Many of the Greek students I”ve spoken to didn”t think they were the type of person to be in a fraternity or sorority before they came to college, and yet they are all so glad they decided to rush anyway.
Bamer
I was the same way. I didn”t choose to join a sorority until my second year at the University of Idaho because I believed all of the negative stereotypes about Greek life. But I had never seen any of those stereotypes confirmed at UI, or any other college I visited for that matter. I simply fell for the rumors I heard from other people who weren”t Greek and didn”t know anyone who was Greek.
Now I”m embarrassed that I believed all the bad things I heard about sororities and fraternities. It”s hard not to have doubts when there is so much of a stigma about Greek life, but I can”t imagine any of my sorority sisters acting anything like the “typical sorority girl” I had heard so much about.
During my first semester as a freshman at UI, I noticed that the Greek students were not matching up with what I believed. Most of them earned good grades, had more fun and were highly involved in the campus and Moscow community.
Before the end of my first year, I was positive that going Greek was the best way to make the most out of my experience at UI, but I was still hesitant to register for recruitment because of what my old friends might think of me.
Almost everyone I knew was confident that I would hate sorority life because I “wasn”t the type.” To be fair, I was definitely the socially awkward nerd in high school. I still am not the type to fit in a sorority from an “80s movie. Thankfully, almost every sorority I”ve seen is nothing like what we see in movies.
I found the right sorority for me and loved it from my first day, regardless of what others believed. Everything I had observed about Greek students the previous year turned out to be true for me, too. My grades went up, I had way more fun and I felt more connected to the entire community.
But that”s because I worked for it. I participated in philanthropy events for my sorority and for other houses. I got to know my sorority sisters and worked with them when we had the same classes.
What a student gets out of their Greek experience all depends on how much effort they put into it. Going Greek only provides us with the opportunity to make the most out of our college experience. Fulfillment doesn”t just happen on its own. We have to work to make it happen.
If a prospective student is unsure about joining Greek life – especially if it”s because they don”t think they fit the “typical Greek type” – they should definitely take the time to learn about all of the fraternities and sororities at UI. There are so many houses that most people find the perfect fit for them, and later they can”t imagine going through college any other way.
Erin Bamer can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @ErinBamer