1. Hazing

Hazing is illegal in Tennessee, but as far as I can tell, it still happens every now and then. I don’t want to risk that. I’ve heard plenty of horror stories (that won't delve into), and I’d just rather not.

2. Self-Esteem

I don’t consider myself an arrogant person, but I do try to maintain a healthy level of self esteem. From what I’ve been told, rushing certain clubs can crush that. For some, the whole week is a roller coaster of trying to get the club to like you better than the other applicants. It sometimes seems to overshadow the fact that our worth is not in human eyes and makes you forget that you are precious in His eyes.

3. Money

I’m already paying an obscene amount of money to attend school. I don’t want a couple extra hundred dollars tacked onto my bill. No, thank you. I can make friends other ways.

4. Cliques

Once you make it into a social club, you have a group of fiercely loyal and (maybe more than) slightly jealous friends. I don’t want to be tied down to one friend group. That’s like putting all your eggs into one basket. What if something happens and they turn against you? Where do you go then?

5. Pledge Week

I’ve also heard it called Hell Week. It’s sort of a culmination of the cliquishness, the blow to your self confidence and the hazing all rolled into one. I remember hearing about one semester when a social club supposedly made all its pledges stay up all night. How can you still be a productive student during such a week?

6. Time Commitment

Once you are in a social club, it’s up to you how much time you want to invest in it. If you invest a lot of time into it, all these troubles might be worth it. But doing a double major and being in band, I am a very busy student. I don’t have enough time to make the troubles of social clubs worth it.