Kelly over at Speaking From the Crib inspired me to do a post today about my Greek experiences in college. I'm going to
**I must preface this by saying I was the first female in my family to go Greek. As such, I was not a legacy and did not have any recs because I didn't have a clue.**
In 1994, I was a freshman at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi. I was delusional determined to become a sorority girl to nullify the negative experiences my high school nerdom had brought about. There were four houses on our small campus. Being slightly stupid naive, I thought I would simply attend the rush parties and determine which house I liked best and join there. I quickly chose Kappa Delta and even called my mother on Pref Night to inform her that I would be running to the KD house on Bid Day the following morning. I had gone to KD and Tri Delt prefs, and logically assumed the choice between the two was in my hands. WRONG.
The scene: My dorm, Becky Bacot Hall, 2nd West, Bid Day morning. Enter my Rho Chi, or Rush Counselor, bearing our bid cards. My roommate got hers first (Tri Delta, her first choice) and began jumping around excitedly. My heart started thumping as I tore open my envelope next. I figured I must be going blind because I saw Phi Mu written inside rather than KD. I began to sob. Hard.
And that's when I heard it: the loud wailing coming from the hallway. There were four others like me on 2nd West, four other girls who had desperately wanted to be something besides Phi Mu. We bonded over snot and Kleenex and then dutifully donned our pink and white. We trudged over to the Phi Mu house with tear stains on our cheeks while the other girls clammored over one another to get to their houses.
Fate is a funny thing. I grew to love Phi Mu. I wore my jersey with a big pink ribbon in my hair. I proudly put on goofy costumes year after year:
Yep, me in the middle. Dressed as Piglet. My Big Sis was Winne the Pooh, not pictured here.
I got involved with the chapter once I realized it wasn't all about swaps and parties and baking cookies at the house. I became Spirit Chair. I was Co-Pledge Educator, and then served on the Executive Board as our Panhellenic Representative (which taught me why I couldn't simply "choose " my sorority & how I fell into Phi Mu). But you know what? If I had it to do all over again, I would choose Phi Mu first. I was lucky to have an instant and fabulous group of friends who didn't judge me. Who loved me for being me. And because of our bond, my many walks of shame nights of debauchery will remain secrets they will carry to their graves.
That is me in the middle in the top row. Yes, I am wearing overalls and pigtails.
Yes, they are part of the costume theme thing, but I also wore them regularly
& thought this was acceptable.
To Heather J., Kim T., "Red", and the others in my pledge class of '94: Thank goodness for you! To my big sis Amanda: I miss you & I'm sorry we grew apart once I got engaged. To my three little sisters, Tammy, Christy, and Ann: I LOVE YOU! I also had an amazing Grand Big Sis (Jennifer C.) and Great Grand Big Sis (Rachel A.)--you know how crazy all the family trees can get, right? But it filled a void for me since I never had a real sister. Suddenly I had 50-something. It was overwhelming and lovely and fun.
As sisters, we shared so much. However, it wasn't until right before graduation that we realized exactly how much. At a special ceremony for the seniors one night, we spilled lots of juicy secrets. We realized there was a common male denominator. A certain fraternity boy who shall remain nameless. Apparently he had an affinity for Phi Mu's and made the rounds without our knowledge. A sneaky one, he was. I think at least 5 or 6 out of the 10 of us (including yours truly) who were about to graduate confessed to having fooled around with this guy at some point. I generally don't have a problem with leftovers, but these left a rotten taste in my mouth!
Were you in a sorority/fraternity? Which one? Was it the one you really wanted? What are your favorite memories of those years?
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