The dumb snow kept flying into my eyelashes, I was starving and exhausted and if one more person asked me why I transferred, I might have had to throw up all over my polka-dot nametag.
Round Robins, the first parties of the four rounds of rush, are half-hour sessions of small talk at each of the 16 sororities with intermittent 15-minute breaks. Rushees experienced a crash course in Sratland during this two-day survey of sororities over the span of Monday, Jan. 17 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Tuesday, Jan. 18 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Evidently, most of the 776 rushees re-examined rush after undergoing one of the most socially strenuous experiences of our lives.
We waited in lines outside the houses in the cold, believing that the Inter-Sorority Council had willfully inflicted starvation and cold upon us. This obviously was their master plan, so we wouldn't be able to present ourselves to others and be able to make any sort of impression at all.
The most endearing thing I heard on Tuesday was, "Rush sucks."
So here I was -- caught in a moment in time, in a laughable situation looking around at dejected and exhausted faces and shivering bodies clothed exactly the same way as everyone else.
And I can honestly say that I am having the time of my life.
I left each house wildly excited about the new prospects of varied personalities that could be my new sisters, and new activities to diversify my brief time at the University. Equally enthused women lined the streets, magically remembering my name. I knew I had taken away something invaluable and intangible that I wouldn't trade even for a warm room.
At some houses I took away simply a great conversation about male strip clubs, or politics, which was isolated in a sea of small talk. The conversations streamed from person to person and topic to topic and occasionally I drifted upon a golden conversation with another person who I never will forget. I may have known that I wouldn't fit with the particular house, but that never lessened the impact that person had upon me.
And though several conversations were inane, my social skills are so honed right now that I caught myself saying, "We were just talking about ..." at a bar Friday. Meredith Mallard, a second-year College student and Kappa Alpha Theta member, said her social skills improved from rush, too.
"I feel like now I could even talk to a tree," Mallard said.
The world of Rugby Road was revealed to first years after the blindfolds of the "silence period" were lifted last Monday. Even though I was allowed to talk to girls in sororities last semester, I feel as though Sratland is unveiling itself before me, as well. Possibilities that I never really entertained are becoming a reality, and people that previously ignored me are flattering me by asking me to join their sorority.
The most exciting aspect of rush is the expansion into the depths of new friendships with previously unknown sorority sisters, my rush group and random people with whom I walk on the street. And I can't wait to be a part of it.
I have loved rush thus far because it gives women a chance to be with just women and be cheesy, sweet, fun and strong with one another. I admitted during a rush conversation that I like Ani DiFranco because she makes me hate men, and my conversation partner said super-feminist music inspired her to attempt feats she otherwise wouldn't have. People in my rush group compliment one another and support each other after a particularly grueling round.
I spent Wednesday night waiting for my Rho Chi, the liaison who is temporarily unaffiliated with her sorority to help rushees, to tell me who asked me back for the next rounds.
The fun, pressure and preparation jumped an intensity level during the next round, Theme Parties.
The number of parties was reduced to ten. The parties included elaborately orchestrated skits, wall-to-wall decorations, amazing appetizers and wild costumes.
While I listened to reworded songs, I caught myself being sweetly seduced by the sisters to be a part of them, and one with them.
The tongue-in-cheek skits included love songs for their sisterhood and the house, and assured the rushees of their inherent coolness and place in the sorority. I traveled back to my childhood with "Annie" and "Grease" and then I was propelled smack in the middle of Mardi Gras. I was thrown into a frighteningly realistic "Scream," and then I got to travel to the Academy Awards -- all in a two-day span.
The preparation that the sororities put into Themes is unbelievable. My roommate, already in a sorority, left at 7:30 a.m. to prepare the food for the parties. They practiced the skits for weeks on end. They go earlier and stay later than the rushees. They conduct constant recruiting techniques, a time-honored fine art in the world of rush.
And they have exposed their fear of rejection just as much as the rushees have, yet I feel like all of their preparation shows the spirit they have for their sorority.
However, rushees' fear of being "cut" from sororities after connecting with particular ones can be witnessed later in the dorms. When people become upset because sororities cut them, I wonder why they put themselves through this. I wonder why my feelings are hurt when I realize that the girl I'm talking to was trying to get rid of me as she looked around the room for the next one to bump her.
And I wonder why I feel like I'm not nice enough or engaging enough when I'm cut from one of the sororities I enjoyed the most.
Yet after all this wonderment of hurt feelings there still is no question as to why I am rushing.
The Greek girls I met seemed so involved and engaged in their activities within and without the sorority, and they all emphasized their philanthropic activities. I also wondered if their higher grade point averages than non-Greeks reflected this infectious involvement in their activities.
Themes allowed me a glimpse of the friendships and opportunities in sororities, how much they love each other and how much they want the rushees to love them.
I know that if I had rushed in the fall it wouldn't have made a difference in my academic lifestyle, or in the number of times I went out or the extra-curricular activities I am involved in. It would not have changed who I am. I do think that rushing will add an extra dimension to my life.
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