So you finally made up your mind on goingthrough sorority recruitment. You thought long and hard about going through with it. People may have given you so many reasons why to go through recruitment. They have probably said things like, “Oh, you will break out of your shell” or “It’s a great way to get more social.” But we both know that for you your goal probably is not to, “break out of your shell”. You are an introvert. You prefer quiet time and you cherish alone time. The thought of constantly being surrounded by others sounds exhausting to you. Not to mention the small talk that comes with going through recruitment.

When I was a senior in high school I had a lot of people trying to convince me to go through recruitment. I was scared to go through because I did not feel as if I could be the “typical” sorority girl type. I knew that going Greek would entail a lot of social activities with a lot of people, the most daunting of those activities being recruitment. I knew that even though I like and can be social, I also like to just be by myself. I have had no problem being alone and sometimes I prefer being alone. It gives me peace. So, when I finally decided to go through with recruitment I received a lot of tips and advice from alumna and actives alike. One of the tips that I got for recruitment was to break out of my shell during recruitment; to be more bubbly. While the tip was a well-meaning tip, it kind of scared the daylights out of me. I thought if I were to ever be in a sorority I was going to have to act bubbly all of the time. I went through recruitment scared that I was not going to be bubbly enough for any sorority, let alone the one I was really hoping for. So when the time came for recruitment to start I tried my best to be full of energy and bubbly. I was honestly scared that no one would like me because I was not bubbly enough. I thought that I had to entirely hide a huge part of my personality. That was until someone gave me a great piece of advice; to just be myself. It had not dawned on me that in order for me to find a sorority I liked, I had to act like myself. I did not have to be super bubbly for a sorority to like me. I realized that if I acted completely opposite from myself during recruitment I would end up cheating myself. So when I went through recruitment I went in completely as myself. Sure, recruitment was overwhelming. At times I wanted to drop out of recruitment because I thought it would be too overwhelming for me, but I stayed anyway. I ended up absolutely loving a particular house. To my surprise I received a bid from them.

So for you, fellow introvert, don’t be hesitant to be yourself when going through recruitment. You will only cheat yourself in the long run anyway.