I never opted in to join Greek life.

I never participated in the weeklong emotional and aesthetic struggle that is "rush". I didn't spend hours in front of my mirror perfecting my hair, or worrying about a chipped nail, wondering whether anyone would notice. I was too busy worrying about earning money for groceries to worry about the thousands of dollars I’d have to spend on dues. In terms of sororities, I’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly.

On one hand, sorority life is an amazing place to make lifelong friends and solidify networking connections. On the other, it can force you to rank yourself in comparison to your peers, based on a ten minute conversation you’ve had with another girl your own age, and your outfit choice for the day - which are supposed to show your potential popularity and worth to the organisation.

So, here is a letter to the girls who would join the Imaginary Sorority, here is a letter to any girl who has been turned down by a Greek-affiliated organization, here is a letter to my friends whose egos were shot down by the rushing process, or indeed to those who are in sororities and feel like they have to try hard to keep up with their sisters.

Dear Beautiful Ladies who are rushing the Imaginary House,

You are more than the designer handbag your roommate has. Sure, it’s pretty, with a nice chain and a solid gold clasp and lining made out of Kardashian.

But you? You are human. You are not a bag.

You are made of skin and flesh and bones and you could take on any handbag that comes your way. Those hands on your body are creative. They can make something from the items you can just-about afford from GoodWill. They can sew and chop and style to create something which you can be proud of. So be proud. Let everyone know that your fur isn’t real and that you found it at an old thrift store in the arse-end of who-knows-where for $10.

I’d rather you spent your money on coffee for those late nights at the library than on getting the perfect pink manicure to match those of your sisters.

Did you know you could buy ten coffees for the amount of money a manicure costs? That’s five to ten nights of attentive studying that you can use to better you, so don't worry about what the people around you think of your chipped glitter nail polish.

Have a slumber party and get your friends to paint your nails, have your mum cut your hair, teach yourself how to do beach waves on youtube; learn some stuff for yourself so you can spend money on what’s really important - coffee, and subsequently your grades.

Love your body. I spent the last year not doing that, and I regret it. Don’t compare yourself to your peers because we are all born different, and mainly because we are the best versions of ourselves when we aren’t hungry or thirsty.

We are good when we feel good, and who doesn’t want to feel good? You should know that we don’t care here, and you may think that’s an impossible idealistic world we live in, but that’s why you’re rushing the Imaginary House. We won’t have chefs and we will learn how to cook at the house. We will have family dinners from the cozy Sunday Roast to the drunken Saturday Brunch. We will learn to work together to maintain good body-image, and not put ourselves or others down for bad habits, as we won’t have any!

Let yourself love, both in the sense of platonic love, and romantic love. Know that not feeling is not living. First, love your friends. Friends are the people you can drink wine with on a Friday night and not fear missing out on a party. Friends are the people who love you at your best and at your worst and appreciate your flaws as funny parts of your personality that come in the full package that is you.

And let yourself fall in love. We will support that here. Sure, we can all say that falling in love in college is stupid because we’re young and nothing lasts forever, but without the experience, how are you going to know when “the one” is “the one”? And when he isn’t “the one”, the friends you love, I.e. us, will be here with the aforementioned wine on a Friday night.

If you can agree to all of these things, you’re good enough for the Imaginary House, and you’re good enough without us, too.