If you ask my mother about the sports or activities I was involved in as a child I promise you her response will be, "She dabbled in everything. Soccer, dance, tennis, but she didn't stick with anything. The only thing she didn't quit was religion."
I usually try to defend myself by going on and on about how it just took me a while to discover my love for running. But, she never lets me go on for too long since she agrees with me. Besides, her motto is, "Don't do anything you don't want to do." I've followed those instructions all my life. I'd rather have the reputation of being a quitter than do something that doesn't make sense to me.
Sorority recruitment is something that didn't make sense to me.
Prior to my arrival in Charleston, I was guilty of stereotyping sorority girls as tall, blonde and always happy. Once I was persuaded to undergo the process of sorority recruitment I learned that not all of them are tall and blonde.
However, most of them are always happy.
Realizing this I told myself that there's a chance I could be a sorority girl, although I still didn't see it in my future. So, I went about the process as an experiment. An experiment to find out if I still know myself as well as I did all those times I was a quitter.
The second to last day of the recruitment process I called my mom and told her that I didn't think the whole thing was for me.
It was nothing that the process did to me personally, I just simply didn't agree with the recruitment process nor did I agree with what was to follow after bid day. Referring to her motto she immediately said, "Then don't do it." The thing I love most about my mom is how simple she makes everything seem.
"But I don't want to just quit," I responded. Right after those words escaped my mouth I smirked since quitting is what I do best. So, did I go to bid day? Nope.
Most girls went into the recruitment process with the intention of becoming a member of a sorority. That's usually how it goes. I, on the other hand, went through the process to answer one question. Am I still the girl I always have been? A girl that is open to surprises but knows herself so well to know that surprises don't come often.
The answer is yes.
Going to college, it is important to know who you are and what makes sense to you. Although I still have blisters on my feet from the constant walking in the Steve Madden platform sandals that every girl in this city owns, I am grateful to have gone through the recruitment process for the purpose of reaffirming who I am.
If being a part of Greek life makes sense to you, do it. If it doesn't, and you are sure it doesn't, don't. And if you're like me, go through it just in case you do surprise yourself. It's more simple than you think.
