We've all seen the movies, we know what frats are all about. Every day is an excuse to party, and every girl is just a conquest waiting to happen. As Al Pacino said as Tony Montana, "This town is like a great big..." well, you know (if you don't know, look it up).

These are the things I told myself coming into college. I've never been the type to get trashed or go crazy. I was the guy spending his weekends playing video games, and I always resented hearing about how my friends had, "totally blacked out this weekend, dude!" I was never going to be the frat star because I never wanted to be like those guys.

The thing is, when you get to college and everyone has their own stuff going on, it can be pretty damn hard to find a group to call your own. If you're not playing a sport and you're not joining a club of some sort, forget about it. You'd better hope your roommate isn't too weird because you're going to be spending a whole lot of time together.

That description fits my freshman self to a tee. So by the time frat rush came around, I figured a week of free food, events, and companionship didn't sound too bad. Of course I was still never going to join the ranks of these misogynist party machines, but it couldn't hurt to take advantage of the free stuff, right?

First up, ultimate frisbee. Of course these guys play ultimate frisbee. Whatever, I thought, I like sports too. 

"So, what are you guys about?" I asked one of the guys I saw wearing letters.

"Getting girls and getting wasted, that's all that matters... No I'm just messing with you, man. I'd say that the most important thing to my brothers and I is the relationships we have with each other."

With his first answer, all of my doubts about frats had been confirmed– only to be dashed a few seconds after. Maybe these guys were a little deeper than I had previously thought. 

"Okay then," I continued, "what do you guys do?"

"Honestly? We do the normal Greek life stuff. Yeah we party a little bit, but this is college, what do you expect? We do crazy stuff sometimes, but we also support our philanthropy, as well as all of the other chapters' events. But mostly, we just hang out a lot. We're always around each other because we enjoy time spent together. We're not just some group of friends hanging out because we have nothing better to do. We are a group of brothers who have been brought together by a core group of shared values."

Geez, I think, I might've been wrong about these fellas. 

"Sure, that all sounds great, but I'm willing to bet I'd hear that from any other fraternity trying to get me to join them. What makes you guys different?" I asked, hopefully.

"We are not a frat. We are a Fraternity."

And I knew what he meant. These guys weren't at rush trying to find some sick bros that they could party with. They were looking for men of character to join their fraternity. I was in. They had convinced me. After all, my mom always said I was a good boy so it only makes sense that I would be a good man too.

So I followed through with rush. I went to all of the events and at the week's end, I had gotten a bid to join the ranks of a brotherhood. And I did. I told myself that I would never join a frat and I can honestly say that I never did. A year and a half ago I joined a fraternity and I couldn't be happier with my decision. My brothers are the biggest reason my college experience has been a great one.