I want to say that I am in no way shape or form bashing Greek life. Not at all. I absolutely respect Greek life and everyone who is a part of it. I know several people in it and they absolutely love it, and I am happy for them! I actually rushed my Freshman year and it didn't work out. Yes, at first it was devastating, but I have since moved on and am okay that it didn't work out. I was able to find my people in a way that made more sense for me.
Last year I found out about an all girls a cappella group on campus. This immediately had me intrigued. The choir kid inside of me was going crazy. Singing had always been one of my favorite things and it had made me sad knowing that I might not be able to pursue that in college. So, when I realized I had a chance to get to continue singing I absolutely went for it.
Auditions for this group came at an interesting time for me. They were on the Monday after bid day. I had been ecstatic to potentially be in both a sorority and an a cappella group. On bid day, I had found out that I had been dropped from my preferenced sororities and was devastated. I felt like there had to have been something wrong with me not to get in. I was so sad about being dropped that I didn't even think about auditions the next Monday, and when I did I just felt like there was no way I was going to make it in if I couldn't even get accepted into Greek life.
After many phone calls with my mom, she encouraged me to audition anyway because she knows I love singing more than anything. I took her advice and walked into my audition with the confidence I felt I had lost due to the weekend prior. I ended up getting in and couldn't be happier. I've met the people that I was supposed to and truly feel the sense of belonging that I had always felt was missing my entire life.
The moral of the story is that you don't necessarily have to become a part of Greek life in order to find your place in college. Sometimes I feel that many girls and guys join organizations they don't necessarily want to because they feel it's the easiest way to make friends. If you want to go Greek, that is absolutely fine! Just do not take it personally if it doesn't work out for you. You will find the people you were meant to and find the greatest friends regardless of whether you wear shirts with letters or not.
