Sororities don’t always have positive connotations. In fact, the way that social media and pop culture perceives them is in the most negative light that is the total opposite of all that sororities represent. Don’t get me wrong, I am one of those girls who perceived sororities to be superficial organizations that only allowed bottle blondes who were a size two at the most, made everyone have a drinking tolerance of a sailor deployed in a foreign country, and social skills where you can answer any question with no hesitation and grace like the girls competing for Miss America. While some of that may be true, it is only in a positive form that these myths are a reality. This is the truth about sororities.

Do we REALLY love our sisters?
Sure we do. We all joined our chapter for a reason because we all found that our chapter had values we all found important. We all find a group of girls that we find close with to spend our four years together. We meet girls from either all over the state, or all over the country who have a different story than we do. But in a house of 150 girls are we all best friends? Absolutely not. Do we get annoyed with some of our sisters? All the time. You can’t place a girl with 150 others and never expect there to be any drama, never get annoyed with anyone else, and make us all sing “Kumbaya.” But I will say all 150 of us get along. We are able to have conversations with each other, and if I were ever in any state of emergency, there is not one girl that I would ever be scared to call and ask for help.

Did I get hazed?
No. I never had any experience where I didn’t feel comfortable doing something or had to do something I didn’t want to do. I have always had the option of being able to walk out of a situation if I felt like I had to. My favorite line after people ask me these things, is when they go, “You can tell me the truth, I promise I won’t tell.” It’s funny how people outside of sororities think that what they see in movies is accurate.

I don’t have to pay for my friends to have any.
Even if this were the case, there is no amount of money in the world that would amount to the value and worth of the friends I’ve made. When you think about it, don’t you pay to play sports? Pay to be in social clubs? We all technically pay to have friends if you really want to dissect it. But no, I didn’t join my chapter and pay for my membership just to surround myself with this group of women.

What else do we do besides party?
Lots of things. Actually, if you asked my friends about me, they’d tell you that I’m the Grandma of the group. Sure, sometimes I like to go out and have a bit of fun. But there is absolutely no correlation between my personal activities and my membership in my chapter. Though we have a very prominent social calendar, there are so many things that we do aside from that. Philanthropy, this word will haunt me until the day I die. I swear every week there is some chapter whether it is a fraternity or sorority that is putting on a fun philanthropy event. They’re all for good causes, and they’re all to represent our chapters in a positive light. We make memories too. This might sound like a very cheesy statement but think about it. We are participating in events that create fun memories for us later in life. We are spending nights with girls that we’ll have hour long phone calls with 10 plus years down the road.

Do you guys all look like cookie cutters?
Not. At. All. As a little Hawaiian, Asian girl, I assumed that when I joined a sorority I would be surrounded with only blondes. This is not at all the case. In fact, I could argue that there are more brunettes than blondes in my chapter let alone. We have all sorts of ethnicities in our house such as Asian, Hispanic, African-American, etc. The only people that look the same in our chapter are the girls who are actual sisters. Blood-related. Other than that, every member is their own unique individual.

Do you just LOVE your big and LOVE your little?
Yeah. Wouldn’t you if they were yours? I never had a big sister or a little sister. I only had a little brother. Even though I love him to no end, I always wanted what I didn’t have. When I got my big it was finally someone who I was able to look up to and call my own. To this day, even though she graduated and is out in the big world, we still keep in touch and talk about everything going on in our life. My little is literally like my child, and I am the most protective person of her. My big and I continuously are with each other. I drive her around everywhere with me to do errands, get things for herself, etc.

Whenever I go home for breaks, summer, or random weekends, and talk to people about my chapter, there is a part of me that is so proud to be a part of this wonderful organization. Just like any organized group, there are flaws that are evident, but the positives of it outweigh all of the negatives. There is not one thing I would change about my membership or the memories I’ve made thus far. So go ahead! Let pop culture define your beliefs about sorority life. You’ll never know the truth until you try it out for yourself.