Do you remember when you went home for break Freshman year after you’ve joined your sorority and all your high school friends are like “Hey how does it feel to pay for friends?” And you fired back with “No I’m not, these girls are my best friends by choice!” Yeah I used to be one of those girls too. I was in a sorority my freshman and sophomore year and now I’m not. Do I miss it? Sometimes, but dropping my sorority made me realize something: sorority girls DO pay for friends.

Now before I go on I want to state something: I am in NO WAY demeaning sorority life. When I was a part of it I loved it. I had a ton of fun while it lasted, but some issues arose about housing and I decided that life wasn’t for me anymore. As one of my top role models Amy Poehler has said, “Good for her. Not for me.” What one girl loves may not be another girls cup of tea, and you what that’s completely normal.

Shoot Amy got me off topic, okay back to sorority life. When I was in a sorority every girl in my house was a buddy of mine. Some I got along with better than others but for the most part we were all friends, brought together by an oath, and dues, of sisterhood. It was so cool and new and interesting I was hooked. That is until other things I loved more got in the way.

Sophomore year my courses and rehearsals interfered with nearly every sorority event ever. And when I realized that my future career was more important, I was in a tough spot. If I didn’t go out or go to other social events I missed a lot: inside jokes, stories, gossip hour, etc. But what mattered to me was my career and I ultimately had to decide between the two and it was a tough decision. I spent a week going back and forth in my head to make this decision, and I don’t regret it at all but I lost basically all of my sorority friends.

After I dropped and moved out of the house I moved into an on-campus apartment. So once I was out of sigh, out of mind, I was forgotten about. I have other friends and projects going on, but I wasn’t in the group chat or Facebook group for my pledge class anymore. All the girls I was friends with and saw every day I now maybe smile or say hi if I see them on campus. I keep up with my bigs and one or two other girls but that’s it. Once you’re not a part of the club and paying your dues anymore it’s like you were never there. It’s like I was paying to have these girls be friends with me, and once I stopped I broke that friendship.

But hey if that’s what sorority girls want to do that’s fine. They can have their sisters and socials, but it comes with a price tag. Those girls DO pay for their friends, but sororities are respectable organizations and I wish all of my ex-sisters all the best. Good for her, not for me.