This is what it’s like to go through sorority recruitment as a second year

I’m really tired of people apologizing to me after I let them know that I withdrew from rush.

I’m not here to tell you that sororities or fraternities, or even Greek life for that matter, are inherently bad. Not true in the slightest. No doubt, Greek life has its ups and downs, but the aspect of philanthropy is ultimately what attracted me to rush in the first place and why I decided to go through with the big bad process.

Rush is an experience, I’ll give it that. You walk into these dainty little sorority houses that are decorated with flowers and balloons bustling with srat stars who are stationed in elaborate positions throughout the house to converse with you. They also offer you beverages (the non-alcoholic kind, srat rush is dry) (obviously) (so is fraternity rush) (right?).

But yours truly was in for quite a treat since I was a second year. This translates into an infinitely more awkward experience than rush is destined to be.

The perks of being a second year during rush is that you’ll certainly know a few people in most houses. The cons of being a second year during rush is that you’ll know a few people in most houses. And that you’re a second year.

It’s not that it’s bad to rush as a second year, but it’s perceived as abnormal and some of the girls unintentionally make it downright uncomfortable – even when they’re trying really hard not to. Conversations usually gravitated towards how my first semester at UVA was which resulted in me wincing and letting them know I was a second year.

Sometimes, this was met with surprised eyes and the classic “Oh!”

Others forced a smile, but seemed a bit uninterested.

And some were pretty cool with it, as they should be. There’s nothing wrong with being a second year during rush, man. In fact, it’s more chill in my opinion.

And then this question frequently arose in convo: “Why did you decide to rush as a second year?”

This is by far my least favorite question, and though I had a good response (family vacation overlapped with rush), you wouldn’t ask a first year this.

What if I didn’t have the GPA last year for rush?

What if I couldn’t afford to rush last year?

What if I just didn’t know if I wanted to rush or not?

Some houses were more mindful than others, but this was something that I learned to mindfully insert into conversation so I wouldn’t run into the awkward surprised response later.

The only negative experience I encountered with rush was when a girl asked me how it was possible to live in the International House if “I wasn’t, like, foreign,” to which I replied that I really enjoyed traveling and that I had dual nationality from Poland.

She then deadpanned, looked me in the eyes and asked me, “Doesn’t Poland have like really good hot dogs and turtles?”

Was too stunned and too lost for words with that one. I was also a bit disappointed when some girls thought they were being surreptitious when they inspected my coat tag (assumably for what brand and size it was), but I digress.

Other than the second year tidbit, I found rush to be not too shabby. I met some great girls within my group and I had a great Pi Chi (a temporarily disaffiliated sorority girl who leads you to each of the houses).

Rush can be a great experience for some, but it really depends on the mindset that you approach it with.  The largest piece of advice that I’d like to give prospective rushees (dubbed as PNM’s – potential new members) is to not take rush too seriously.

For real, please don’t.

I’d drift into the bathroom to make sure I didn’t have lipstick in my teeth and was met by a clique of mascara stained faces sobbing over their schedules.

The anticipation of receiving your schedule for the next day is an adrenaline rush – it’s an exciting time to see who called you back and how the day’s following events will ensue. However, it’s absolutely no reason to break down and sob if you didn’t end up getting the house you want.

With these implications, I can see why sorority rush is so daunting to most. You go to the house and you think you have the perfect convo, only to be let down when you’re cut.

It’s kinda like when you’re really excited about getting a 92 on a test, but then you realize you got a 92 out of 150 points.

Also, walking around in a dress and platforms in Tundra like conditions is never ideal. No matter the occasion.

It’s cold af.

Like, really cold.

Right before prefs, dubbed as the dressiest and most important round, I ended up withdrawing. Despite receiving a callback to a few houses, my favorite didn’t call me back, but I was unsure I was even keen on joining in the first place. At the end of the day, some great houses had invited me back, but I ultimately decided that being a srat star just wasn’t my thing.

But the geotags were mega cool.