Thursday, August 29, 2002

Day 1 After Thoughts :

I just finished with the first half of the Unity Round, and I'm so excited! We met at McCarthy Park, where the members of the Panhellenic Executive Board were introduced and gave a speech. The Rho Chis performed a few skits about the rules of rush, and then we broke up into our Rho Chi groups. I have two really sweet Rho Chis, although I didn't meet one until a bit later in the evening because she had class. We decorated our name tags, and then headed to the Row! (The swimmers streaked us. I hate swimmers. But that's another story.)

We went to three parties today; here are a few of my impressions.

House #1: I came in with totally different expectations. This is one of the more prestigious houses at 'SC, but I have to admit, I was really surprised at how much I liked it here. I saw a girl from my classes last year, and the three people that talked to me were all really sweet. The room was REALLY crowded and small, so the noise volume was out of hand. However, the conversation flowed all the time, and each girl that talked to me seemed genuinely interested in listening to my questions and to my concerns. I asked about the philanthropy, and I got the feeling that service was not the main focus of the house. I'm very interested in the philanthropic aspect, so I'm not exactly sure how to react to this information. However, overall, I was pleasantly surprised, and to be honest, I was very impressed with the girls here.

House #2: The first thing that struck me about this house were the beautiful dresses. Every girl wore something different, but similar in color tones. I liked that feeling of individuality. The first girl that rushed me also joined as a sophomore, so that put me at ease. I had a great conversation with all three girls, ranging from USC housing to professors to football games. We also talked about food... evidently the house mother is a great cook! Scholarship seems to be very important to these girls, something that I have in common with them. Again, everyone was very sweet, although the water had more ice in it than water! I was a bit confused by that incident. However, I had a good feeling when I left.

House #3: This was my favorite when I started rush, and again, I was impressed. I had an excellent time... the first girl who rushed me was a bit brash and loud. She actually reminds me a lot of my best friend from home, and I loved that. None of the girls who rushed me *looked* like sorority girls, which I really appreciated. The room was just the perfect size for the girls, so it wasn't half as loud as the other two houses. Two of the girls were on the crew team, so we talked about sports the vast majority of the time. I talked about the joys of being on Silks and supporting the teams, and they talked about how much they liked the band and the Trojan school spirit. I had trouble hearing the last girl, but she was just really sweet. She answered a lot of my questions about the philanthropy and then told me about a few of their exchanges last year, which sounded like a lot of fun! Again, I liked the house a lot.

I have to visit six more houses tomorrow. At the rate I'm going, I won't be able to narrow down my list. I feel like I'd be honored to be in any of these organizations!

Thanks for the support, guys!