This month has been a nightmare for everyone affiliated with Greek life on campuses across America, with scandal after scandal being thrown in our faces. Those who come to the defense of our sacred way of life are always quick to point out how much service Greek students provide to campus communities, but often leave out how the Greek experience will benefit its own members. As a Junior with half a foot in the real world and several experiences to draw wisdom from, I can say with certainty that joining a fraternity in college has prepared me for the rest of my life in ways other students will only come to learn after they graduate. The entire process (from rush to pledging to talking to alumni and everything in between) will not only make you a better student, it will make you a better person as well.
Rush. The thing all active members hate and all prospective members love. For them, it's the chance they've been waiting for to begin the crazy dream that is college. For brothers, and especially sisters, rush week is like a vacation to hell. Constantly talking to someone new every five minutes and asking them the same generic questions over and over is enough to drive anyone insane. The brother or sister tries to sell the merits of their organization to the rushee while the rushee tries to sell to the brother or sister the merits of themselves. If this back and forth dialogue sounds familiar to anyone, it might be because this is also exactly how job interviews work. Human Resource recruiters attempt to sell their company to prospective employees and they, in turn, try to sell recruiters on themselves. Anyone who masters the art of the interview through years of extensive, brutal practice at rush will walk into any job interview much more confident than those who have been in that situation only a handful of times. Rushing as a new member will teach you how to impress others about yourself. Rushing as an active member will teach you how to see through small talk to get a perspective on other people. Rush week sucks, but it gives us an advantage few others will have.
If you went through pledging, you understand why it is called, “the best eight weeks you never want to have again." We say this because, despite the stress and tedious chores we go through (like mopping and cleaning up after everyone else), pledging is an experience we wouldn't trade for anything. We bonded with all of our pledge brothers or sisters and made friends that we will most likely keep forever. Joining a Greek organization will also give us a taste of what joining the real world will be like. A fraternity or sorority house is a lot like a company. When you're first hired, you're at the bottom of the totem pole. You're the one who does the busy work and gets everyone coffee. Your opinion doesn't really matter because you're so new, you get yelled at for stupid reasons and you're expected to do exactly what you're told. I don't know about you, but that sounds a lot like pledging to me. For us in the Greek world, we've experienced this before. For everyone else, the thought of quitting will be at the forefront of their minds for weeks. It sucked while it lasted but the rewards were worth it in the end. The same is true in the real world. Once we move up, we appreciate the process a lot more.
Life as a Greek has taught me many other things as well--among them is how to dress. Before I went Greek, I had no idea how terrible certain trends in clothing were. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but when I first got here I was the kid in cargo shorts and Hollister shirts. I had no idea how deplorable I looked because no one had ever told me. Fortunately, all of that changed a few short weeks into the fall. By the end of pledging, I no longer looked like a high school student lost on a college campus. The manner in which you dress yourself carries over into the real world out of college. The better you look, the better first impression you will make on other people. Dressing better will allow you to carry yourself forward more confidently and feel better about yourself. If I hadn't gone Greek, I probably would have never made the change, nor would I have come to understand that the way you come off to others really matters.
Obviously, there are many more benefits to Greek life other than the three I listed, but I feel like those three are pretty big. With everything going on lately around the country, members of our community all need to look in the mirror and ask themselves if they are a better person because of their involvement. If the answer is yes, as it certainly is for me, then brush off the criticism and hate--those on the outside looking in will never understand and those of us on the inside will never be able to explain it to them. They only see the bad but I see so much more. I see friendship, service and memories that I'll cherish forever. Life in a fraternity has made me a better person and after I graduate, I'll take what I've learned here into the real world with me.
