I have a confession to make. My first two years of college were spent at Texas A&M, my best friend and I were those people that drove by a girl in an oversized t-shirt and chacos and just without thinking looked at each other and said, "Typical sorority girl." I'm not ashamed of it, I just didn't understand what Greek life was all about. When I transferred I was concerned about assimilating to another new school and I started looking into Greek life. When I told my best friend I was thinking about going through recruitment her first response was to laugh at me until she realized I was serious; her response changed to "I just don't think you fit in with THAT type of girl," and I completely agreed. But what exactly is that type of girl?
That type of girl is someone who cares about philanthropy. Most of what we do as a sorority is about giving back; giving back to Greek life, the university, other organizations, the community, local philanthropies and national philanthropies. Each year individual chapters give hundreds of dollars to their group charity, not to mention the thousands of dollars that are donated annually by chapters across the nation.
That type of girl is someone who cares about her academics. Most universities require a minimum 2.5 GPA in order to be eligible for recruitment. Most sororities choose to raise their requirements even further, there are some sororities that require as high as a 3.25 GPA in order to be in good standing and participate in all of the semester activities. Not to mention study hours are a serious thing that are extremely important. Academics always come first and that is something that I definitely did not know before going Greek.
That type of girl is someone who is an individual. She doesn't play into the stereotypes that I described unless that is truly what she likes. There is nothing wrong with over-sized shirts with leggings and a Starbucks drink in your hand; but there is also nothing wrong with ripped skinny jeans, beat up Converse and a Pantera t-shirt. It's all about being who you are and not following the crowd. Be outspoken, speak your mind and give your opinion on important issues.
That type of girl is self-less. She cares more about helping others and making the people around her happy. She is someone you can count on and someone you can trust. She is the type of girl that is involved across campus. She is the type of girl that sits in her room watching Netflix. She is the type of girl that is whoever she wants to be.
My letters have become a huge part of who I am, but when it boils down to it that's all they are: PART of who I am. They don't dictate how I act, how I treat people or who I talk to. They are not what makes me a good person, and they are not what makes someone a bad person. With so many individuals in one place, THAT type of girl is whoever she wants to be. There is no such thing as typical.
