As the final hours of summer come to close and classes begin up again, extra curricular activities are also starting back up on college campuses! Extra curricular activities such as clubs, outreach organizations, and intra-mural sports teams give students an opportunity to meet new people, pick up a new hobby, and give back to the community. Some of the most powerful, notable, and sometimes controversial extra curricular organizations are fraternities and sororities.
Some people avoid fraternity and sorority recruitment at all costs. Some people intentionally go above and beyond to join a fraternity or a sorority. Most aren't all that sure how they feel about fraternities and sororities to make a proper assessment as to whether that is something they are interested in.
That was me at the beginning of last semester. I knew winter rush activities were starting up soon, and I wasn't super closed off to joining a fraternity. But I had also heard about all the things that could go wrong in a fraternity, mainly peer pressure and dangerous hazing.
That's when I met the brothers in Theta Xi at Ohio State. I talked to a few of them at OSU's winter involvement fair, and they invited me to swing by their house and meet more of the brothers. I agreed, and little did I know that at that moment my life had changed.
Later that week, I came by the house and met the brothers. It was a super laid-back atmosphere. We all just sat around drinking soda and watching a random NFL game. It was not at all what I had expected from a fraternity, but it also didn't seem like my type of scene either. That night, I texted one of the brothers and told him I didn't think Theta Xi was right for me, and I thanked him for allowing me to stop by and check it out. He texted back that he respected my decision, but encouraged me to give it more than one night to see if I really liked it.
To keep a long story short, I ended up going back and having one of the greatest nights of my life at their cigar and poker casino night. I had so many great conversations with so many great brothers and potential associate members. My mind had changed completely on Greek life. The next week I received a bid and began the membership process of Theta Xi. Unfortunately, some personal issues arose and I had to respectfully drop out of the membership process.
A few days ago, I saw Theta Xi at the fall involvement fair and they were extremely ecstatic to see me. They all gave me hugs and wanted to catch up with me. They invited me back over to their house for rush week and said that it didn't matter if I joined or not because I was their friend and they genuinely missed my company.
This year, I am thinking about rushing yet again. I will be most certainly seeing Theta Xi again this year, but I might also check out a few other fraternities just to get a feel of all that the different houses have to offer.
I love the guys at Theta Xi. They are an amazing band of brothers who would do anything for each other, and anything for anyone that they are close to.
If I were to give someone who was again Greek life some advice, or someone who was looking to get involved at college this year, I would highly recommend rushing. Even if it doesn't work out in the end, I guarantee you will be surprised by the Greek life community at your school and will find a future band of brothers, sisters, or really good friends who will always have your back.
