Whether you’re an incoming freshman, transfer student or current student here at UK and haven’t previously been affiliated with Greek Life, you can sign up to go through recruitment this coming August. Having gone through recruitment during the fall of my freshman year, I’d love to share my experience with you guys.
I always thought I would join a sorority going through high school just because most people who graduated from where I live join one. Coming from out of state, I thought it would also be a good idea to meet people other than the three people I knew, one being my sister. The way the University of Kentucky does recruitment differs from how I thought it was going to go down and from what I’ve heard. It truly is value-based recruitment, which is great.
Once recruitment started, I was super excited and really enjoyed all of the conversations I got to have (shoutout to the girl I talked to who told me to get involved with KRNL). I definitely had houses I could see myself in and others that weren’t the right fit. I ended the third day on the floor with my friends, whom I made through my gamma chi group, tearing up saying I wanted to drop out of recruitment. I thought that I wouldn’t find a house that I truly loved and didn’t want to be in it just because my sister was. I stuck with it, though, and at the end of preference day spent an hour sitting in Memorial Hall choosing between my final two houses because I could easily see myself in both.
I know people have had similar experiences, but everyone truly has their own experience with it, and it’s vital to not share all of your thoughts and opinions with other girls going through the process just because you want the experience to be unhindered by others' thoughts and opinions. I am so thankful and happy I am in the sorority that I am in because it has brought me friendships and opportunities that I wouldn’t have without it. Not only has it brought me this, but I can confidently say I feel at home there, and think everyone can have that if they ~trust the process~.
I wanted to share a little bit of my experience with you guys to show that maybe there will be times where you don’t know if you like any of the houses, or maybe you're torn between houses, or you’re trying to decide if you even want to go through the recruitment process. My point of view is that really nothing bad can come from it, you get to meet girls who live on your floor through your gamma chi group (some of the gals I met are my closest friends at school), you get an opportunity to meet people you might become best friends with within all of the sororities, hear about stuff that goes on around campus, and you get some t-shirts! If you genuinely aren’t happy at the end of the process, you aren’t required to accept the bid and be in the sorority. All of the logistics are better explained here.
If you do decide to go through recruitment, here are a few tips I have for you:
1. Be honest with yourself: It’s pretty easy to get caught up in the glitz aspect of it. Be true to who you are and don’t put up a front if that’s not your authentic self. You want to be comfortable with the house you're in, not consistently feel like you have to be someone you're not. I promise you that you’ll get the most out of your experience if you really listen to yourself and what you want, not what others around you think about things. With all of that being said, most definitely don’t be scared to brag and talk about yourself. Sororities and the girls recruiting want to know you, and you want to stand out to them.
2. Be polite: If you don’t like one of the houses, don’t just sit there and make it awkward for the other girl you're talking to. Being rude and disrespectful to girls in those houses just because you don’t want a bid from them can result in further consequences.
3. I mentioned ~trust the process~ but you’ll hear this about 129 times and yes it does get annoying, but seriously just trust the process! I didn’t get asked back to a few of the houses I loved and wanted to be in, but I stuck it through and ended up with the one that I genuinely fit into the best, and I think that’s true for everyone. The girls recruiting know their sorority well and want the best for you just as you want the best for yourself.
4. Have fun! Recruitment doesn’t have to be intimidating, and it isn’t! If you find out it isn’t for you there is so much more you can get involved with at UK, and it is so easy to do that as well.