I am an English major. Bookstores are my happy place. I'm in the midst of writing my first novel. I'm a feminist. Talking to people I've never met before makes me nervous. I'd rather enjoy a sleeve of chocolate chip cookies than a Coors Lite. I don't know how to put on eyeshadow. I come from a family of eleven people and counting. I love glitter. Crafting is very calming to me. Dresses make me feel comfortable. I'm far too clumsy to wear heels.

Also, I'm a sorority girl. It's one of the things I'm most proud to be.

That doesn't always register correctly in some people's minds. I'm always told I don't seem like a sorority girl. I've realized that isn't a compliment. The stereotypes about sorority girls have been the topic of several movies and TV shows over the years, but I'm here to let you in on a little secret: when Taylor Swift sang, "the rumors are terrible and cruel, but, honey, most of them are true," she was not talking about sorority life.

Recently I read a thought provoking article on The Odyssey written by a fellow UNLV contributor called, "Why I Opted Out of Greek Life: I prefer reading Poe than taking shots."

I've been a part of a sorority for one year and I haven't taken a shot yet. I'm given shots every week: two allergy shots by a very sweet doctor. Those aren't the shots that people often mistakenly associate with sororities. Of course, some sorority girls drink, but that's true of any college age girl, boy, or nonconforming individual. It's not limited to Greek Life. Surprisingly enough, that's just a stereotype.

Her article posed quite a few statements about sororities that I'd heard countless times before. That spending free time in a sorority and partying all weekend is a waste of time, that even though the author "hates to admit it," there is a sorority girl stereotype we all fall into, and that you have to have a specific personality to be in a sorority.

At first, I was offended, outraged even by the author's words. I truly respect the author of this article for having an opinion and using writing as a tool for expressing such. That's what The Odyssey and frankly, all writing, is about, but I was overwhelmed with petulance, more so than with other articles that had attacked Greek Life much more aggressively, and then I realized why.

The author who wrote this particular article is a peer. We go to the same college. She walks through the same halls, buildings, classrooms. She is a part of the UNLV community. It is our Greek Life she, while not intentionally, attacked. No more generalities. No more distance. It was our home, my home, that made her feel like she didn't belong in Greek Life. It's unacceptable that our Greek community made her, and probably others, feel that way. That has to change because Greek Life isn't about having a specific personality, it's about having specific values, and from what I'm aware of, partying never makes the list.

Servicing the community by hosting philanthropies, volunteering, and raising $1 million for the Alzheimer's Association as well as many other organizations, being loyal to your sisters, family, and one's you love, valuing friendship and all of the ups and downs that come with the territory, and supporting each other through our own journeys of personal growth--those make the list.

I thought I'd never join a sorority. It's one of the cheesiest cliches, but it's true.

I was afraid I wouldn't belong because for the last six years my goal has been to read 100 books. I've never gotten past 49 books each year, but still it shows I don't leave the house much, and if I do, I bring a book.

I was afraid I wouldn't belong because, the first time I went to a nightclub (18+ of course) decked out in converse and tights let me add, I immediately wanted to leave and go lay in my bed and finish my essay on patriarchy perpetuated perfectionism in Nathaniel Hawthorne's, "The Birthmark." It was loud, there were a lot of sweaty people touching me, and I was unbearably uncomfortable.

I was afraid I wouldn't belong because no one had told me that a "sorority personality" is not an actual trait, or that sororities do not last just four years, but a lifetime, or that I could, and do belong.

So, I'm here, right now, telling you. You do not need to be afraid.

Every sorority girl is different. We come from different religions, different races, different economic backgrounds, enjoy different hobbies, have different tastes in music, different political views, different clothing preferences, different almost everything except our love for each other--that's the same. It's the glue that holds each chapter of each sorority across the nation together. Again, maybe this is cheesy. But I've just made the executive decision that truth and authenticity, cannot be cheesy. I'm sorry that this is the image we have given all of you. The idea that you can't enjoy quiet hobbies, that you have to be outgoing or drink a lot of alcohol, and that you can't be yourself. On bid day we say that you're "finding your home." You're not judged in your home. You're loved. You've not turned away for being different. You're praised. Your sorority is a second family. They love you for who you are. It breaks my heart that that isn't what all of those movies showcasing "sorority life" are about.

It's been a year since I joined a sorority and I can genuinely say I'd have no idea where I would be without it.

I'm certainly different, we as humans are ever evolving. The limit does not exist on the lessons Greek Life has taught me. But I'm still me. I'm still standing in the corner at the rare party I go to, with my sisters giving me a pep talk before I talk to someone new, I'm still having the best Valentine's Day eating sleeves and sleeves of Thin Mints and watching romantic comedies with one of my best friends who happens to be a fraternity man, I'm still nerding out at Harry Potter World in California with my big as we run around the park quoting the books and drinking butter beer. I'm still me. I'm still shy, but I've now met people who make me forget that I'm shy around them, because I can be myself, and they love me for it.

No, you most certainly do not have to join Greek Life in college. If you don't want to that's perfectly okay. This is not a persuasive piece on why you should join Greek Life. It's a persuasive piece on why you don't have to be "a specific type of person" to join. You can be silly, serious, outgoing, shy, nerdy, athletic, awkward, energetic, sarcastic, funny, quiet, or a mixture of these adjectives, it doesn't matter.

You don't have to join.

Don't forgo it because you're afraid you won't belong.

Trust me, if you look, you will find your home.