I never thought I would become a part of Greek life before I came to Ohio University. I assumed that sororities were filled with mean, pretty, sized zero blondes. Luckily, I decided to go through formal recruitment, and found out I had been wrong about the stereotypes.
I’d always been intrigued by the idea of Greek life, and I knew that the core values of most organizations revolved around the ideals of leadership and philanthropy, in addition to making friends and having fun. However, after watching TV shows such as “Greek” on ABC Family and seeing the popular girls from my high school start joining sororities, I wasn’t sure it was for me. If I would even be accepted into one, I didn’t know if I would be able to deal with the drama, and I definitely didn’t want to suffer from any of the hazing horror stories I had heard on the news.
As I started my freshman year at Ohio University, I realized that making friends wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. My roommate and I chose each other on a website called Room Surf, since we were both out of state students and didn’t know anyone. We became fast friends and befriended most of the people on our floor, and when she told me she was going through sorority recruitment, I seriously considered it for the first time. Even though I already had friends, I wanted to make sure I tried every opportunity and didn’t get stuck with one group of people because I was too afraid to expand my horizons.
After two stressful weekends of carefully planned outfits and a sore throat from talking too much, I was accepted into a sorority. I almost rejected my bid on Bid Day, but my Rho Gamma, a disaffiliated sorority member who guides potential new members through recruitment, convinced me to give it a chance.
As a senior, I can say that Greek life is so much more than I expected. My sorority is filled with a wide array of women from many different backgrounds. There is no specific stereotype we fulfill. While there is the occasional drama, I know I always have someone to talk to, to help me out or to make me smile. When I first joined I wasn’t confident in myself, but my sisters gave me the confidence to run for leadership positions, and they believed in me enough to elect me and allow me to make a difference. Being a leader in Greek life has helped me to be more confident in my personal life, particularly at my summer internship, and gave me skills and experience that would be hard to find elsewhere.
During Fall 2015 Formal Recruitment, I will be a Rho Gamma. Many assume that all sororities hate one another, but I am excited to have the chance to disaffiliate from my chapter and be able to spend time with Rho Gammas from other chapters, while leading potential new members to find the right chapter for them. But ultimately, I am most excited to welcome these women to join the Greek community as a whole.
