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Events overlapped chronologically, but I’m grouping these notes by organization.
Back to Ca’ d’Zan! They advertised 4 open events for spring recruitment, plus frequent tabling near the student union. Rosebud missed the first 2 events due to TBS recruitment events. She really LIKED each of the Ca’ d’Zan women she met in the fall, so she was eager to see them again. She attended their third event – and almost immediately they re-extended the bid. She had a great time at the event, and afterwards we were back to pro-con phone calls, rehashing the same conversations from last semester. Being in a chapter that has a house is starting to matter less and less, though, because she would rather be with people she likes than people she is starting to perceive as clique-y, and she knows she LIKES the Ca’ d’Zan sisters, and she always has. This time around, she also contacted her high school friends who joined Ca’ d’Zan at another campus in the fall, and they were very enthusiastic about her bid. They said, “Everyone likes our chapters on every campus. We are known as nice, friendly women at every university.” (Statistically unlikely, but A+ for team spirit and pride in your sisterhood, ladies.) That’s as may be, but what matters for Rosebud is the girls at THIS campus, and they do seem like they would be a good fit for her. A better fit than some of the other campus groups that appear on social media to be more fashion-focused, because although she does clean up well and loves a good glam night as much as the next girl, Rosebud is somewhat crunchy-granola most of the time. Doesn’t even own a hair dryer.
More importantly: THEY think she would be a good fit for THEM.
I have no idea what she wore to subsequent events: trivia night, invite-only group study session, board games night, invite-only sporting event. It is getting harder to catch her when she’s not on the quiet floor in the library, striving to do well in her science classes. (I don’t remember going to the library this much in college. What is she DOING in there?)
Rosebud was involved in a philanthropy similar to Ca’ d’Zan’s back in elementary school, so that is familiar. Trendy colors, interesting badge, and a symbol that is easy to find while shopping. It’s likely that the smallest org on campus might not have as many social events with fraternities, but Rosebud says she doesn’t care because of all the guy friends she already has in band and in the music Greeks. It’s likely that they will be recruiting all the time, but she says she likes that experience. I do worry a bit that they might close the chapter if it gets TOO small, but honestly, in this era of instant media coverage, every group is only one stupendously bad decision away from suspension, so that could happen in any of the orgs.
My Rosebud is a paladin at heart, a great defender of the underdog, who chose a career where she can care for and advocate for those in need. She does the right thing because it is the right thing to do, and she puts her whole heart into it. In middle school, she organized the other musicians in her instrument section to hold back their effort to earn an honor given monthly so that the only student among their group who hadn’t earned it yet would be able to shine before the end of the year. In high school she joined a startlingly expensive competition activity in which she had very little experience (but eager to improve) because the team needed just one more member for a full squad to be able to compete. My pocketbook was unhappy, but the swag was great. In college she elected spontaneously to learn a new instrument for marching band because there were 42 musicians with the instrument she had been playing for 7 years, but only 20 students in another instrument section, and it benefitted the band to have a better balance of sound.
I can’t imagine a better person to join the smallest organization on campus. I’m pretty sure Rosebud is going to accept that bid. She will love them fiercely and do her part as a fully committed member. These women have been there for her since the beginning, offering the chance for sisterhood, and I’m so grateful they were patient enough to wait for Rosebud to realize that true and constant friendship offers more than 4 walls ever could. (And that’s the moral of this afterschool special.)
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