I first want to start off this article by saying that I have nothing against anyone who is in a sorority or wants to join, it's just not for everyone and I am one of those girls.

It's almost always a given that when you go off to college your first spring semester you join a sorority, make friends and memories that you'll have for the next four years of your life, but sometimes that lifestyle isn't for everyone. When I got to college I had no interest in joining a sorority, not because I think they're dumb or because people say you buy your friends or whatever negative things people have to say about them, I have nothing against sororities, it just wasn't for me. It's easy to hear other people talk about how amazing it is being in a sorority and see the pictures and how much fun it looks like they're having, but the stigma to always have to be and look your best can be too much for some people, including myself.

There some amazing parts of being in a sorority, where they make friends in this community and you belong to something. But, there are also some disadvantages to joining a sorority. They have control over you, they get to boss you around, tell you that you can't go out and party for a week while rushing, but more than that you really don't get to pick your friends. You are given the friends that they selected to give a bid to and from that is where you make your friends. You don't really have an opportunity to run into someone at a bar and make a connection because someone else split a drink on you, and that's how I made one of my best friends for the past four years.

One year I had a roommate that was in a sorority and she was almost never home because she had to go to chapel or an event, and don't get me wrong that sounds fun and all, but I enjoy staying at home, watching a movie and making dinner with my friends more. When you rush, you're not always going to get a bid from the sorority you want, which then has girls feeling hopeless and that they weren't good enough because the social stigma to join a sorority in college is so high. Not only that, but it can be pretty damn expensive. College is already expensive enough, I couldn't bring myself to ask my parents for more money to join a sorority just so I could be apart of a sisterhood and wear matching shirts.

I also don't have as much enthusiasm as most of these girls do, which is great for them, but when your "big" pops out of a box and you get so excited you start jumping up and down screaming and hugging, that just isn't me. I can't always put on a happy face because of the sorority I am representing and not always being able to choose who and when you want to hang out with the girls. Before I got to college there were a lot of different ways a sorority was perceived to me in movies and social media where people got hazed or felt like you had to be something you're not and it didn't necessarily grab my attention and make me want to join.

Everyone is different and I didn't want to compromise my happiness or what I believed to be the best for myself just to join a sorority and make friends. If you're one of those girls who can always put on a smile or get excited about certain things then props to you, but I am not one of them. I made some of my best friends all by myself without the help of a sorority and I am forever grateful for those friends. I didn't miss out on anything. I still got the best college experience of my life with the friends I made on my own and to this day I never regret not joining a sorority.