Perfectly curled hair, red lipstick, wedges, and matching shirts. That’s how most people see a typical sorority girl. Smiling until your cheeks hurt, walking in heels until your toes are numb, and staying up for hours on end during recruitment are all the ugly truths that only a sorority girl would know about.

Everyone has seen the movies that portray sorority girls as crazy party going, blonde headed, bimbos. Where we only talk to fraternity boys, we party every night, and we only do things with our sisters. Going through recruitment my sophomore year of college, that is the exact mindset I had when I went to meet all the girls in the houses.

I never thought of myself as a “sorority girl." I was a dancer in high school, but I was never the girly girl type. I always had a ton of guy friends and I would much rather stay in and eat ice cream on a Saturday night than go to a party. I had seen the movies and I had already made up my mind on the sorority lifestyle. As I finished up my freshman year of college though, I realized that something was missing from my college experience. I had made friends and made memories, but it just wasn't enough. That’s when I decided to see what all the hype about sororities was.

Going through recruitment I was nervous because I wanted to impress these girls but I had also promised myself in the beginning that I would not change who I was to appease the preferences of the girls I was meeting. I did my hair nicely, I reminded myself to smile, and I went through the process. I met girls who were so funny and amazingly sweet, and I also met girls who could barely hold a conversation with me. As the week came to an end I had narrowed it down to two houses, and when I got a bid from my number one house I was on cloud nine.

After bid day though, it soon sunk in that I didn't see myself as a “sorority girl” who was now in a sorority. I felt like I was going to be left out and not get to make experiences like the other girls. I’m not someone who likes being told what to wear to coordinate with everyone else, I don't like hugging people, and I’m not going to party every night! But, as the weeks went on being in a sorority, I soon found out that those preconceived notions I had in my head of what I thought sorority girls were, was so completely wrong.

These girls who I now call my sisters are some of the smartest, most kind, and giving girls I’ve ever met. My sisters pick me up when I’m down, they know what to say when I’ve failed a test, and they are always ready to bring me ice cream when a guy breaks my heart.

For years, I thought that I would never be a typical “sorority girl,” but here I am in a sorority, and absolutely loving it. It’s so much more than just parties and boys. It is community service, sisterhood, and a feeling of having a place at my university. I have met my best friend who will be my maid of honor one day, helped in my community in so many ways, and I have made life long memories. Yes, I still don’t like hugging people, and no, I do not go to parties all the time. I have not changed who I am, but I have learned that I don't have to be a typical “sorority girl” to love being in my sorority.