Alpha Love

If I was still in school, I would have spent the entirety of last week preparing for and participating in formal sorority recruitment at IU. During my last year as an active member, I served as one of our Recruitment Chairs so recruitment meant a lot to me.

Side Note:
Recruitment at Indiana University is a little different than at most universities.  For one thing, there are 19 chapters on campus that participate in the formal recruitment process. For another thing, it's highly selective as a system. Every other school with NPH sororities is under something called a total quota system. That means, as a Potential New Member, if you make it to the last round of recruitment, you're guaranteed a bid. At Indiana, there's still a chance you can be released from the system. In total, the amount of women receiving bids is about half of the number that initially sign up for recruitment.  Now, many of these women leave on their own, or don't make grades, but there are still a large number that the system just doesn't work out for them.  Yes this is a little harsh and slightly elitist but at the same time, it's worked really well for the system.  The way the chapters and their houses are set up, there isn't much room for change anyway.

Back to why I started writing in the first place.

There are many reasons recruitment meant so much to me.  One, it brings in the future of your chapter.  The women you bring into the house as the new pledge class will be the ones to carry on your legacy after you've left. Two, it really brings the house closer together.  You spend so much time on preparing and getting ready that you really get to see everyone's best and worst.  Everyone's running on so little sleep that by the end of it, you don't know what's going on half the time.  When the new girls step off the bus and you're beginning to welcome in the next pledge class, you see that all the hard work paid off and what an amazing thing you've just accomplished.  Three, with all of the focus on trying to get the potential new members to want to join your house, you really get a chance to remember why  you're where you are.

It really takes you back to being in their shoes; so unsure of what the next few days would bring.  It's hard to remember sometimes that just a little while back, you were sitting right were they are, about to make a huge choice that would change your life for the better.  Not knowing at the time, that just a little further into the future and you can't imagine your life any differently.  As one of my friends put it:

"the best way I can describe it is finding a huge part of yourself that you didn't even know was missing, then wondering everyday how you lived without it. AOII ♥" 

Couldn't have put it any better myself.  

I've spent the past week or so reading statuses, getting texts, phone calls, seeing pictures go up, etc. and just feel like I'm totally missing out.  I know it's time to move on, I've had my moment and now it's time for the girls left to have theirs, it's just very hard to let go.  At least I know that I was there in spirit, and I can't wait to hear how the newbs are doing.  

Alpha Love, 


Alli


This is my wonderful Pledge Class! Love you all