Learning to Fly - Post 12
Quote of the Day:
"Sisterhood is the essense of all the wisdom of the ages, distilled into a single word. You cannot see sisterhood, neither can you hear it nor taste it. But youc an feel it a hundred times a day. It's someone to share with, to celebrate your achievements."
- Anonymous
Hello and welcome back!
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and a relaxing break.
I closed my building on Dec. 15th, so I've spent the past couple of weeks doing absolutely nothing and loving it. I actually stayed in my building all through break - and no, you don't have to feel sorry for me for spending the holiday season alone because I had the best time of my life. I would wake up in the late morning, stay in bed and read until I got hungry, then make a quick breakfast, move to the living room, read some more, maybe watch some TV in the afternoon or early evening, write some e-mails to friends, practice playing the piano for half an hour or so, maybe go running or do some dance exercise tape (I always get ambitious over break to stay in shape...as soon as work starts again though I'm very quick to drop that) followed by a nice long shower, eventually crawl into bed and read some more until I would fall asleep. It was WONDERFUL!
Now I'm back at work. Our buildings actually opened on January 2nd for sorority recruitment. That means, the female residents who are interested in sororities come back to attend a variety of Open Houses with various sororities. After the Open Houses (where they have to visit all sororities), they are invited back to First Round Interviews for a few sororities. Then it goes on to Second Round Interviews, etc.
So I've been having over 50 residents in my building already, even though we don't officially open until Sunday. One of my RAs came on Jan. 1st to help me with sorority recruitment (basically be on duty at night) and the rest of them returned yesterday or today. We had some training today; we're doing "fun stuff" tomorrow; more training on Sunday and then it's "BACK TO REALITY."
But let's chat a little bit more about this sorority recruitment business. Tonight, the first cuts happened. The women going through the process received their schedules for this weekend, which told them what sororities invited them back. The residents in my building are split into three groups, each one led by a "Greek Life Guide" (a current sorority member). So tonight, they were waiting in the lounges of my buildings for their Greek Life Guide to show up and hand them their schedules. And of course afterwards, there was an "explosion" of feelings and emotions - some of them were invited back to all the ones they wanted and are exstatic right now; others didn't get the ones they wanted and are close to tears; some got 12 interviews and are stressed over having to do so many; while others got only 4 or 5 and feel like they aren't as good as their friends.
As staff, we've been told that there is a sorority for everyone and that in the end, almost all students will get into one sorority...as long as they keep an open mind. And I'm sure it will work out for my residents...and even if they don't get the sorority they want, they'll find a way to deal with it and maybe explore other leadership opportunities on campus...but it seems like a really nerve-racking and cruel process. Never having worked with Greek Life and not having been affiliated to any Greek organizations myself, I am struggling to find ways to support my residents. It's one of those things where, when you haven't experienced it yourself, it's challenging to relate and to know what to say. I'm sure Greek Life here is doing everything they can to make the process as pleasant for the women as possible...but it's just so sad to see them all upset over having been cut after the Open House or because of not having received as many invites as their roommate or best friend.
And I have to admit, it was one of those things I was entirely unprepared for. Yeah, I knew this school had a much bigger and prominent Greek Life community than any school I've worked at before. But I didn't know what that really meant...and how that'd affect me.
Well, let's keep our fingers crossed that we make it through sorority recruitment without too many tears.
"Sisterhood is the essense of all the wisdom of the ages, distilled into a single word. You cannot see sisterhood, neither can you hear it nor taste it. But youc an feel it a hundred times a day. It's someone to share with, to celebrate your achievements."
- Anonymous
Hello and welcome back!
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and a relaxing break.
I closed my building on Dec. 15th, so I've spent the past couple of weeks doing absolutely nothing and loving it. I actually stayed in my building all through break - and no, you don't have to feel sorry for me for spending the holiday season alone because I had the best time of my life. I would wake up in the late morning, stay in bed and read until I got hungry, then make a quick breakfast, move to the living room, read some more, maybe watch some TV in the afternoon or early evening, write some e-mails to friends, practice playing the piano for half an hour or so, maybe go running or do some dance exercise tape (I always get ambitious over break to stay in shape...as soon as work starts again though I'm very quick to drop that) followed by a nice long shower, eventually crawl into bed and read some more until I would fall asleep. It was WONDERFUL!
Now I'm back at work. Our buildings actually opened on January 2nd for sorority recruitment. That means, the female residents who are interested in sororities come back to attend a variety of Open Houses with various sororities. After the Open Houses (where they have to visit all sororities), they are invited back to First Round Interviews for a few sororities. Then it goes on to Second Round Interviews, etc.
So I've been having over 50 residents in my building already, even though we don't officially open until Sunday. One of my RAs came on Jan. 1st to help me with sorority recruitment (basically be on duty at night) and the rest of them returned yesterday or today. We had some training today; we're doing "fun stuff" tomorrow; more training on Sunday and then it's "BACK TO REALITY."
But let's chat a little bit more about this sorority recruitment business. Tonight, the first cuts happened. The women going through the process received their schedules for this weekend, which told them what sororities invited them back. The residents in my building are split into three groups, each one led by a "Greek Life Guide" (a current sorority member). So tonight, they were waiting in the lounges of my buildings for their Greek Life Guide to show up and hand them their schedules. And of course afterwards, there was an "explosion" of feelings and emotions - some of them were invited back to all the ones they wanted and are exstatic right now; others didn't get the ones they wanted and are close to tears; some got 12 interviews and are stressed over having to do so many; while others got only 4 or 5 and feel like they aren't as good as their friends.
As staff, we've been told that there is a sorority for everyone and that in the end, almost all students will get into one sorority...as long as they keep an open mind. And I'm sure it will work out for my residents...and even if they don't get the sorority they want, they'll find a way to deal with it and maybe explore other leadership opportunities on campus...but it seems like a really nerve-racking and cruel process. Never having worked with Greek Life and not having been affiliated to any Greek organizations myself, I am struggling to find ways to support my residents. It's one of those things where, when you haven't experienced it yourself, it's challenging to relate and to know what to say. I'm sure Greek Life here is doing everything they can to make the process as pleasant for the women as possible...but it's just so sad to see them all upset over having been cut after the Open House or because of not having received as many invites as their roommate or best friend.
And I have to admit, it was one of those things I was entirely unprepared for. Yeah, I knew this school had a much bigger and prominent Greek Life community than any school I've worked at before. But I didn't know what that really meant...and how that'd affect me.
Well, let's keep our fingers crossed that we make it through sorority recruitment without too many tears.
posted by StudentAffairs.com at
8:46 PM
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