By Kyle McIntyre
The first thing that happens when you get a bid from AKPsi is a swell of new people enters your life. Be prepared; you’re about to be embraced by 100-plus enthusiastic, energetic brothers. Their immediate mission: to meet you, get to know you, and share their experience with you. Their long-term goal: to make you a better leader, to call you a friend, to call you their brother. You’ve cleared the mark, you've passed through the golden gates, you've made it. The reason: someone saw something in you, someone believed in you. Someone, you may never know who, vouched for you. And as you begin the pledge process, trust me, that remarkable stranger is rooting for you.
Every brother has gone through the process you are about to begin. They took their quizzes, scheduled their interviews, and braved the damp New Orleans heat in weekly business casual attire. They’ve done it all and lived to tell the tale. They’re seasoned champs, ready to train the new rookies. I cannot stress it enough, while your title may be “pledge,” to the brothers you are the future. The new voice, the idea we’ve been missing. Older brothers want to help you pass pledging as soon as possible. To do that, they are going to offer you every iota of help they can provide to you. This instant lending of support was the first clear sign I was about to become part of something extraordinary.
My first experience in the pledge process came when I ran for vice president of my pledge class. It was the first day. I didn't even know how to tie my tie yet and had carefully tucked the longer piece behind with a paperclip. I was nervous, felt off balance, shaken. I did not know most of the faces in the room. This made the election especially daunting. I began my speech with uncertainty and launched into an extensive pitch on why I believed the vice presidency was an undiscovered “vitality to our chapter.” I framed myself as the “Joe Biden” of the Alpha Epsilon pledge class. That line especially garnered some laughs. Looking back on that night, a lot of what happened is still unclear to me. One thing I do know: whatever I said apparently worked, I was elected that night.
Over the next couple of weeks, AKPsi became more and more a part of my daily thoughts and activities. A thick handful of index cards, gradually shrank to a collection of frayed remnants I struggled to memorize. I learned the distinct difference between the objects of AKPsi and items on our insignia. Our ballad became my treadmill song. Our creed, my early morning mumblings. That hard work materialized into the new pin I proudly wear today, proclaiming my initiation as a brother in AKPsi.
As I prepare to participate in this fall’s rush, I start in a very different place. A final word of advice: be yourself. You are authentic, witty, and bring something to the table. You just have to show us!
