There's Always a Second Chance...
Here is my personal story, although not about formal rush.
I started my first semester of college at a large school with a high commuter percentage. Moving into the dorms I noticed a lot of people rushing to make the whole "college experience" come together. Seeing women and men smiling with their newfound friends and shiny pledge pins made me think- going greek can't be that bad. Walking on campus I had noticed flyers and signs touting the arrival of a new fraternity on campus- a local going national. It had not participated in formal rush and was C.O.B.'ing. To satisfy my own curiousity, to dispell the myths and rumors about greek life, and to make new friends, I decided to attend the info night.
Dressed in my best, I went to the info night. I was not terribly impressed by the organization, but met some people like myself who wanted to experience greek life. So I promised myslef I would give it a chnace since it was supposedly the most inexpensive and we had the honor of founding a colony into an active chapter. I interviewed, went to pref night, and waited anxiously until the next morning to pick up my bid. I got the bid and was excited but had no idea what I was in store for. After all the hoopla surrounding the pledge pin ceremony, the real work began.
Founding a fraternity was a ton of work. It was more than I had imagined, and at the same time I was trying to get used to the whole college workload. As a result my grades suffered quite a bit. I found that many of these people I had nothing in common with and we had been thown together to follow a manual and try to make the best of it. After three weeks I realized that my heart really wasn't in it, so I withdrew amicably. I was glad I chose to leave because the fraternity earned a weak reputation. None of the brothers made a real effort to keep in contact with me, other than the ones I saw in the dorms. I focused on school and pushed greek life aside.
Later on, when the other sororities and fraternities were holding their philanthropy events, my old fraternity fought their weak rep by coming out as a strong force and winning whatever they could. They even went so far as to beat the top two houses in Greek Week. I wholeheartedly congratulated them for working hard and getting it all together. But as the year progressed I had made friends in other fraternities and found myself really wanting to go through formal rush, to join a different one. I enjoyed the social and philanthropic aspects of greek life and discovered that I was still eligible to rush next fall. So that is what I plan to do this coming fall of '98. I hope that whoever reads this learns from my experiences and if you skimmed, here's the bottom line:
1) If you possibly can, don't just COB. Try to go through the entire formal rush process. As fake as it is at times, you will still be able to grasp what frats you do and don't like.
2) Only join if you are really excited and willing to work hard.
3) Don't kid yourself and join a frat that you "could be like." Be yourself and join an organization that represents who you are and who you would be proud to wear their letters.
4) Try at all costs to keep your grades up during pledge period and thereafter. The habits you establish in your first semester of college are the ones you'll have for the rest of your time there!
Good Luck!
-Anonymous in CA
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