Rushee Leigh anticipates week's end

Rush has reached a turning point for Leigh. With the Open House and First Round phases of sorority rush complete, both rushees and houses must now make decisions. "I feel good right now," Leigh said. "But I know it'll get harder. The competition will be stiff, and there will be cuts." She said rush almost totally comes down to pure feeling -- a sense of what is right. "I think if you're really going to dislike a house, you'll know it right away," she said. Despite the hard decisions ahead, Leigh said she still enjoys rush, but does not have a firm idea of which house she wants to join most. · On Tuesday night, following the last of the Round One parties, the rushees had to decide on their four favorite sororities. Leigh said the time spent in each house this week left her and most of her friends feeling more at ease with the rush process than they did after last Saturday's Open House. "We spent more time in each house, which was nice," she said. "It felt much more real." At the same time, however, Leigh finds it difficult to believe that she will be totally comfortable in a house by Sunday. "I'm still having trouble believing that I can feel like a house is mine by the end of the week," she said. "I don't feel like I know the sisters really well." But Leigh still has a ways to go. Today she finds out which sororities have asked her back and she will attend the Second Round parties at those houses this evening. The parties will be 45 minutes each and will be staggered throughout the night. Tomorrow, Leigh will again visit the "post office" to find out which houses will ask her to attend the preference, or final round on Saturday. She will then choose her top two. By Sunday, if all goes well, Leigh will be pledging the sorority of her choice. Tuesday night, Leigh looked to the coming days with apprehension, excitement and a twinge of fear. "Nothing's going on [Wednesday], and I'm glad, because I'm not so sure I want to know [where I got asked backed] yet," she said. · So far, Leigh has enjoyed rushing, although she said she is anxious for this week to end. Leigh described the Round One parties in much the same way as she did the Open House parties, but with smaller crowds and better conversation. She said she still did not meet many people in each house and spent most of her time making small talk with two or three sisters at a time. Leigh said it is often hard to remember everyone's name. She added that while she "can see when they glance at your nametag . . . [she] wasn't really offended." Some sororities showed slide shows, others performed short skits and still others gave individual tours of their houses. Leigh described one of the houses she visited, saying she included it on her list because she can picture herself as a sister there. "I liked it because the girls were outgoing. They're not drop dead gorgeous or intimidating. To a certain extent, it's just a sense of fitting," she said. · Although most of her friends were asked back to all eight houses for the First Round, Leigh herself did get cut from houses. While admitting the competition to get into her first choice house will probably be fierce, Leigh said she is happy with the way she has handled herself. "I feel very good about the impression I've made," she said. "I have no problems with the [sororities] that cut me. But I wonder what I did wrong. If they can cut me, so can a house that [I want to be in]." Leigh said she will be upset if she does not get into her first choice sorority, although she does not now know which house that will be. "If all of my friends get in [to a house I like] and I don't, it'll hurt a lot more," Leigh said. "But if we all get cut, we can all bitch about it together." "If it's really close [between my top two choices], hopefully I will be honest with myself," Leigh said. "Obviously I don't want to get cut [from a house I like], but in a strange way I do, because it'll make the decision easier." "I need a day where I don't have to think about it one way or another," Leigh said Tuesday night. "Like a day off." "I'm still really enjoying rush," she said. "But it's strange thinking that Sunday night it'll be done."

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