The Recruitment "Goddess": What I learned as the Panhellenic VP of Recruitment.

The position that most sorority women would love to have, but few are able to obtain. Read how I ended up in a place where I never thought I would be, but have come to love every minute of it.

I have always known that I was a leader, but I never really pushed myself outside of my comfort zone too much. That was until I was chosen to be the Vice President of Recruitment for Panhellenic at the University of Central Missouri. Throughout high school, I held a few positions in clubs that I was part of. When I got to college I started taking on bigger roles such as Director of Philanthropy and Executive Administrator for my sorority, Alpha Phi, as well as Vice President of a Phi Beta Lambda, a professional fraternity. These roles were all challenging in their own ways, but they were all a sort of comfortable challenge.

During Fall 2018 I knew I wanted to run for a position that would push me outside my comfort zone for the next year. I wanted a position I knew would help me grow into a stronger leader before heading off to the work world. For a while I was stuck between running for Chapter President for Alpha Phi, or running for a position on the Panhellenic Executive Board. After a lot of debating, I applied for Vice President of Scholarship and Vice President of Promotions for Panhellenic, knowing I would be satisfied with receiving either of these roles. I was excited to be doing something outside of chapter, but I was also nervous about not knowing anyone else on the board. I had never held a position like either one of these before, so I wasn't sure how things were going to go, but I was ready for the challenge. I went into my interview for Panhellenic feeling confident, and left feeling even better. I truly believed I would be receiving one of the two positions I applied for.

However, that was not the case. That evening I received a call from the current Panhellenic President offering me the position for Vice President of Recruitment. I was completely shocked, as I have never really be interested in the recruitment aspect of sorority life. I also knew this role was almost as demanding as the President position. I would have to be in charge of all the recruitment counselors, chapter recruitment chairs, and potential new members. Although the position required taking on more responsibility than I was expecting, I decided to accept the offer. I was looking for a challenge, and this would certainly be one.

When the new executive board was finally announced, there were several people who reached out to me with their support. I was very appreciative of the support, but with this title came a lot of expectations as well. People were already comparing me to people who held this position in the past. My friends started calling me "The Recruitment Goddess", because that is what they called the woman who held this position whenever we went through recruitment. Talk about pressure. I began to worry because I felt like I had to be perfect in every aspect and know every little detail about sorority recruitment. I had some knowledge about what I would be doing with the recruitment counselors, as I was one the previous year, but other than that I was clueless. Not to mention, I only knew one other person on the Panhellenic Executive Board. I was stressed and I hadn't even started by term yet.

To get more acquainted with things, I met with the previous VP of Recruitment so that should could give me some kind of direction. I was very lucky that she saved almost all her work on Google Drive and was able to share it with me. Her documents were a great reference for me. I started off my position with preparing for the selection of recruitment counselors (also known as Gamma Chis). I made social media posts encouraging people to apply, held informational meetings for people who were interested, sent out applications, and hosted interviews. Once the Gamma Chis were selected I started planning and hosting training sessions for them to attend, that way they could learn how to appropriately interact with potential new members and bond as a team.

As a member of the Panhellenic Executive Board, I also had the opportunity to attend the Association of Fraternal Leadership and Values Conference (AFLV). This conference helped me learn more about what it means to be part of Greek Life, how to be a good leader, and some tips and tricks for running recruitment. I met Greeks from all across the country and spoke with professionals who have dedicated their careers to the improvement of Greek Life. AFLV was a great learning experience. The best part about the entire conference was getting to spend time with my fellow Executive Board members. We got to know each other a lot better and a strong relationship began forming between everyone. After the conference I started feeling like I would be able to handle my new position.

The semester continued with hosting round tables with recruitment chairs and Presidents from each chapter, developing a theme along with t-shirts to be used during formal recruitment, and resuming with Gamma Chi training. I had to find a balance between my position, my two jobs, and all my homework/classes. I already had decent time management skills, but my skills were certainly enhanced through this experience. My work as VP of Recruitment did not stop once summer hit. I worked on planning a retreat for the Gamma Chis and held the retreat at the end of July. I also worked orientation sessions over the summer and had to ensure the Gamma Chis were compliant with rules regarding disaffiliating from their chapters.

When school started up again, it was go time. I had to make sure all 900 t-shirts were ready to go, the Gamma Chis were fully prepared for their duties and the recruitment chairs had all of their questions answered. A few days before recruitment started I hosted informational sessions for women who were interested in going through recruitment so they could get an idea of what Greek Life is all about. For the first few days of school I was going non-stop from about 9am-9pm. Once recruitment actually started, the nerves hit. All I could think about was if I made a mistake, it would affect every single person that was part of the recruitment process. I was essentially responsible for making sure every person was where they needed to be and that every event started precisely on time. I had to arrive before everyone else and make sure each PNM's schedule was correct, then once recruitment was over for the day I had to stay after and meet with the Gamma Chis. On average, I got about 4 hours of sleep each night.

In the end, recruitment ended up going better than I could have ever imagined. Over 150 women were able to find their home in a sorority on our campus. Although there were a few minor bumps, I was able to quickly problem solve and keep things moving. The Assistant Director of Housing and Greek Life, who was like my adviser, said this past recruitment was one of the smoothest ever. It felt great knowing that all my hard work and lack of sleep paid off. The two most rewarding things about this entire experience were the relationships I built and all that I learned. I met women outside of my chapter who I know will be life long friends. I met people who have become role models to me. And in some situations, the people I became closest to started off as people who got on my nerves. Throughout this process I learned about my leadership style, how to deal with conflict, how to be bold, and most importantly just how to be myself. Although I had a nerve-racking start, I can now say I have never felt more confident than I was while serving as Vice President of Recruitment for Panhellenic. It is amazing what can come of a situation when you put yourself out there and try something new.