Every year, college girls everywhere get a schedule, get dressed up and “girl flirt” with hundreds of other girls in order to join a sorority. Once given a bid to join a sorority, if accepted, you will become a sister. In a long lifetime line of other sisters. You will even be given a family where you have a big that shows you the ropes and most the time, showers you with a ton of gifts. It sounds amazing right? I would agree, however, at my college I will never have the opportunity to rush a sorority. We only have three fraternities that aren’t affiliated with our campus and we have no sororities. I was fairly upset about this at first because from seeing and hearing all about them, I knew it would be something I was interested in once I got to college. People have told me there is nothing like a bond between sisters. They also say that most of their friends are their sisters and Greek life is a huge part of their social standing. And though I wouldn’t exactly know, I would have to disagree because in my own way I have found myself a little family and my place on campus.
Not being in a sorority gave me the opportunity to kind of find myself on my own and find my own group of girlfriends. Once being fully accepted into a sorority you immediately have dozens of girls that instantly become your friends. I’m not saying that that is a bad thing and that those people you won't like, or that you can’t have friends outside of your sorority but it limits your options. I enjoyed finding my friends through trial and error. Not being in a sorority let me pick people individually that I know will have a positive impact on my life. From finding people who share the same interests as me, to people who I don’t even have much in common with, I’ve been able to find so many diverse people to surround myself with.
Not being in a sorority also gave me the opportunity to find myself in other places on campus. A sorority and fraternity as I’ve noticed with a lot of my friends are incredibly time consuming. I have had the time to explore a lot of other activities that I’ve always wanted to do, including music, law clubs and even writing for the Odyssey. It’s given me the opportunity to learn more about myself while still having a strong support group of girls, and even guys around me, that I could not get rid of even if I wanted to.
I found a group of people around me that make me feel like I’m in a family. I’ve been able to open up myself more and make time for a lot of things I never had time to do in high school or in my town. And though, if given the opportunity, I would most likely be interested in rushing, I have found myself without the need of a sorority. I also couldn’t be happier with the unofficial sisters I have in my life now. We may not have letters, or shower each other with gifts, but we share everything and spend probably the same amount of time if not more with each other, without the pressures and responsibilities that a sorority carries.
