I’ve never been a fan of the idea of “top” and “bottom” houses; I think it’s simply wrong. There is no single person or group of people who get to be in charge of deciding which house or which group of guys and girls reigns supreme over the rest of us. Because that’s just it, there is no house that is better than the other. All Greek rankings are, is a matter of opinion. Quite possibly what one person considers a “bottom” house could be the house that another person finds their forever home in. There should be a certain level of respect within the Greek community because many people have similar journeys to find that forever home just with different final destinations.

Having so recently gone through formal recruitment myself this concept was so heavily pushed by my Rho Gamma, and now I see why. No one should be afraid of ridicule for joining a house that is the best fit for them on the most personal level. Joining a sorority is a much more personal decision than I had ever thought before joining one myself.

Being in a sorority is more than having a group of girls to go out with on the weekends or a status symbol to wear on campus. It’s the girls you live with--- they’re literally your sisters; they’re people you share similar beliefs with, and they really will become your bridesmaids. As cliché as that sounds, it’s the honest truth. And it’s wrong for someone else to have the power to say that my sorority sucks, or is bad, or any negative word in relation to someone’s sorority. That’s like saying a member is a person whose values are wrong and lesser than someone else’s. So, yes, everyone is entitled to their opinion and maybe one sorority's values don’t line up with yours as well as another house's, but that’s no grounds to put someone down for staying true to themselves.

Being a “sorority girl” is more than going out, and it’s more than going to fundraising events or doing community service or anything a sorority is involved in. Because those are great and all, but when it comes down to it, what truly makes the most direct impact on you will be those friendships and the sisterhood that lasts a lifetime. You’ll have the memories for when your older to tell your kids about, and how much you loved living in and maybe about your executive position, and how good the whole experience was for you because you chose a group of girls that just understood you and bonded with you over some of the silliest things.

It’s an environment that not everyone could understand, and that’s OK because it doesn’t have to be a perfect environment for everyone. It's just a perfect one for you. Because what’s the point of being a part of a “top” house if the values don’t align with mine, or I don’t get along with the girls? There isn’t one, because you’d probably end up hating your four years with them and never talk to them after that.

So, don’t tell me I’m in a bottom sorority, or a middle, or even a top. Because that’s not why I chose to join the chapter that I did. And I can’t tell you a single girl who made her decision based on any type of ranking except their own personal one that each potential new member is entitled to create in their head.

Every house truly is a good house-- maybe not for you-- but for someone out there, it is. And all Greek rankings do is tear people down and make them feel bad about something so personal and near and dear to them. Simply, just don’t do it. Someone else’s happiness is not yours to judge and potentially take away. Don’t judge my sorority on who we have exchanges with and bonding with, or who our homecoming partner is. Don’t judge my sorority on the way we look as a group or even just one member’s behavior, because quite honestly, it’s not anyone else’s business to decide if the place that’s right for me is “good." Because that’s not what’s important, it never has been, and it never will be.