Rho Gamma

I gave up my LETTERS to help you find YOURS

What is a rho gamma, you ask? It’s an experience that lead me to creating new friendships and appreciating the Greek community more. And to think I wasn’t going to sign up for it back in April.

A rho gamma is someone who distillates (give up their letters) from their sorority starting at the end of the Spring semester up until the last day of recruitment in the Fall semester. Yes, I was not able to wear my letters for about 4 months and no, it was not easy. The recruitment team pairs up 2 or 3 rho gammas from different chapters to mentor a group of 25-30 girls who are interested in joining a sorority. The week of recruitment is the longest and a good day can turn into a bad one in minutes.

At my school, recruitment is a 5 day event that are split into 3 rounds. First 2 days is Sisterhood Round. The 3rd day is Philanthropy Round. The 4th day is Preference Round, where girls make the last decision of which sorority to join. And then the 5th day is BID DAY which you get your bid from a sorority. Each day is super long but once you make it to bid day and you’re holding your bid then it’s all worth it.

Being a rho gamma is literally job. From the first day you get PNMS (Possible New Members) into your group me to the last day you see them running to their new homes on Bid Day. We have to be there at least 2 hours before recruitment starts and stay after the PNMs leave after every round. Mentoring them can seem easy but when they are indecisive between 2 chapters it can literally take hours to come to a final decision. You have to deal with chapters dirty rushing or promising bids and convince PNMs to not drop recruitment because they are sad their favorite chapter dropped them. But I would go through all of this again in a heartbeat!

As a rho gamma there was a couple of hard moments but overall it is so much fun. I got an opportunity to make new friendships with other ladies from other chapters like my rho gam partners, Ashley and Caitlin. They were the best partners I could’ve asked for and don’t think this experienced would have been the same without them. And not to brag but we had the best rho gamma group! We got a chance to get to know every girl and they are some amazing ladies that will make a difference in their chapters.

My favorite part of being a rho gamma has to be after recruitment is over. Weeks after they find their home, wither it’s at a game or around campus, I see them walking with their new sisters with the biggest smiles on their faces. Like right now as I’m writing this post in McAlister’s, I see one of my rho gam girls in her chapter shirt, laughing with her sisters. I can’t help to think that Ashley, Caitlin, and I helped them get to that point in their lives.

And to think I almost missed out on this experience. Back in March when applications were about to be due I wasn’t going to turn one in. But my big, Ari convinced me to since she was a rho gamma for Fall 16′, she knew it would be a great experience for me. I finally send my application because I wanted to do try something new, something for myself. And I am so glad that I did!

So when you’re hesitant about trying something new, just go for it! Because if you don’t, you have no idea what you’ll be missing out on.