One text message just changed my life. Thank you, technology, for allowing me to receive updates on my sorority rush status in a simple 160–character message. Less than three hours ago, I got a personal invitation to Zeta Tau Alpha’s preference night.
Like 299 other girls on Penn’s campus, I’m rushing Zeta Tau Alpha this week. After two days of rush events, including a Philanthropy Night (in case you were wondering why girls suddenly donned pink dresses and collectively headed toward Houston Hall).
I’ve talked to many girls, freshman and juniors alike, who like me are genuinely excited about potentially becoming a ZTA. Although some went through rush earlier this year, I couldn’t detect a smidgen of bitterness in anyone’s demeanor. These girls thoroughly impressed me and made me reflect on my own rush experience.
When I did formal recruitment at the beginning of this semester, I entered the process with pure skepticism. But sometime after the second day, I fell in love. Being in a sorority, something that was never even a priority, became something I genuinely cared about. I couldn’t believe the effect that 20 minute conversations with strangers had on my perspective. At the end of the day, I wanted nothing more than to be Greek.
But as it turns out, at the end of the hellish week, I was anything but Greek. Being dropped on bid night dashed my pledge class chanting, sisterly quality time, three–letter printed dreams. Like many other deserving girls, I felt cheated. I’d returned to my skepticism, but this time for an entirely different reason.
But as I reread the text message of my dreams, I feel a smile spread across my face and I wonder where that old, tired skepticism has gone. The women of ZTA have won me over with their gigantic pink ribbons sweeping across campus and daily doses of teal in their outfits. A month later than most, I find myself putting away my bitterness and accepting an invitation to pref night. Hello, ZTA. It’s nice to finally meet you.
