Initial Impressions - Groundwork In Class Activity

When I first stepped into my subculture, I cannot even begin to tell you how I nervous I was. Anyone who tells you that going into recruitment is easy and carefree and nothing to be nervous about, has no idea what they're talking about. I mean, you shouldn't be nervous in a sense that something will happen to you or that someone's going to be mean to you, etc. I was so nervous because first in recruitment, you start out traveling to eleven different sororities on campus, talking to girls from each one. Then you vote and it goes down to six. Then down to three. Then to Bid Day where you get only one! It's so nervewracking because you don't know if the ones you love will ask you back or not. My first impressions were obviously proven that I was nervous, scared, and yet so excited to go through this new experience. It's weird, feeling such an array of feelings at once, but I know everyone knows exactly what I'm talking about. 

When I first was accepted into Chi Omega, I only knew four or five girls that I talked to during recruitment that I really liked. Therefore, when I was put into a room with 19 other new girls and 50 of my new sisters, I felt completely awkward and overwhelmed. Yeah I had seen these girls during recruitment but to be completely honest, if I hadn't talked to them they had simply become a blur. I remember asking myself, what in the world am I getting myself into? I don't look like these girls. Some of these girls are drop dead gorgeous, I'm not one of them. However, I believe that everyone feels these feelings when they are first introduced to a group. Everything at first is so so so overwhelming. You're unsure of where to start, who to talk to first, how on earth you're going to remember everyone's names, etc. 

At first, I knew that I was an outsider because it's hard to become an insider right away when you are accepted into a group. For starters, new members are different than initiated members and initiated members can do more than new members can. For example, new members cannot attend formal chapter until they are initiated. Also, new girls cannot hold executive positions obviously until they are initiated. This puts new members out of two categories, being an official sister and on an executive committee. Also, Chi Omega's here at BSU are just one chapter of the many chapters all around the world. If we were to go to other chapters we would be accepted because we are all sisters, however we would be outsiders at first because we wouldn't know the girls and be in the relationships they have formed over the years.