When you think of a sorority girl, the first thought that comes to mind is usually the stereotypical, Hollywood-version of the college girls who wears six-inch heels, a crazy amount of makeup, and who party into a blackout each weekend. And I fully admit, I bought into the stereotype as well.
But I’m here to tell you: that’s not the case.
This past week, I made the decision to participate in Rush Week, and put myself out there to be scrutinized by the eight sororities on my college campus. When I originally signed up, I did it because it seemed like the popular thing to do. Many of my friends would be rushing, and I didn’t want to be the odd one out.
As Rush Week approached quickly, I considered dropping out numerous times. I’m an individual who is very introverted, and hates social situations. I was extremely nervous to put myself out there and introduce myself to a group of random strangers, who I thought would judge me and scrutinize my every word and move. That, fortunately, was a false presumption.
When our first rush meeting finally arrived, I almost didn’t attend. “There’s always next year,” I thought. But then I took a minute and asked myself, what would I be losing if I didn’t rush? A chance to meet other girls on my college campus? The opportunity to bond with a group of young women who have the same values as I do? The ability to find people who build each other up and want their sisters to succeed, just as much as they do? Even if I didn’t decide to join a sorority, I would still have the opportunity to network and form new friendships.
Suddenly, the pros outweighed the cons. I decided that I wouldn’t sit around and wonder “what if” for the rest of my life. What if I had decided to rush? Would I have been picked by a sorority? What if I hadn’t let my fears stop me?
At the time, I had a lot of friends in many different sororities across campus. I also had friends who had gone through recruitment, and decided that it wasn’t for them. So many people were offering their opinions that suddenly, it seemed that I had lost mine. I decided that it was also important for me to find out for myself about rushing. It was up to me to keep an open mind about it, and see if being a sorority girl was truly for me.
I can say with complete honesty that deciding to go through Rush Week was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
Over the course of four days (Monday through Thursday), my fellow prospective new members and I spent 16 hours getting to know each of the eight sororities. Between attending parties with each individual sorority and visiting the girls during floor hours, I met so many incredible young women, most of whom I had never seen on campus. Many of us formed bonds right away, making connections over places we want to visit, our favorite ice cream flavors, or classes we’ve already taken.
I won’t lie- by the time Thursday night rolled around, I was exhausted and stressed out. However, it was a good kind of stress. As a person who isn’t overly social, Rush Week tested my personal limits, and made me break down my own boundaries. It was through this process that I began to discover more and more about myself: what I truly believe in, what my passions were, what character traits I valued and, most importantly, what I look for in close friends.
On Saturday, after a day of break, we were invited back to a maximum of five parties based on our ranking of our preferred sororities. It was another long day; I woke up at 7:30 a.m. for my first party, and was in and out of parties and floor hours until 10 p.m. That same night, we had to rank our top two sororities to get an invitation to more parties on Sunday. Suddenly, I had to make some difficult choices. There were no right or wrong answers, but it was up to me to decide what I valued in a group of girls and what I was looking to get out of sorority life. I had to look within myself and decide what was important to me personally. That was one of the hardest processes of all.
I was invited back to the maximum two parties on Sunday for my preferred sororities. And it was on that Sunday that I realized that sorority life truly isn’t like the stereotypes. I was surrounded by strong, successful, beautiful, independent, and intelligent women- women who brought each other up, built up each other’s characters, highlighted one another’s strengths, and pushed themselves and their sisters to succeed and achieve.
It was on that Sunday that I realized how much I had grown personally over that past week. I looked within myself, and discovered that I reaffirmed my values and what I truly believed in. There were things that I disagreed with some girls on, and that’s okay. What mattered was that we overcame each other’s differences to come together and form a friendship. That’s when I knew I had made the right decision.
It doesn’t matter that I chose to accept a sorority bid. It doesn’t matter that I attended all the parties, or spent time at floor hours. What mattered was how many incredible women I had the privilege of meeting, and having the opportunity to get to know them personally and form new friendships with them. What mattered was finding ladies who shared similar interests, life experiences, majors, and values as I did. What mattered was how much I grew individually over six short days, and how much I came to learn about myself. What mattered was that I overcame my personal fears about sorority life, and decided to look past the stereotypes.
What mattered was that I decided to go through Rush Week.
