Since coming home from college for the summer, I have spent most of my time working, going out with friends and taking advantage of all the fun summer activities my city has to offer. Through all of this, I have met a lot of new people and have had many memorable conversations. In discussing my experience thus far at college with others, I tend to get a mixed reaction when I mention my involvement in Greek life. Some people express that they were or are involved in Greek life too, while others do not know much about it and ask follow up questions that seem genuine but are rooted in stereotypes.

I don’t blame these people for responding in such a way; however, I do blame the media for continuing to feed into these stereotypes. Movies and T.V. shows often portray Greek life as a bunch of rich kids partying 24/7 and ignoring all responsibility. Not only is this representation completely inaccurate, but it is also seriously offensive to the majority of Greeks who work their asses off in school just to maintain the high GPA that many Greek organizations require in order to stay a member.

Each time I have these conversations, I feel unable to properly address the stereotypes I am connected to. I want to explain to these people the real reasons I went Greek, but I often chicken out and just change the subject for fear of sounding naive or fake. Here is what I was thinking as I politely brought up new conversation topics:

Networking and Job Opportunities

Joining a fraternity or sorority is one of the best ways to gain access to a large network of successful and well connected people. Regardless of how close our relationship may be with a brother/sister, we all want to see each other succeed in our careers. As members of a Greek organization, past or present, we commit ourselves to helping one another and using our own connections to further a brother/sister’s career, often going out of our way to do so. We don’t ask for anything in return either, because it is enough to know that this person's success will enable them to return the favor to a future brother/sister, benefiting the fraternity/sorority as a whole. Examples of this can be seen every day, through posts in the fraternity/sorority Facebook group of job opportunities or emails from alumni looking to hire.

Support and Sisterhood/Brotherhood

In terms of the social aspect, there is more to going Greek than just making friends with those who share similar interests. Your brothers and sisters are called that for a reason. It is not some cheesy term used to imply that we are all closer than we really are. It means that through the organization, we are connected to each other in a special way. This connection mirrors the connection of a family; families may not always get along or live their lives the same way, but at the end of the day they will always be there for each other. It is the same for fraternities and sororities. While we may not be best friends with every single brother/sister in our chapter, we will drop whatever we are doing if one needs help. We will be there to fill the audience if a sister is making an important speech or a brother has an important presentation. We will stay up all night with a sister/brother who is awaiting medical news of a family member, and we will give up our free time in order to tutor a sister/brother in a topic we are majoring in so they don’t fail their final. We offer our closets to all of our sisters, at all times, for all occasions. We offer our homes to anyone in our fraternity/sorority who needs a place to stay while in our home city or town. We bring over pizza and snacks from the event we just attended, to any sisters/brothers still stuck in the library. The support we receive from our chapter is what helps us understand more about ourselves, friendship and community.

Friendship

Once you find your best friends within your chapter, you forget what life was like without these people. You are able to see them every day that you are on campus, and often spend breaks and summers together too. When you are away from each other for a while, it feels like something is missing. Now, while this is often true of non-Greek college friendships as well, it speaks to the stereotypes often associated with friendships in Greek life, especially regarding sororities. Sorority girls are often expected to be fake to one another, or to be catty and competitive. From my personal experience, this could not be further from the truth. The friendships I have made, as well as others I have witnessed, are all completely genuine and strong as can be.

Philanthropy and Participation in the Larger Community

Another huge part of Greek Life that movies and T.V. shows neglect to portray is philanthropy. Believe it or not, some people only join Greek life for this one reason, while seeing the rest as added benefits. Being Greek means giving back. The two go hand-in-hand. Members spend months planning their philanthropy events, coming up with fun ways to engage the other sororities/fraternities, visiting hospitals and families to meet people involved in the charity they are raising money for, etc. When it comes time to support another Greek chapter's philanthropy, everyone else gets super competitive in raising money and participating in the charity activities of the week. Additionally, as if charity isn't enough, Greeks also help out local schools, organizations and groups in the city or neighborhood of their college campus.