Although Sunday might have been a stressful day for most students -- with the Super Bowl and the final bid day for sororities -- for Justine Mumaw, it was merely an ordinary day. She began this day like most others -- having brunch at Hill College House with some friends. Wearing green and white striped pajamas and a black tank top, her straight brown hair half up in a clip, the College freshman managed bites of fruit between animated conversation. Unlike many other Penn girls on this Sunday morning, however, her conversation did not revolve around the Greek anticipation and worries. "I never considered rushing," Mumaw says. "It had never crossed my mind." Still, Mumaw did not completely dismiss the sorority scene without first giving it a thorough once over. She did go to the open houses last semester but thought that the girls were either "overwhelmingly nice" or "completely ignored" her. "Maybe if my first impression would have been better or if there was more diversity, I would have done it," Mumaw says. In addition to her bad first impression, Mumaw admits that she's just not into the party scene. But that's not to say she doesn't have a good time. She did go to a frat party Saturday night and admitted to having fun. "Everyone's drunk anyway so it doesn't matter if you look like an idiot dancing," she says. Mumaw has also danced the night away at a date party, a night that started out at a frat house with champagne and then moved downtown to an open bar. "Although I'm not a big drinker, it was fun," she says. "The worst part was walking in a dress and in heels to the frat house." And this aversion to seemingly unnecessary formal attire was another reason why Mumaw chose to avoid rush and its tradition of dressing up to visit sorority houses in the freezing cold. "It's always fun to dress up, but I didn't see a point to it," Mumaw says. "I don't know why the sorority girls need to see the girls dressed up because they're never going to look like that anyways." Not to mention the small talk -- often a staple of at least the beginning of rush, a pastime Mumaw dislikes. Mumaw is not alone in her choice to forgo the sorority route. She explains that not many of her girlfriends participated in the rush process. Her male friends, however, were more inclined toward the Greek scene, Mumaw notes. Most of them rushed, but only a few plan to pledge. "It's all about the food and free drinks for guys," Mumaw says. While Mumaw admits the Greek scene is not for her, she is not against it either. "I think it's good for people who want to meet people," she says. "It makes sense why there are sororities, and I like that sororities go through a process to pick girls and are more organized than frats." She also thinks it's an appealing idea to live with a large group of girls. "If you're friends with them all, then it's fun to live with them," Mumaw says. When asked which sorority she thinks she would fit into, Mumaw says that she doesn't know all that much about them but, based soley on stereotypes, she knows which ones she wouldn't join. Two of her friends really liked Alpha Phi and Sigma Kappa, and Mumaw thought that those would probably be the ones that she'd like best too. But for Mumaw's roommate, College freshman Martha Kienzle, rush was a different story. She did participate, and Mumaw believes she enjoyed the experience. "Although it was time-committing for her, I think she thought it was worth it," Mumaw says. • Because she did not rush, Mumaw has had more free time to do the other things she wanted and needed to do -- her homework and attending meetings for the clubs in which she participates. She is a tech group member for "The Wild Party," a Penn Players musical. Here, in the theater scene -- not the Greek scene -- is where Mumaw's real interest lies. She is excited about being a part of this production because she acted in high school, and after not doing anything with theater during her first semester at Penn, she realized that she missed it. There was one small problem --"The Wild Party" is a musical, and Mumaw is not much of a singer. "I'm not a strong singer, and I didn't have time to prepare anything so I decided that I would just do tech work," she explains. But this upbeat freshman is not upset about doing behind-the-scenes work because she is also involved in a lot of other, more visible activities, including the West Philadelphia Tutoring Project, which she did first semester and is looking forward to doing again. She is also applying to be a tour guide and maybe an ambassador through Kite and Key, all of which should keep her very busy despite not being in a sorority. And housing for next year is another thing that will keep her mind occupied. "All of my friends who didn't rush will house together next year," she explains. Actually, her whole hall wants to live together again and is trying to get groups of community housing in the high rises. • For Mumaw, the Greek scene was just not that important. So unlike many other girls at Penn today -- who are gearing up for pledging and mixers -- Mumaw just has homework planned. With 5.5 credits this semester -- Chemistry, Spanish, Calculus, Writing about Drama and Intro to Acting -- there should be a good deal of it. Yet Mumaw is calm, stating that she feels like she has really good professors this semester and her classes should be "more interesting." Not to mention that this girl can obviously take the work load, because despite all her activities and the adjustment to college life, she managed to get a GPA of 3.84 last semester. So, sorority girl or not, Justine Mumaw is a happy, well-adjusted freshman, just looking ahead to opening night.
About this Series Each year, a new set of freshmen enters the University full of energy, enthusiasm -- and nerves. Ready to meet new people and experience new things, these college novices are embarking on a life-altering course. And this year, The Daily Pennsylvanian decided to follow three freshmen along for the ride. You will meet Justine Mumaw, Temi Omojola and Andrew Tejerina and experience alongside them the joys -- and pains -- of first-year college life, through articles appearing intermittently in the DP. As you read, please share your freshman experiences with us at the dailypennsylvanian.com freshman forum.
