With sorority recruitment starting, it's time to ask yourself, is Greek life really for me? You may be a freshman starting off your college career in a new city, or a sophomore looking for new experiences after a year of new beginnings.
To answer your question, yes, Greek life is for you. Greek life is for everyone who wants to give a try, from every background and every mindset.
It might be a little bias coming from someone on the inside, but Greek life isn't what the movies portray it to be.
At Carolina, the heart of our Greek life is at our Village, an arrangement of 18 houses where our fraternities and sororities meet and live. We eat two meals a day there, whether we live in the house or not, and hold most of our activities there. The houses are treated like dorms because they're on campus and you live in them for a school year.
You might have a preconceived idea of a "sorority girl" in mind, but in reality, sororities are made up of more personalities than you would expect. Just like a campus, sororities have different committees and groups their members can file into based on their interests and identities. Each sorority takes on a different identity as a whole on our campus at Carolina and going through recruitment you find exactly where you belong.
I personally never saw myself in a sorority. I decided to rush my sophomore year because all my friends were in sororities and I was curious about where I would end up. My interests are scattered, dabbling from several different areas of study, entertainment, and hobbies. At first, I felt like I was not meant to be in a sorority because I was never too close to so many girls.
While you may be feeling this sentiment, the old saying goes that you will never know until you try.
Upon becoming Greek, I immediately gained almost 400 new friends who also joined to meet me. Coming into USC, you know how giant our school is. As a state school, we have over 30,000 undergraduates and we continue to grow every year. Over a thousand girls decide to do recruitment every year so it may seem like you might get lost among your peers, but recruitment is all about you.
Chapter members prepare for months for your arrival, ready for you to find your home. They decorate the house and labor over cheers so you feel welcome. They want to fill their new pledge class with members that will create a whole new experience for their chapter.
Ultimately, I'm over the moon that I joined a sorority. I've found women that relate to me in ways I never would imagine. I'm constantly motivated to be better and support the chapter. I'm surrounded by women who see beauty in my passion for politics, social issues, and bettering the world.
So if someone asks you if you're going to go Greek, say yes. You'll be surprised how much you fit in and how different you become when you belong to a chapter that only wants you to be the best.
Go Greek!
