I’ve heard people call me the GDI of my friend group. While I don’t refer to myself as a GDI, I am unaffiliated. Most of my friends are in sororities and fraternities here at Elon. Each chose their organization for the right reasons and I hold great respect for everyone who found a place, joined their new family and proudly wears their Greek letters.
When I started college, I believed that Greek life was something I would enjoy. I thought I was ready to become a member of an organization; I wasn’t. People might think I’m saying there’s something wrong with Greek life, but I’m actually suggesting the exact opposite.
You’ve probably met somebody who tells you Greek life is bad. Of course, everybody is entitled to his or her own opinions, but I don’t think it’s fair to stereotype Greek life as “bad.” In fact, I like to think of it as something that helps to make people who they are, and I think it’s a beautiful thing when people come together and form a family.
My friend group? All Greek. Do I have a problem with it? Not at all.
In fact, deciding not to pledge this year and putting off the a decision about whether to rush next spring has actually allowed me to get out and meet a ton of people. I’ve made friends with a girl on the second floor in my building who didn’t rush (and it’s been fun to have a buddy in all of this). I’ve met people in other groups I’ve joined on campus and I’ve even had the awesome opportunity to meet some amazing people who rushed and joined sororities with my best friends. It has been good.
While I’ve had a lot of time to meet new people, I’ve also had the chance to focus on friendships that mean the most to me. It isn’t much fun in seeing all of your friends go off to join something that you are not a part of, and I admit I’ve had hard days and the occasional fear of missing out. But if your friends are really your friends, they’re still going to make time for you no matter what letters are stitched across their T-shirts and they aren’t going to notice that the one you’re wearing has no letters at all. When it comes to true friendship, none of what I worried about did.
My best friends are still my best friends. Nothing will ever change the memories we made in our first semester of college when all of us were unaffiliated, and nothing now is any different than before.
It would be an understatement to say that I have learned a lot more about myself when I chose to put Greek life off for at least another year. I believe that going Greek allows you to find your people and discover who you are, but I believe that also happens for those who don’t.
Above all, I’m thankful for the people who stuck by my side. I’m grateful to call a few girls here my sisters and it just happens that they’re all in organizations and I’m not. Each of them have taught me to be myself and encouraged me to love myself. I’m thankful for these friends because they’ve proven me wrong when I thought I’d lose them to their new friends, but instead, they’ve just made me a part of the gang.
In a way, I’ve grown used to being the unaffiliated friend, but I’ve also grown to realize that, when it comes down to it, organizations don’t have to define friendships, and they certainly don’t define people. I am not a GDI and am not a Greek girl; I’m just me and, for now, I’m good with that.
