I remember the first time I heard about sororities and fraternities. After watching the award-winning movie "Legally Blonde," I felt that I was fully educated on what it was like to be in a sorority--or so I thought. The media tends to paint Greek life in a negative light in that it latches onto rumors or terrible things that have happened in the past, and have since been resolved. This definitely did not help with my perception of Greek life, and can explain why many people have disdain for it. So I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of people have a similar opinion because the movies and media are the majority of what they go off of.

Thankfully, I was able to look beyond my bias and I rushed this fall. I can honestly say that joining a sorority was one of the best decisions of my college career thus far. Despite this, people often warn me about Greek life, citing common rumors, but I am here to tell you that most of them are extremely exaggerated or not true. Below I discuss two of the most common rumors about Greek life.

All you do is drink or go to parties

I would be lying if I didn’t say that parties are a large part of Greek life. But, it should be noted, that just because you are at a party, it does not mean that you have to drink, and there are many university and Panhellenic, rules against it. There are definitely ways to go to a party and still be classy and have a lot of fun. Sometimes, there are some members of the Greek community who only go to parties because that is their mission. But you cannot look at one part to represent the whole, and other unaffiliated college students can have a party mission too. Not to mention, a large part of the college community who are not even involved with Greek life drink.

That being said, I invite you to look at a calendar of any active fraternity or sorority member. There are so many other events and duties we have to participate in or complete throughout the semester. For example, most sororities and fraternities have philanthropies or causes that they raise money for. So, throughout the year there are many fundraising events for the philanthropy that we have to plan and execute. But it doesn’t stop there, members have a certain amount of community service and study hours they have to get each month or semester, otherwise, they will be in bad standing with the organization. Not to mention weekly chapter, and if applicable, new member meetings, and those times you’re just hanging out with your sisters or brothers. Which in all reality, probably involves some sort of food.

Though parties are a large part of Greek life, know that it is not the only component, and don’t judge people for how they choose to spend their weekends, whether or not they are in Greek life.

If you join a sorority, you’re paying for your friends.

It’s no secret that sororities are expensive. New members probably pay close to $1,000 dollars their first semester within the organization. Yes, that is a lot of money, and it is easy to think that you are in fact paying for your friends, but it’s not true. Here’s an analogy to explain: if you and your friends were to pay up front for all of the restaurants and social activities that you were going to, or participating in for the entire semester, would you say that you are paying for your friends? Probably not. Well, it’s the same concept with sorority dues. That payment, except for new members, is all inclusive. It helps pay for all of the events, and activities the organization does, but they are just paid for in advance. In other words, paying for things early does not mean you are "buying your friends."

As with anything, most critics don’t even know what they are hating on because they haven’t even experienced it for themselves. So the message of this article is not limited to Greek life; don’t judge, especially when you don’t even have your facts straight.