Recruitment as a PNM vs Chapter Member

Going through recruitment as a Potential New Member (PNM) and as an initiated member are two very different experiences. However, the both involve the same amount of excitement.

As a PNM the excitement was mixed in with nerves. Constantly wondering which chapters I would go back to, what each chapter thought of me, I was anxiously awaiting bid day the entire time.

However, as an initiated member who will be recruiting for the second time this upcoming Fall there is an excitement of what the next generation of my chapter will look like, who our next officers in upcoming years will be and the many amazing women that I will get to meet during the first two weeks of Fall semester.

Last year, I met my future little on day one of recruitment, Spirit Day. I didn’t know it yet, but I could tell she was a great fit for my chapter. In the hopes that she would come back, she ended up running home to us on bid day – eventually becoming my little just a month later.

But recruitment is not just about finding your big or your little, it is about so much more.

For some women, recruitment is a place to find their place of belonging during their time in college, their home away from home, their girl gang.

Even for those members who do not run home to my chapter, I only ever wish the best for them that they find their home – whether it is within Panhellenic, a chapter of a different council, or a club or a team of their own choice.

That is the greatest lesson you learn when you recruit after going through formal recruitment yourself; everyone finds their fit one way or another and all you can do is welcome them to your community or wish them the best.

Meeting someone you think would be perfect for your chapter, but then not seeing them the next day or seeing them on bid day can be disheartening, however you have to be happy and hope that they find what works best for them.

Leaving the process or not running home to a specific chapter can happen for a variety of reasons.

Financial reasons, schedule issues, many different personal reasons that stay with that PNM and that PNM only. Whilst it is encouraged to follow through with the process and see what happens, it is okay to admit that maybe formal recruitment at this time in your college career isn’t the best for you.

Joining a specific chapter, or not joining any chapter at all, does not limit you to socialize with those specific members or not.

The point of recruitment and sorority life is not to separate you from other chapters or people you may know. It is to open you up to a new wave of connections that you can utilize to the best of your availability, boost your confidence, and make the most of the many opportunities that may come your way.

Whilst I don’t recognize the PNM I was in correlation to the Panhellenic woman that I am now, it is truly astonishing to think back on every opportunity that has come my way and all the doors that Panhellenic has opened up for me, that I can only hope that every woman who goes through recruitment has the same experience.

Going into this second year of recruiting, I have no fear or worry of who I may end up talking to when the doors open during each round. I feel confident in myself that I can hold a conversation with someone who may be a great fit for my chapter, someone who may be a better fit elsewhere, or someone who is worried about the entire process.

Recruitment can be full of nerves, but that is the exciting part about it on both sides of the doors. You never know who you are going to speak to, what they are like, or how you will impact one another’s lives.

Some women you may only ever meet and speak to once in your life, and that may just be during recruitment. Others will stay in your lives, run home to you and may become your best friends. There really is no way of telling until those doors open each day.

Recruitment is exciting, nerve-wracking and full of surprises. I had the same butterflies on Spirit Day as a PNM as I did on Spirit Day as a recruiting member. I may be a completely different person, but recruitment is just the same for a recruiting member, as it is for a PNM.

One piece of advice about the whole thing – you may find your people, you may not. You may find your home, you may not. But the experience is unlike any other and you never know what amazing people you will meet, things like this are definitely worth the chance to take part in.

I cannot wait to meet all the new amazing women going through recruitment this year! I am just as nervous as you are but try and turn those nerves into excitement. The butterflies will all calm down on bid day, I promise you!