Each of us the child may bless with a single gift...no more, no less

The past 2 days have been wonderful! For the past week, I've been participating in rush week for a sorority. As you can see, my last post was written right in the middle of the process and I was starting to get anxious and irritable. But now it's all over. Bid night was on Sunday, where I went to my final two houses and then ranked them as the one I wanted most, and then the one I wanted second if I couldn't get into my first choice. I was dead tired and was just looking forward to being done. I started getting really nervous as i walked across campus to see if I got in, then my rush counselor told me that I had gotten into Alpha Delta Pi...my first choice. I was ecstatic and finally feeling like the whole greuling rush process was worth it. One of the coolest parts of the night was when all the rush counselors (who had hidden their own chapter identities during the week) revealed which chapters they belonged to. Unfortunately, neither of my counselors were in ADPi. Anyway, after we found out what sorority we were in and got grouped with our pledge class (who all looked incredibly dazed and lost in a sea of other girls who were shouting, cheering and hugging the first person they saw), we ran down to the house and met up with the rest of our sorority. I met my big sis, whose name is also Sara, but without the H. She’s a very nice girl and we get along well. She gave me a chapter shirt and we all went into the house, which was set up like a mini-casino with blackjack, roulette, and craps…none of which I know how to play. It was evident that I didn’t know what I was doing when I just slapped some chips on a random spot on the roulette table and the dealer looked up at me and gave me the “you are a complete retard” look. It’s ok, I don’t think I’ll ever become addicted to gambling. The games never really appealed to me and I don’t like gambling with actual money. Monopoly money maybe, but I probably wouldn’t play poker with tens or anything. I’m cheap like that. Anyway, there was also a lot of dancing during bid night. Up until then, I had been very nervous about my decision between the two, but once I got there and hung out with all the girls I knew I had made the right choice. They’re all very down to earth and are already arranging a bunch of upcoming activities. This Thursday after the pledge meeting, a group of the girls are all going out together. I noticed a few of the girls have Disneyland season passes too and were even talking about the mysterious Club 33 where you have to be on a certain list to get in, so maybe we can organize a trip there this year. I don’t care what people say about sorority life. I’ve been already getting a lot of crap from people…”sororities are evil/ why are you changing who you are/all sororities are full of drama.” Blah Blah Blah. I’m not changing anything about my personality to be a part of one and the good aspects are so numerous, like getting know a great group of people and participating in a lot of philanthropy. I think I’m going to have a wonderful year because I already love it. I’m sure anyone who has a problem with it really doesn’t know what they’re talking about because they haven’t experienced it first hand and are just going off generalizations.

It’s been a big priority for me to get involved on campus this year. Last year was lovely, but I had so much free time I’d often get bored. We had the involvement fair the other day and I noticed the Unitarian group so I meandered over and signed up. Our first meeting was today and it was interesting, though I could tell it wasn’t as involved and organized as I would like. There are 7 of us, which amazed me because I hardly expected any other Unitarians at USC. I talked to the head guy about filling the Unitarian space offered on the interfaith council and told him I’d be interested in doing that. It seems so important to me to be involved with interfaith council, just for my own edification and practice in tolerance, acceptance and learning. Plus, Brigitte’s on the board so I’d at least know someone else there. We’ll see how it goes.