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It’s finals week and snowing here in the Midwest; what a lovely combination. I can’t think of a better way to take a study break than to snuggle up by the fireplace with a few pledge sisters and talk about our upcoming winter formal… the reason why I return to school second semester every year… the highlight of January!

Woof.
Who am I kidding? Faking it is not something I’m great at so I won’t even try.

Winter break is days away and that means literally only one thing for a sorority girl (OK, besides presents): winter freaking formal. It’s what every sorority girl looks forward to, right? What she spends her winter break thinking about and shopping for. The sorority event. The night that every potential new member dreams about and counts down to. The stuff sorority life is made of.

I guess.
I’m not going to candy-coat it: I kind of hate this time of year, and since we’re supposed to be getting in the spirit of the Christmas, I guess you could call me the Grinch of Holiday Formals. Ugh. Read More »

[We scoured the country to find the ultimate sorority girl to share her sisterly expertise with you. After reading through tons of applications followed by hours Facebook-stalking all the candidates (which proved difficult thanks to FB's privacy settings....), we found her. She gave you the lowdown on rush and now that you're sitting pretty in your new house, she's moving on to more important topics: date functions.]

It seems like every year ALL the fraternities try to cram their date functions and formals into two weekends in the fall and spring. For a socialite like myself and the rest of my pledge class, juggling all these events can be a bit overwhelming for a girl! (Who am I kidding? The BF is a Pi Kappa Alpha, so unless it’s his fraternity’s function I sit on the sidelines and watch my friends get dolled up while I wish I was, too, desperately throwing together a toga!)

Speaking of toga, who doesn’t want to get asked to a fraternity date function? FINALLY you get to go to your date’s house without worrying about a drunken slew of GDI girls ruining the mood. Just you, your date, his brothers, and their dates – perfect. BUT there are plenty of ways to make the night not-so-perfect.

Everyone has had that “OMG I’m so glad I’m not that girl” moment at a party, and Greek events are definitely no exception. News travels at lightning speed through the Greek community so for your sake (and your sorority’s sake) heed my advice and don’t be that girl! And, believe it or not, ALL the things I am about to advise you NOT to do I have seen first hand. And it’s not a pretty picture. Read More »

OK guys. No pooping by the door, K?

I’ve been to many sorority date parties in my college career and I can say there is nothing sloppier. For those of you who aren’t part of the Greek Life crew on your campus, sorority and fraternity date parties usually go something like this:

Theme: “Crush party”, “Semi-formal”, “Formal”, “Barndance”, etc.
Pre-party: Groups gather at someone’s place (not in the sorority house – that would be against the rules), get a quarter barrel and some cheap vodka, take lots of pictures.
Bus: Already buzzed/drunk college kids armed with water bottles and flasks find their seats and continue drinking. House Social Planner/President get on loud speaker and warn everyone that there will be a $500 fine for whoever pukes on the bus.
Date Party: Very drunk college kids continue to drink and get very, very sloppy. Public makeouts and other lewd behavior ensue.

If you are at Miami of Ohio, though, they go more like this:

Theme
Pre-party
Bus
Date Party
Get Kicked off campus Read More »

Everyone’s got a morning after story and we wanna hear yours! Send it over to us and we’ll post it – anonymously, of course – right here!]

It was time for my sorority’s annual “Crush Party,” where each sister invites as many guys as she wants and we all take a bus trip to a banquet hall. It’s also known as pretty much the biggest drinking event of the semester. Needless to say, my memory became hazy about halfway through the night. Pretty soon I had lost my drinks and my dates (one of whom had found a private closet to get busy in, the other who was grinding with my big sister), and found myself in the arms of a new boy I’d never seen before.

After last call (where the bartender had to tear my vodka soda out of my hands), we got on the bus, made out the whole way home to pass the time, and then returned to his apartment (but not before I made him stop to split a pizza on the way). I kept telling my new friend that I couldn’t sleep over because “I had class the next morning” (this was on a Friday night, mind you), but then decided I’d better stay instead of walking home by myself. After making out on his kitchen counter for a little while, we got into his bed and passed out. Read More »

The beautiful Chicago weather has made it clear that spring has officially arrived. Along with the sunny skies and warm breezes, spring brings Easter, bike rides along the lake, and, oh yeah, my sorority’s spring formal, all to the front of my mind. So while I sat sweating in my last class before the long weekend (when it is 80 degrees outside, you would think they could turn off the heat in classrooms already, but no…) I contemplated who I should bring as a date to the biggest date party of the year.

The art of picking the right formal date is so complicated; there are many things one must consider. I want someone that will for sure be fun, that I feel is worthy of being introduced to my sisters, and that, most importantly, won’t be awkward. Since I had the same boyfriend all through high school, I didn’t have as much experience with the finding the right prom date dilemma as other girls did, so I guess it’s my turn now to experience it!

OK, so it’s not like I have options. I’m a single college girl – of course I’ve got me some options.

First off, we have that sophomore boy who likes me, but I don’t really feel comfortable asking him out of the blue because we haven’t been hanging out as much recently. He’s also a super nice guy and I’m not sure he’d be able to hold his own quite yet at a sorority event.

I always have my best guy friend, who is always fun. I did take him to our fall semi-formal, and though it was super fun, but I don’t know if I want to go with him again. Everyone already thinks we’re dating, and I don’t think I should help reinforce that perception. Read More »

[It's pretty obvious that the average CollegeCandy reader has some very strong opinions. Opinions that she likes to share with everyone on the site. We love a strong woman, so we thought we'd give her a real forum to discuss her thoughts, feelings, and perspectives. Every Friday I'll be featuring a hot topic (like dating a geek!) and leaving it up to you, the readers, to duke it out. So, read it and get your debate on in the comments section below!]

Having spent my college years at a *ahem* non-traditional school, sororities were never something I considered – we don’t even have a campus, let alone a Greek system. But nonetheless, I suppose I’ve always looked down a bit on sorority girls… at least until recently when one of my best friends told me she was going to rush this year. So now, in all fairness, it seems like I owe it to these Greek girls to re-examine my thoughts.

I can certainly see the appeal of a sorority - the belonging, the sisterhood, and it would definitely have been handy to have some older girls around as a kind of mentor for those times when I let myself get out of hand. You have a place to live (a place that’s probably nicer than the dorms); you have a choice of what kind of group you want to be with, so you probably have some things in common. By being thrown into a sort of automatic family, you up your chances of making friends, moreso than in most ordinary social situations, and you are more bonded with those friends because of all that you share. Read More »