As a first-generation college student, all things college were basically a foreign language to not only me, but my parents. Greek life was something I never considered. It wasn't until my senior year of high school where it came to my attention while everyone was working on their recruitment recommendation letters where I started getting curious to what Greek life was.
Like others, I had the stereotype of what Hollywood portrayed it to be. I knew it wasn't entirely accurate but I didn't know all Greek Life really entailed. Needless to say, I went out of my comfort zone and decided to sign up for formal fall recruitment.
Summer passed and recruitment came, no one really told me what to expect. As a shy and introverted person, recruitment was very much out of my comfort zone. You talk to a couple of girls from each house throughout the entire week. I was lucky enough to find my home in a chapter I had loved from the first day.
Greek Life is not what I expected. As a new member, you have a full plate. You have coke dates, homecoming, new member meetings, school, philanthropy events etc. and it feels like it's all just a little too much to handle. The first thing Greek Life taught me was time management. I didn't want to miss out on any of these events and I'm so glad I didn't. Learning how to time manage, allowed me to participate in all things Greek Life, school and gave me a great tool I could use throughout college.
As I ended my new member period, I started learning what it really meant to be a member of my sorority. This part of my Greek Life experience destroyed any previous stereotype I had made up in my head. Greek Life showed me that I am representing something bigger than myself. I wear the same letters as hundreds and thousands of people in the country and I want to represent it well for not only me, but for them. When asked what sorority I am in, I proudly tell them and for those who don't know much about Greek Life, just have a little mini rant about how awesome it is.
Greek Life is not what I expected. Greek Life changed my life. Greek Life gives you so many opportunities to get involved; either locally within Greek Life, on campus, around the community or even sometimes at a national level. As an over-involved high school senior, I felt like I wasn't doing much for myself whenever I arrived at college and was involved in nothing but my sorority. That's where I was wrong. Within all the philanthropy events, positions in the house, clubs on campus, you quickly get involved and it's all time manageable. One of my favorite things about my sorority, is that no one's talents go unnoticed. My sisters do a great job in seeing everyones strengths and encourage them to follow their passions. Without their encouragement, I can't say I'd be as involved in my chapter and around campus as I am.
School means a lot to me, as it should mean a lot to everyone. After-all, school is the main reason we are all here. Greek Life does a great job of helping you academically. Greek life is almost like a reward. Most houses have a GPA requirement, and if you want to keep participating in all the fun events we do as a chapter then you should do your part and keep your grades where they should be. This is to not only benefit you, but it benefits the chapter, too. And it actually makes studying fun because once school starts, you can study with everyone in the chapter who's in the same class, and that way you're not on your own.
I can see how people can see Greek Life as "fake." It's just from the outside looking in, because once you're in it, that is not the mindset you have. You're in a house with 200 new sisters and I can't lie to you and say that we're all best friends and hangout every single day, but I can say that I know if I ever needed anything, big or small, that any of those girls would be there for me in a heartbeat. Every house is diverse and it's so cool to see all the different personalties in the house and how each of us benefits the chapter.
Greek Life is definitely not what I expected, but more than I could've ever asked for. It was the best decision I made. If I had to make the decision all over again, I'd pick Greek Life, every time.
