy red hair color of your great grandmother duked it out with the soft blonde locks of your dad’s genes and the results is well, the crap shoot of hair that you fight with every morning. While billions of tools, products and surgeries have been invented to help us look more like those girls in the magazines, beneath it all is just the results of that unpredictable and sometimes brutal genetic lottery.
You will sit in front of some houses during rush and you will stare at the girls walking out in their skyscraper nude heels and the thoughts will start to harass you. Where do their legs end? How did they possibly get their hair that smooth in this heat? I shouldn’t have worn this. I’m so fucking sweaty right now. Is everyone a goddamn supermodel?
Don’t bother trying to answer those questions and definitely don’t bother trying to be un-sweaty. Some girls have “won” the genetic gamble in terms of our society’s standards. If you’re a winner, good for you. If you’re not, good for you. It’s random, it’s unfair and how you look is how you look. A week of rush is not worth pissing on generations and generations of your family’s features.
(Furthermore, I guarantee that all of those girls 1) look way more normal when they’re sitting on the couch after the gym 2) look like shit when hugging the toilet after one too many vodka sodas and 3) are constantly wanting to change things about their own appearances as much as anyone else. Insecurity is the new Bubonic plague of our generation.)
2. Your future self does not exist.
Everyone has this glamorized expectation of who they will be in college. You don’t have to admit it, I already know it’s true.
Will the college version of you break out of her shell and have a ton of friends? Will she be a huge hit with the hunky fraternity guys? Will she graduate top of her class? Will she love to party and stay up late? If you have answered yes to any of these questions, I urge you to consider if the present you has those same characteristics.
Yes, people change and grow in college, but not because they chose a sorority filled with girls that embody an unrealistic, made up future self. Choose a house with people you feel comfortable with right now. You might have grown into your sister’s hand-me-downs as a kid, but you don’t grow into friendships that don’t fit you right now.
3. Girls are people too.
Pretend like rush is a giant, ridiculous game show that everyone is forced to play for a week. Instead of pie-ing each other in the face or doing the “Wipe Out” obstacle course, however, you get the exciting task of conversation. There will be times you wish you were being pied in the face instead of talking to the girl across from you, but always remember that there’s a person on other end of those long strings of words being passed back and forth.
There are times it will be awkward, painful, funny, embarrassing and sometimes, downright silent. However you feel, they probably feel it too, so take a deep breath and do your best to really get to know the person in front of you.
(At the very, very least, it will prepare for many terrible interviews and bad dates to come in your future.)
4. The show “Greek” ended and this will too.
Joining a sorority will not solve all of your problems (hell, it might even give you a few more…body issues, drinking problems, etc.) and not joining a sorority will not solve all of your problems either (hell, it might even give you a few more…loneliness, drinking problems, etc.). Greek life is just one aspect of college.
If you get released from recruitment, though it might feel shitty now, I promise it’s not the end of the world; if you end up with a house you don’t like, it’s also not the end of the world; and if you end up right on the lawn of the sorority you always dreamed of, it’s not the beginning of the world, either. A sorority is something you do, not who you are. Sadly many, many girls forget that crucial detail. You are whole and complete without Greek letters, a Greek salad or ever going to Greece.
So, fill that purse with protein bars and coffee filters and go forward with confidence. It’s all you truly need to weather the storm.
Featured photo courtesy of: DailyCaller
