When you hear the words sorority or fraternity what is the first thing that comes to mind? For a lot of people it’s partying, drinking or being wild and crazy. Some people might think of ruthless hazing. There aren’t too many people who think of the positive factors Greek life can bring. Whether you are influenced by social media, your friends, or Greek life itself, stereotypes are easy to find and really hard to break.

In reality, yes, some of those things do occur when you go Greek … but there is way more to being in a sorority and fraternity than what meets the eye.

1. Helping your community.

Not just a few members of the sorority or fraternity do community service. Nine times out of 10 the entire group or the majority of it go out and help the community and we actually enjoy it! Most Greeks are very hard workers, and they show that when they do community service events. The Greek system is the largest network of volunteers in the United States, with members donating over 10 million hours of volunteer service each year.

2. Academic standing.

Yes, believe it or not, in order to be a part of Greek life you are required to maintain a certain GPA. For many groups, if your GPA falls below their set standard, you are required to complete study hours every week and maybe even get a tutor. When you join a sorority or fraternity, odds are your going to find someone who has already taken and passed a class you having trouble with, so you can basically get free tutoring from them!

3. Philanthropy.

Each Greek organization has a philanthropy that they hold events and raise money for. The goal of the sorority or fraternity is to promote awareness and to donate to those organizations. Some groups will hold events on campus and get students and faculty involved, while others will actually go out to different locations and volunteer. Either way, philanthropy events are a huge part of Greek life.

4. Becoming part of a family.

A lot of people want to become a part of Greek life because they want to build a new family. For some people, their actual families could be thousands of miles away and they very rarely get to see them. Becoming a member of a sorority or fraternity can give them a new sense of family right there at their school to make them more relaxed and happy.

5. Making new friends (and no, we don’t “buy” our friends).

One of the biggest reasons people join Greek life is to make new friends! You might have already known some of the members, but if you become a part of their sister/brotherhood, you’ll get to know them on a whole new level! These friendships you will develop won't end at graduation, they will last a life time! Because you are required to pay dues every semester, one insult Greeks commonly hear is that we have to “Buy our friends because we can’t make our own”. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. The purpose of paying dues is so we can have money to do things as a group.

6. Having fun.

While we are all in college to get an education, graduate and move on into the real world, it’s very important to remember to have fun. If you spend every minute of your time studying or working on assignments, you will very quickly become overwhelmed with stress and anxiety. (And no one wants that.) Whether it's pizza night with the guy, movie night with the girls, road trips, or best of all Greek Week, when you join Greek life you are guaranteed to have tons of fun!

Becoming a member of Greek life is definitely one of the best decisions I have ever made. In my short time in being a sorority girl, I have already created tons of memories with my sisters, became part of the best family I could ever ask for, and made so many new friends who I’m eternally grateful for. I strongly encourage people to go Greek so they can experience all of the awesome thing that I have.