Busy buzzing bumbleme
General | January 15, 2010
The title makes perfect sense, okay? Y’know, busy buzzing bumblebee, but bumbleme instead because I’m a busy bumbling fool? I tried. Not very hard, but I still tried.
I’ve only spent two weeks back on campus, but it feels like so much more, simply because there’s always so much going on, whereas at home I vegetate. I’m taking five classes this quarter (normal courseload is four, sometimes three), and it hasn’t been too much work, but it’s obviously not a cakewalk, either. And as you may know, I’ve been trying to work hard and go to sleep before midnight on school nights, and so far it’s working splendidly. I don’t feel tired anymore, I don’t skip classes to sleep, and I’m generally in a much better mood. I’m content with having to work hard enough toward balancing a social life and extracurriculars along with a job while trying to pull up my GPA that this has been the first day where I’ve really been able to breathe. Really.
The only thing that has been bothering me lately is whether or not to officially join my sorority. I have several more weeks before I need to officially decide, so I think the best solution right now is to give it time, but I don’t know how fair or how appropriate it would be to hang out with the sorority and steal tons of food and end up more or less saying, “Oh well, I didn’t really like you guys that much anyway.” There is a point where it’d be much too late to back out, and there’s also a point before that where it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to back out, even though financial reasons are a very good excuse, but I’m just so torn and unsure. When I went through recruitment, I wasn’t like “ohmagawd, I haaave to be in a sorority,” but now I kind of want to be in one, but the one that gave me a bid wasn’t my first choice. I’m definitely not going to re-rush, because that hardly ever works for sophomores and the process is not exactly fun, but I don’t want to spend all my time at my chapter wishing I were in a different sorority. I still do want to get to know all my new sisters, though, and having yet another group of friends and an eventual network of connections would be a definite plus. I just don’t know whether I like the chapter at my university enough to justify spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars a quarter on it.
I hate money. Or rather, the lack of it, but in general I’m not a fan of everything money has come to symbolize.
I think it’s wonderful how sleeping those extra hours puts me in a much better mood than had I stayed up. Sleeping in the wee hours of the morning isn’t so ‘cool’ anymore.
I’ve never been (or had the opportunity to be) in a sorority, but I think despite your current misgivings about the sorority not being your first choice, the one that offered to you might not be as bad as you imagine and you might actually find it enriches you in ways the other could not. But again, the money issues…
Huh. I never knew sororities and the like would require financial considerations! How on earth would you spend thousands of dollars (I know it’s an extreme, but you mentioned it) for a sorority? o_O It boggles my mind.
It would cost thousands of dollars if I chose to live in the chapter house, so my mentioning “thousands” was probably misleading, since that’s really just the cost of room and board. Simply being a member costs $500-ish a quarter for facility fees (using the house but not living there), a meal or two per week, and chapter/social dues. However, for new members, there are one-time fees that make the $500 figure approach $1000 for the first quarter. Apologies for the confusion!
To be honest, if my school had offered sororities I probably would have joined whichever one wanted me. Greek life as a whole is just one of those things that you can only experience by being a part of it and as much as it does matter which one, the experience overall might be worth it more than the particulars?
I’m glad you’ve been getting more sleep. In my experience, even half an hour of extra sleep can really work wonders.
Good luck with figuring out your sorority issues! I can’t really help you here because I’m so NOT the kind of person to consider joining a sorority… but like Jen said, giving it a chance might not hurt.
I agree with you giving it time in terms of your sorority issues but if you don’t like the chapter enough at your university, then I’d part ways. It’s not worth spending the time, money, and effort on something you’re not wholly invested in.
I think that making sleep a priority is a good thing. I remember all the sleepless nights I had to pull because I wasn’t prioritizing my life very well. After my sophomore year, I had to learn to organize my time and my life, and I started getting more sleep and generally being a better person for it.
As for sororities, there wasn’t one I ever wanted to join at my school, so I never bothered with it. It wasn’t for me, anyway. Somehow, I can’t really imagine myself a part of a sorority.