Hailing from Jackson, Mississippi, I grew up surrounded by a culture that expected everyone to go Greek in college. Of course, this meant going to Ole Miss or Mississippi State (or maybe University of Alabama if you wanted to shake things up a little) and joining a sorority or fraternity that boasted upwards of two or three hundred actives. "Rush" was a mythical activity that little girls waited for as they heard their older sisters and mothers talk about and prepare for it. Weeks of planning and hundreds of dollars would go into rush attire. I dreamt about my bid day at Ole Miss when I was in high school...until I decided to enroll at Birmingham-Southern, a tiny liberal arts school with fewer students than my high school. As I waited for my freshman year to begin, I silently envied my friends who were preparing for their formal rush at big state schools. They all knew which sorority they wanted to pledge and were trying to work their way in with some of the actives that they knew. I was sad that I only had six sororities to choose from and that I would only have about 60 sisters, none of whom I had any chance of meeting before school started. But, I decided to rush anyways. I got my top choice, AOII, and I ran just as happily into my sisters' arms on bid day as I would have at Ole Miss.
What I didn't expect was the happiness I found after bid day. My sisters immediately took me in and showed me the ropes at BSC. They invited me over to watch "American Horror Story," to go shopping at the Summit, and to scour countless thrift shops for the perfect mixer outfit. They all knew who I was right off the bat, because they had all wanted me as much as I had wanted them. Now that I've been an active for almost a year, these girls are my closest friends. What has made Greek life at a small school so special and different isn't really the size of each chapter; it's the way that brothers or sisters get to know each other. At larger schools, Greek life has the tendency to become just another label or status symbol. I've seen girls who were best friends in high school stop talking to one another because they were in rival sororities. At these schools, things like Greek Week, Derby Days, and Homecoming pit Greeks against one another and weaken the bonds between sisters and brothers, thereby discouraging panhellenic and inter-fraternal friendships. But at our little school, while there is still competition and status, Greek life has become what it is really meant to be. I have many friends not in my sorority, or not involved in Greek life at all. I still consider them all to be my close friends. Within my sisterhood, I have been lucky enough to create a special bond with each and every one of my sisters, which I wouldn't have been able to do anywhere else but here at Birmingham-Southern. So while bigger schools may laugh at our small chapters, we have a much more rewarding experience and bond that no one will ever be able to rival.
