For a short month of my freshman year, I was on my university's nationally renowned speech team.

It sucked.

I knew almost immediately that the team was much more intense than what I was looking for. The members ate, drank and breathed "speech." But I stuck it out until I competed at our first tournament, and then quickly emailed my goodbye letter.

I felt like a failure. I couldn't understand why I wasn't able to handle the demands of the team while some of my friends were toughing it out.

With my schedule freer, I decided to go through sorority recruitment my sophomore year. My campus is constantly abuzz with block letters, philanthropic events and ladies who swear by their sorority making their college experiences whole.

I experienced many good things when I joined a house — I had friends, leadership positions, study files and many date parties.

But there were aspects of the sorority I hated. It was too expensive for my budget (you pay for much more than dues), there were countless silly rules (at least, they seemed silly to me), and my house never felt like a safe space or a home away from home.

That doesn't make the Greek system wrong, and it doesn't make me a bad person, but I just didn't fit in with that organization. It took me a while to drop my sorority because I felt somewhat stuck. I was ashamed and thought I was betraying the friends that I made. But I was too unhappy, so I left.

I felt like a failure. Again.

For the second time, my schedule was pretty free. I was already writing for my university's newspaper, so I stepped up how often I was at the office.

I hesitate to call the students on the newspaper's staff my friends because those weirdos are honestly more my family. Between the late-night editing, Culver's runs, life chats and grapefruiting videos, I had found my pack.

After a couple of years of seeming like I was in college limbo, I fell like a puzzle piece into this organization. I had an unbreakable support system and was thriving.

I also tried out and committed to more organizations that give me the same feeling I have when hanging out with my newspaper buds.

I learned that I didn't quit the speech team or the sorority because I'm weak or unsociable or I can't handle some rules and hard work. I quit because those organizations simply weren't a great fit for me.

There's no shame in stopping your life and taking it in another direction. College is filled with opportunities you should take advantage of, whether that means being a sorority member, a speechie, a newspaper writer or all/none of the above.

Leaving the speech team wasn't as difficult as dropping my sorority because I hadn't been there for as long. After nearly a year of sisterhood, some of my friends didn't understand my decision to leave, and the process of quitting just all around sucked.

But the groups we are a part of should help us grow, give us opportunities and keep us mentally sane. Greek life and speech teams are great in doing that for many students, but there's no shame in quitting if it doesn't do that for you.

So quit until you fit. If you're unhappy, then move on and try something else.

Just make sure your college career is being spent the way you want it to be.