Let me start by saying that Greek life isn’t for everyone. This isn’t a blog post pushing for everyone to join the Greek community because then I would be feeding everyone information that may not be for them.

Do not believe the hype friends around you and your university may advertise. Joining a fraternity or sorority is a life changing experience; in some cases it is a life experience many wish they didn’t go through. Before choosing to rush or go through the intake process, you really need to sit down and think about the real reason you want to go Greek.

When I was a freshman, I immediately became interested in everything my school had, including sorority life. There was something about having a huge group of sisters around me all the time that made me feel that I could have a group of friends for life. But my reasons for initially joining were all superficial. Oh, I love their colors, all my friends are doing it, I want to make paddles, etc. Those were my very first reasons because those were the only aspects I knew about Greek life.

If any of you have watched movies about fraternities and sororities, they don’t actually give you much information about the organizations’ mission or vision or even purpose for existence. The media does a fine job of showing people everything that gives Greek life a horrible name.

Did you know that when fraternities were created it was for service and served as an honor to men who wanted to make a difference? You probably wouldn’t know that through since shows like “Greek” portray fraternities to have huge houses with a lot of drinking and partying. If those are the reasons you want to become a part of an organization, think again…and think A LOT.

The summer before my sophomore year, I actually spent time researching the organizations on my campus and thinking about why I wanted to be a part of a sorority. I thought about the difference I wanted to make, the principles that are true to my heart and the footprints I wanted to create for others to walk in. It wasn’t until then that I knew the real reason I wanted to join a sorority. To this day, I can still tell everyone why I joined my organization and the impact I was able to create because I knew my organization was for me.

So, should you rush or go through the intake process? Only if your reasons are not superficial. I can go into a million things people say, and try to convince you that going Greek is the best decision you’ll ever make. But I won’t do that because being a part of any organization may not be the best decision for YOU. People who choose to join an organization for the wrong reasons are typically the same people who give Greek life a bad name. Don’t become one of those people. Think before you take the first step, and become a part of any organization that you feel will help you to become a better person. You don’t want to wake up one day and regret the decisions you made because you chose to follow the crowd.

-Compton

I’m reading Thinking for Yourself: Developing Critical Thinking Skills Through Reading and Writing