The best worst time

By: Ali Hinman, Columnist

Did you know that you can sweat from almost anywhere on your body? I found that out as I was standing in a room full of beautiful strangers, asking me what my hopes and dreams are as beads of sweat barreled down my entire being. My makeup, that I had crafted at 6 a.m. that day, was no match for the amount of body heat that had accumulated in the room. I had a sweat mustache, nay, goatee, and even my calves and eyelids were sweating.

Going through recruitment is a complete whirlwind, but I do remember the toll it took on my body, not just physically (standing and scream talking for eight hours a day is not healthy), but mentally as well. I would consider myself a very self-confident person, even erring on the side of arrogant, but I have never felt more unsure of myself in my entire life. I had to prove my self worth in a matter of minutes while competing with the rest of the potential new members in the room with me. How was I going to make myself stand out in a sea of 600+ girls?

We all had to wear the same t shirt with jeans, so the only thing we were allowed to wear differently was accessories and a name tag we decorated ourselves. I drew a big clown face on my name tag. My dad went to clown college, and I was a class clown in high school, so I felt like it suited me. Well, it did the trick, because halfway through the first weekend, girls would come up to me and say, “Oh my God you’re clown girl! I have heard so much about you!”

The problem was, I was so focused on getting them to like me that I didn’t think about if I liked them. When it came down to picking our top five, my number one choice kept me, but my number 2-5 choice dropped me. I couldn’t understand why they didn’t like me. I felt like we had a really good connection. I was heartbroken.

But in the end, I got a bid from my number one choice. I met a ton of great girls, but their chapter and I were just not the right fit. I found myself a place to call home and girls who accepted me for me. I wasn’t just a number. I wasn’t just another sweaty girl that they were forced to talk to. I wasn’t even clown girl. I was Ali. And I wasn’t with the girls I wanted to be. I was with the girls that I already was.

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