Dear Potential New Member, 

I know you are overwhelmed with emotions, nerves, and excitement right now. As you prepare to find your forever home, I wanted to take a moment to share a little note with you. 

Recruitment is not just about the letters across your chest on bid day, it's about finding your place, your people, and the people who make you a better you. I remember going into recruitment so excited yet so scared, little did I know what was in store for me.

There will be times when you feel torn and confused through this recruitment process, wondering if you will find those friends we all talk about, or simply if you are making the right choices. I want you to know that there is a plan for you and that plan is so much better than what you could ever imagine. This process is for you, find your place, find the people who make the place so much sweeter, the people who will be your biggest fans, the people who will cry with you, laugh with you, and make the memories of a lifetime. 

My advice for each of you is to come as you are. You are created uniquely and wonderfully, do not hide your light. Be open-minded, not everything is going to go the way you plan, but that does not mean it is not the right plan. Remember this all is for you, take care of yourself. Recruitment is stressful and even draining at times, take time for yourself every day to remember why you are going through this process, and what you are truly looking for. 

And finally embrace the experience, have fun, meet new people, make memories, and treasure every moment. You have no idea what I would give to go back to my freshman year and get to relive college all over again. One day you will look back and wonder how it all went by so fast.

Good luck sweet girls! 

I wish you all the best, 

With love, 

Mary Calloway Rodgers