It’s about that time of year again, when back-to-school ads take over our TVs and sorority recruitment pictures flood our newsfeeds. “Go Greek!” they read and, “Rush (insert sorority here)!”
Soon, I’ll see many of my high school friends tagged in pictures surrounded by beautiful girls in matching outfits. Apparel envy, anyone? Next come photos from events like “Frats at Bat” and “Fall Semi-Formal." From the outside, it looks like a never-ending barrage of brightly colored, occasionally drunken fun.
It’s not that seeing these images annoys me or even incites jealousy, but it does give me a twinge of something like FOMO. It’s that Fear Of Missing Out on something so seemingly quintessential to the college experience: Greek Life.
I chose Notre Dame knowing there were no sororities or fraternities with the reassurance that our single-sex dorms created similar atmospheres. While this is true to an extent, there are some aspects of Greek Life Notre Dame simply cannot recreate. All I can do is observe on social media and guess what it might be like to be in a sorority.
Maybe it’s the wildly themed parties or the group vacations that always make it seem like students in sororities and fraternities are having more fun. But maybe it’s something else, something more intangible that gives us that impression. That’s where FOMO comes in.
FOMO whispers in your ear whenever you’re feeling down. It makes you invent glamorous backstories to still frames containing strangers you know nothing about. FOMO forces you to question your decision making and gives you regrets you wouldn’t otherwise have. This phenomenon prevents you from enjoying your life as it is and instead makes you wish it were different.
Sometimes, my Fear Of Missing Out on Greek Life is so strong I wonder if I should have attended another school. I’m forgetting one important thing though: I’m happy at Notre Dame. If I never saw other people’s pictures on social media, there would be no doubt in my mind I was at the right school.
I have to remind myself that people only present the best versions of themselves on social media. So, outsiders see the happy pictures from Bid Day, but we don’t see all the drama and pain it took to get there.
Chances are, even if I were in a sorority, I would still be looking at someone else’s pictures on Facebook thinking their life was a little more fun than mine. That’s the effect social media and FOMO have. It’s inescapable, unless I make a conscious effort to ignore it.
Nothing is perfect, not even sorority girls. So, let’s all remember to appreciate our lives as they are and not let FOMO stand in the way of our happiness.
