Dear Sisters,

It's been a rough two weeks, but as you got to welcome your new members on Bid Day, I hope you realized it was all worth it. Through all the sleepless nights, the emotional breakdowns, the rush crushes, and the drama that inevitably comes with recruitment, I can say with certainty that it was all worth it. It was worth it to see you all grow closer with each other. It was worth it to watch you meet your "future littles," and it was even worth it to stay awake until 5 am perfecting the art of "bumping." (Thank you to nationals for finally teaching us this wide known technique that our chapter never was taught.)

But most of all, it was worth it to me because it was worth it to you. And for that, I want to say thank you.

Thank you for coming to all the workshops that seemed to go on for hours. I never imagined that I could spend over 30 hours on teaching women how to converse with other women. Who knew "girl flirting" was actually something that can be taught?

Thank you for following the rules. Between our national's rules, Panhellenic rules, and our own rules, recruitment week can be a bit of a change in lifestyle for many people. But thank you for being so adaptable. 

Thank you for bringing me caffeine. Seriously. I would have been dead on the second day of recruitment without my vanilla mocha and venti iced green tea. And yes, I drank both of those within a half hour. Thank you all for not only the Starbucks, but for the endless encouragement and kind words. Having such amazing sisters makes the hard work a whole lot easier. 

Thank you for smiling. Even when your face goes numb. I get it, smiling for endless hours can be hard. But you all did it, and you looked GREAT. Because you're beautiful and I love you all. So keep smiling -- it should be a lot easier now that we have an amazing group of new sisters. 

Thank you for saying "thank you." I cannot tell you how much the text messages I received throughout the past two weeks meant to me. Recruitment can feel like a thankless job, so it is especially great when I hear a simple "thank you."

Thank you for staying positive. I hate to admit it, but there were times where I was not the most positive. Your heart sunshine was the reason everything went so smoothly, and the reason we have such a beautiful new member class. 

Most importantly, thank you for believing in me. Although most recruitment chairs have actually been through formal recruitment on the initiated side, I was totally new at this. That scared the bejeezus out of me, so I can only imagine how you all felt about me taking this position. So many of you stepped up to help me with adjusting to having a position on the executive board, and to explain the logistics of formal recruitment, and to reassure me that I was capable of all of this pressure.

So thank you for being you, and for being the best sisters I could have asked for. 

Love,

Your Recruitment Chair