In every public college, there will exist a presence of a sorority. The intensity of this presence is different at every school. In my college, it is quite prevalent. There is so much social pressure to join a sorority. There are many reasons people give to join a sorority. Sorority members give reasons of sisterhood, social activities, emotional and academic support, personal development, philanthropy, networking, image, and many more.

My intentions in writing this article are not to diss or underscore sororities. Some of the hype is true. However, I'm here to tell you you don't have to be in a sorority to be cool, or to feel accepted. Going into a new school is scary, especially when you're going without any of your high school friends, or your friends are joining sororities, too. Belonging to a sorority can help ease the initial intensity of being at a new place. However, a lot of the sorority creed is actually quite misleading.

Sisterhood is usually given as the top reason to join a sorority. With almost any social group, there will be an elite group and a group that is ostracized. When girls join sororities, they believe they will be seen as equal in the eyes of their sisters. This is not usually the case. First, you have to work your way up to becoming a sister. You are not officially initiated until the end of the semester. When a "sister" learns of any discretion you might have had like getting too wild at a party (that you're encouraged to attend), or you've missed a few days of classes, they are the first to tell on you. In a sorority, you are not choosing your friends; you're just agreeing to belong to a group of people who you really don't know.

Sororities are very time-consuming. You can't really plan to be a part of any other groups on campus (and there are many), especially your freshman year. Sororities kind of force you to get closer to your other sorority sisters, as well as friendly fraternities. You miss out on potential relationships with non-sorority/fraternity members. If you can manage the pressure of being a college student, sorority member, and part of an organization on campus, you won't have much of a social life anyway besides mandatory sorority obligations.

Being in a sorority is expensive. You have to pay your initial dues, pay for your pin (which is somehow really expensive), pay for your monthly dues, pay for the retreats you have to go on, pay for your outfits and dresses for socials and swaps, pay for the innumerable t-shirts (that are mandatory for events), and if you miss an event or chapter meeting without a great excuse, you will be fined. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't be able to afford it without taking out student loans.

You rarely ever develop personally because your college life is so wrapped up in being in a sorority you don't have time to do things that personally interest you. And if you're in a sorority, you're probably afraid to do something outside of your own social group. It's very hard to find yourself when you have a group of people telling you what you can and cannot do and how you can and cannot dress. College is a time where you can explore the things you really want to get out of life and sororities don't help much on that front.

I understand the fear. I was planning on rushing the whole summer before college. I knew I could get the sorority I wanted because I was a legacy, had a couple of letters of recommendation, and great grades. A couple weeks before rush week, I really started thinking about it though and decided that it just wasn't me. I wasn't going to pretend to be best friends with someone I just met. I thought the group pictures seemed lame (completely personal note). And I wasn't really into the party scene. I didn't want to compromise who I was to be a part of a group. Instead, I did the hard thing. I went into school with a lot of people I didn't know, including my roommate. I was shy, so it was hard to meet new people at first. But, I ended up becoming best friends with my suite-mate. And I became involved in several organizations on campus like the newspaper, a journalism society, and a Christian organization. I met a lot of people -- people that had a lot of the same interests as I did.

I'm here to tell you that you don't have to be in a sorority to meet people, or to be liked, or accepted. College is a place where there are a lot of different people - in a new place and looking for friends and acceptance, too. You don't have to fit yourself into this cookie-cutter idea of yourself to find a place. There is so much more to college than that. There is no reason to be scared; you will find a place. Let God do the work and stay true to yourself. I could not be happier with the decision I've made to be an independent.