In high school, I was always kind of weird. I mean, people knew me and I occasionally went to parties, but I never quite fit in. I was the too-outspoken feminist girl, the depressed girl, the girl that blasted ‘scary’ music out of her headphones in study hall, the girl that skipped gym class every day to go to the art room. My town was full of future frat stars and southern belle sorority girls, all decked out in their Vineyard Vines and Southern Tide, crushing 30’s of natty-light on school nights in their very expensive homes, winning state champs at lacrosse, and generally being the stereotypical-image of Greek Life. Not that there’s anything wrong with those things (to each their own)! That was simply not me and therefore, I wanted no part in it. But when all my friends that graduated before me decided to join sororities, I was in shock and almost felt betrayed. "C’mon guys, we all used to talk about how stupid this is! Paying for your friends? Really?” I would think to myself, and eventually called myself the GDI of the friend group. Rewind a couple years back to sophomore year when all me and my friends talked about was going to college. Some of them said they wanted to join sororities leaving me in complete and utter disgust.

So picture this; my 15-year-old self, sitting in my bedroom covered in band posters and song lyrics, wearing some ratty old converse and listening to A Day to Remember while turning myself into a raccoon with 99¢ eyeliner, even though my bangs completely covered one of my eyes and sometimes almost both. You’re gonna tell this perpetually angry-at-the-world girl that in 3 years she’s gonna be sporting a Chi Omega spirit jersey with Lilly Pulitzer patterned letters? (To be fair, I’m still nearly certain that wearing anything Lilly Pulitzer would cause me to break out into hives and the only exception is when it’s the Chi Omega print, but even that's risky).

Then I got to college... I had friends before recruitment, people from my hall and from an outdoor adventure pre-orientation program I did. But when I saw all the flyers for going Greek and found out that it was only $25 which got you free food, a t-shirt and dropping out at anytime, I figured it was worth a shot.

That weekend I was so terrified of going into houses expecting all Barbie-looking, preppy, mean girls. Not that those things go together, but that was just the vision in my head. That could not have been further from the truth. Are there a few here and there? Sure, but it’s not the majority by any means, you get a few bad eggs in any group. A “sorority girl” is someone who works hard, plays hard. It’s someone who cares for helping their community and the lives of others. It’s someone who is a leader, who isn’t afraid to speak up. It’s someone that values sisterhood and friendship. A sorority girl is plenty of things, but a stereotype is not one of them.

I ended up sticking with it the whole weekend of weirdly small-talk-flirting with girls, sweating a lot and I kinda fell in love with a particular house. I was just sitting there talking to one of my now-sisters and we talked about scuba diving, elephants and how being in a sorority isn’t like it is in the movies. I opened my envelope on that bid night, ran over to my new sisters, screaming and hugging like any good sorority girl would.
I realized something very important from being a part of a sorority; it’s not so much about sharing interests and hobbies as it is about sharing the same values. Do I love that some of my sisters will go from blasting Nicki Minaj to All Time Low with me? Of course. Do I love the hell out of one of my best friends in Chi Omega who is the picture-perfect 'sorority girl' who doesn’t even know what All Time Low is and owns 3 Vineyard Vines hats? You bet I do. At the end of the day, we have fun together, we make each other laugh, smile, are at each others' doorstep with a pint of Ben & Jerry's and their favorite movie within minutes of something bad happening. We are all so different and each of us has different experiences, talents, as well as cute outfits to bring to the table. We aren’t what you may think. We are strong, smart women and so much more. Being in a sorority has helped me grow in so many ways, but never change who I am as a person or my values in life.

I am not an “exception to the rule”, I am not some special snowflake sorority girl. There are so many just like me, completely the opposite or somewhere in between. That’s what makes it so awesome. There is nothing wrong with being the classic preppy girl or the 90’s grunge one, or maybe flip-flopping between the two. You are who you are, a complex human being with unique interests and hobbies, as we all are. There is no cookie-cutter mold to be in a sorority, I promise.

So, to all the weird girls out there that think they could never be in a sorority. I’m lookin’ at you, yeah, you with the underside of her hair dyed purple, wearing the Pierce the Veil sweatshirt, I see you. That girl was me and sisterhood can give you, yes, you, the anti-sorority girl, wonderful things you never thought you’d have; confidence, leadership qualities, a group of solid, amazing friends, and so much more.