For those of you who have never been involved in the sorority life, Rush exists as a time when each sorority displays their house in hopes of gaining new members in the beginning of a school year. Over a thousand girls each year will go to all the 17 sorority houses at the University of Georgia and pick the house they admire the most.
Being in a predominately Jewish sorority (Sigma Delta Tau), we are completely lax when it comes to rush, always carrying the idea that if you are Jewish, you will join...so why work countless hours on cheers, songs, dances, chants and such when we can be laying out at the pool? Rush workshop is a brutal time period where we must learn every potential girls name over and over, practice beyond what anyone can imagine, and make ourselves as fake as we possibly can be, in order to seem appealing to all the freshman that come in.
When I went through Rush and traveled to each house, I was pretty appalled at the fakeness that each girl presented. They would smile tremendously and giggle at every little thing I had to say. Moreover, they would compliment me with the same compliments at each and every house: "I love your shoes", "Your dress is so cute", "You are just adorable! We would love to have you here!". I was SO over it. The only house that gave me a true real perspective and told me how it was was SDT.
A year later, it came time for me to be on the other side of things and be the one to be cheery and happy to all these girls. Needless to say, it was a miserable experience. We would spent 12 hour days a week before Rush chanting, memorizing, talking, dancing. As much as I wanted to skip it, I knew it was a $150 fine each day that I would miss. I trucked through the process, knowing that the next year I would have to get out of it some way.
And so I did. I got put as head of food committee, meaning that all I was responsible for was preparing/buying the food. No cheers, bubblyness, phonyness, nothing. While this seemed like a much better opportunity than the previous one, I still struggled with the whole Rush process and the artificial act that was given off to incoming Freshman.
So this year, I have planned to escape the Rush process by "getting my tonsils out". My other roommate has "an internship that lasts til the day school starts" and my third friend "is going on a family vacation that was planned a year ago". Needless to say, 30 out of the 40 girls in my pledge class have gotten out of Rush somehow.
At rush workshop this past Sunday, only eight girls showed up in my grade. While this number is quite shockingly low, it also pinpointed to the fact that all of us were denying a commitment that we needed to have; participating in Rush and gaining new members is the only way to have a future for SDT. Even though the Rush process truly sucks, I love the sorority and I would not want to jeopardize us not gaining any more members because none of the older girls failed to show up.
As upcoming seniors, we have the responsibility to be leaders and provide a good example of teamwork, and trucking through a time together that no one enjoys. I have decided to move my tonsil appointment up a few days and attend Rush, because through the thick and thin, I can't just think of myself when it comes to something I feel passionately about (the sorority). I hope that others will follow in my footsteps so we can show the next incoming freshman how truly awesome their senior girls are.
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