Recruitment season is upon us! It's the time when the Greek community invites students to meet us, connect with us, and find their homes for more than just four years, for life. It's a very special and memorable experience for all those involved.

All I ever heard about Greek life were the negative stereotypes you see in movies. I was always told that all they did was party, and I didn't want that at all being the nerd that I am. However, something inside me still wanted to be in Greek life for years prior to college. Even though I had all those stereotypes in my mind, I knew, in my heart, that they had to be different; they wouldn't have existed for so long if they were so bad, right? That desire led me to sign up for formal recruitment of my freshman year, and something great happened: I met girls that I actually wanted to hang out with, and I was inspired by all of their amazing accomplishments! This was a big step for me, too, because I only ever hung out with guys. During this process, I kept thinking that I really wanted to be in a sorority, but I didn't want to do it during my freshman year. I still continued to go through recruitment because I wanted to learn all I could about the different sororities and find which one I wanted to call home in the future. That's not quite how it worked out, though; I got my bid, and I was so excited to go be welcomed home with my new sisters at that moment! My life changed that day, and I discovered that there are so many benefits to joining the Greek community.

1. Friends
It's very clear by now that you make tons of friends in Greek life. This community is filled with so many different types of people. You start to learn more about other people at all those fun activities, and you become accustomed to diversity for the rest of your adult life. This is a really great benefit of Greek life if you're a commuter student, too! You will know so many people as you go through campus, and it makes a long school day that much better.

2. Communication
If you're shy, like I was, you will be able to break out of your shell with all the events in Greek life. You will literally be able to talk to anyone after those four or so years of constant communication. If you're not so shy, though, it still provides an excellent learning experience for improving your communication skills with people in all situations. Greek life helps you perfect your communication skills and prepares you for the rest of your life with careers and friends.

3. Networking
Greek members graduate every semester, then they get jobs at awesome companies. Those companies then reach out to employed Greek alumni to ask their sisters/brothers to apply! You literally meet so many people in your chapter alone that could help you get a job whenever you need one. With the amount of members in all of Greek life, it is very possible that someone interviewing you may have had a positive experience with a member/members of your organization and want to invite you back for a job. You never know what could happen for your own future with all those successful people in your life.

4. Time Management
I swear my sorority sisters have some superwoman gene or something; they literally know how to take on everything possible while still maintaining a 4.0 GPA and looking happy and effortlessly flawless. Time management is a skill you will need for the rest of your life, and being in the Greek community forces you to pretty much become an expert on the subject. You get busy with fun Greek events, so you have to learn to balance them with school and your personal life. However, if you don't happen to be so great at time management, you have a whole support group of sisters or brothers to help you out.

5. Sisterhood/Brotherhood
If you go through a bad break up and need someone to lean on, you have all your sisters to watch Disney movies and eat ice cream with to cheer you up. You could, also, have all your brothers to take you out and get your mind off of the breakup. Either way you spin it, whatever you have going on in your life, your brothers or sisters are there to help you out whenever you need it. Whether it be an active member or alumni member, you always have at least one person to go to for advice.

6. Scholarship
The old stereotype that fraternities and sororities party all the time and do poorly in school could not be any farther from the truth. The Greek community is held to a higher standard of academic excellence. You can't even join a fraternity or sorority with a low GPA. Then if you happen to get a low GPA as an active member, you get study help from your brothers or sisters to improve your GPA the next semester. I've heard many people say that, even with all the Greek events, the support from other members has actually helped improve their grades.

7. Service
Service is another quality that the Greek community emphasizes, and we, all over the United States, do millions of community service hours each year. It is so important to get involved in your community and being a member of an organization that promotes just that is a great way to make a difference in your environment! We hold events to raise money for our philanthropies, too, and we have fun while doing it! Each Greek organization has it's own specific philanthropy to which they donate most of their proceeds. It's a great way to give back to a cause to which you have a connection. I was in an interview a while back, and the woman interviewing me was very impressed with my sorority involvement when she felt a connection of her own to my organization's philanthropy.

8. Leadership
You have the choice to take offices in Greek life, PHC, and IFC. You take responsibility for a specific part of your organization and become the face of your chapter. I never once thought I would be able to handle my several jobs, school, family, Greek life, and an officer position in my chapter until I joined my sorority. Being around all those hard-working women in my chapter made me want to do more and take on more responsibility.

In the end, Greek organizations emphasize sisterhood/brotherhood, scholarship, service, and leadership, but they have so much more to offer. Clearly they need to make more realistic movies. This is just a small list of benefits from going Greek, but I encourage you to go through recruitment, find your home, and see how Greek life benefits you. If you find it's really not for you, then all you have to do is not accept a bid. What do you have to lose?