If you would have told me at the beginning of freshman year that I would be in a sorority and loving it, I would have laughed in your face.
I never considered myself the stereotypical sorority type: the frat party loving, Greek letter wearing, in-your-face type of member of Greek life. I didn't ever want to be, either; if I did end up in a sorority, I thought, I wanted my sorority experience to only add to my college experience, rather than engulf it.
So with all this hesitation, why did I even join at all?
At first, one of the reasons I ended up pledging was because it was comforting to know that I had a solid group within the first few days of college. On Bid Day I felt welcomed and comfortable, and for a brand new college freshman, that's sometimes all you need. However, as the months went on and my first semester in Greek life slipped by, I soon realized my reasons for joining were much deeper than being comfortable.
I realized that I had found my best friends in college within my sorority because I was around people who, although similar to me, brought with them extremely different world views and experiences that I loved learning about and appreciating. I realized that I loved how involved my sorority was in the university itself and that I loved what it stood for.
I realized that my preconceived notions about Greek life were extremely wrong.
Every Hollywood movie likes to paint sorority girls as ditzy, free-wheeling, and shallow. After being in my sorority for seven months now, I can confirm that just isn't true. The girls in my sorority, older and younger, impress me daily with the jobs, internships, study-abroad programs, and other amazing opportunities they have every day. I am constantly in awe of what they can do.
Through them, I realized that there is so much more to sorority life than socials and date nights (although those are fun, too). We are constantly building each other up, celebrating each other's successes, and being supportive of each other's dreams and goals. We laugh together, cry together, and learn together.
If that doesn't define sisterhood, I don't know what does.
