We've all been there...your organization has something crazy planned that you've been looking forward to since the planning stages. For a while, it's all you can think about, and you imagine each and every day how this upcoming event has the possibility to be the pinnacle of your college experience.

Then, on one of the days leading up to this big event, you realize you have an exam scheduled the day that you're supposed to leave. Or your teacher mentions one day that class is mandatory the day you were planning on skipping class for your event. There are few things that can happen in a classroom that are worse than that sinking feeling that school is going to keep you away from a great fraternity or sorority event. This doesn't even necessarily include social events, either. Contrary to popular opinion, being involved in Greek life is much more than going to parties and dressing up to go to otherwise every-day places. Being committed to Greek life means being involved in a number of activities ranging from philanthropies to community service that not only require attendance, but also often weeks of planning.

But your teachers will never let you forget that Greek events are absolutely no excuse to miss exams, projects, or classes. Now, on paper, this makes sense. Why should members of the Greek community be exempt from participating in the mandatory class activities that everyone else has to be apart of? I have never been a "Greek-rights" crusader -- I don't advocate special privilege for any members of any on-campus organization and I am never one to fight against the recent surge of mass media scrutiny of fraternity and sorority life. That being said, I do think that there's an argument to be made for letting Greek commitments be excused for school-related activities.

Take, for example, a road trip. This is something that is planned months ahead of time, and something that requires all attendees to sign up as quickly as they can to ensure a spot. Compare this (signing up for an event with a hard date well in advance) to the course schedules printed out on everybody's syllabus from day one. Aside from extremely important dates (like out-of-class exams), nothing on there is very specific. Rarely does a teacher know (much less tell anyone) that there will be a mandatory in-class assignment before about a week before it happens. And even then, with in-class exams or important dates printed, almost every course schedule stresses the tentative nature of the printed dates, meaning nothing on a course schedule is as guaranteed as a date for a heavily-planned Greek event.

Even if, however, course schedules were completely detailed and set in stone (disclaimer: I have never taken a class in four years at UF where the class stuck exactly with the course schedule), there is still an argument to be made here. We are paying for our classes. We are also, however, paying for our Greek involvement. Dues go toward events. Even events with limited participation are, for the most part, at least partly subsidized by 100 percent of a chapter's dues.

If a teacher feels the need to announce that everyone must be in class on the day of a road trip, or changes an in-class exam date to the day you have to leave, that teacher is essentially keeping you away from something that you have already paid for. An in-class assignment or spur-of-the-moment exam change should not cost a student a dime, but if participating in these things means missing a Greek event, it means sacrificing a solid chunk of dues that you have already paid for.

Now, I'm not saying that everyone with prior paid-for plans should be excused from any sort of conflicting class obligations. But I don't see why making certain things up for the sake of getting the value out of our due payments and fulfilling prior commitments to our organizations would be such a bad thing. If someone attending a sister's wedding can make up an exam, why is someone who is paying several hundred dollars on top of dues to attend an event ineligible to do that same thing? Not that I'm comparing the life events of blood relatives to Greek events -- I'm just pointing out that, logistically, make-ups can be done.

I wouldn't trade my education for anything. But I also wouldn't trade the experiences that I've had in college thanks to Greek life for anything, either. When so much planning, commitment and especially money go into Greek involvement, the value and experience we get out of it shouldn't rely on tentative, vague course schedules and hard dates that don't need to be hard.

I'm not a fan in any way of suggesting that Greeks (or any group of people for that matter) should be above the law or the rules, but so long as we're getting our work done in the best way we can, I don't see why universities giving Greek events a little wiggle room would be the worst thing in the world.