Throughout high school, I was never the popular girl, I was the girl who sat in the back of the class with one or two friends dishing out sarcastic comments every time the teacher called on us. So, when I made my decision to attend Miami University everyone was shocked, because of the preppy stereotype that Miami is known for.
After the initial looks of confusion I received when I informed my friends what school I was heading to, people started asking me about how I was going to approach Greek life. At Miami, Greek life is huge. Around one-third of the population is Greek, and I knew this coming in. I just hadn't made up my mind about rushing yet, but I was still considering it. Every time I let someone know that rushing was an option for me they would always laugh at the idea of me in a sorority and tell me I wouldn't survive recruitment.
This was discouraging. I thought they had some secret insight to Greek life that I wasn't aware of, but that was totally untrue. When I started school in the fall, I saw the reality of sororities and was pleasantly surprised. The stereotypical sorority girl was nowhere to be found on campus. Sure, there were some preppy girls but for the most part the girls in sororities were just like me.
No sorority is a black-and-white fit where everyone has the same exact personality—it's more of a mix of people with different personalities who all like hanging out with each other and enjoy doing the same types of things. My high school friends assumed that all sororities were full of ditsy blonde girls who only wear dresses and love the color pink, which, by the way, there is nothing wrong with. Dresses are the best, let's be real. I found something completely different. When I rushed I found smart, down-to-earth, naturally beautiful girls in every sorority.
The reason why I joined my sorority was because I talked to a lot of different girls with different personalities in each round, but I still felt comfortable and like I wanted to hang out with everyone. I could see myself just being with these people even if we didn't have the label of a sorority. Not everyone is the same and that's what I love about it. Our separate personalities fit together and make a huge group of people I just want to be around all of the time.
My sorority makes me feel accepted and doesn't care when I want to stay in and watch Grey's Anatomy instead of going out on a Saturday night. That's what's important to me. I didn't join a sorority to be portrayed a certain way or to change myself to fit in more, I joined to find a group of friends that will always be there for me and who I can trust with all of my issues big or small.
I know I have people to turn to and that's incredibly important to me. I found a group of girls who will be my people through thick and thin, and I think that anyone who wouldn't want that is crazy.
