American Diary: An Insider's Take On What Actually Goes On In College 'Sororities'
How joining a sorority has positively affected my college experience.
I am not the first one to say that Greek life - what American colleges call being part of a sorority or fraternity - truly isn’t like it's portrayed in the movies. Even at my own university, we often get teased with remarks such as “You pay for all your friends” or "You're only involved in Greek life so you can party". Yes, I may be paying monthly dues, and have social events but the true experience goes beyond that.
Just for some background, Greek life is a broad term used to describe all individuals involved in a sorority or fraternity. At my University, there are five different sororities as well as six fraternities. These make up our Greek life community. That doesn't even compare to higher numbers at bigger schools. Each organisation has its own creed/oath, values and rituals, different hand signs, chants etc. The organisation bases themselves upon these tenets; which makes them unique and allows members to build that unspoken bond. Phi Mu, my Greek organization, prides itself on building a strong sisterhood full of girls who are constantly supportive through the good as well as the bad.
That being said, people sometimes describe being in a sorority as being a bit 'cultish' and that we are being forced to live a certain way and that is not true at all. Although we follow the same values each member has something different to offer the organization. I know this may sound cheesy but just one organization has brought me to so many different people with so many different personalities, views etc. Phi Mu, and being a part of the Greek community has pushed me out of my comfort zone on multiple occasions and I have only benefited.
Community service and philanthropy is a big part of the fraternity/sorority community and it often gets looked past. Members spend long hours volunteering. Millions of dollars are raised by Greek organisations annually. Each sorority has a national cause they donate to as well as smaller, more local issues they are involved with. There are so many opportunities to give back based on your own interests too. Homecoming weekend is really big at my school. Each organisation devotes countless hours to building a float to be displayed during the parade. It is a big way for Greek life to give back to our community and keep a long-standing tradition alive.
I know I have been focusing heavily on my involvement with my specific organisation; I promise we all have lives outside of Phi Mu. People assume that we are only allowed to spend time with our sorority sisters. There are 100+ girls in my chapter so, yes, I am bound to see a good bunch of them on a daily basis. I indeed have a lot of lifelong friends that come from Phi Mu. On the other hand, some of my best friends are also not involved in Greek life. We are encouraged to branch out and pursue other interests outside our organisations. I have two jobs and am an active member of multiple clubs and many others are heavily involved on campus as well.
Although I am biased, being a part of Phi Mu has helped shape me into the woman I am today. Don't get me wrong, the formals are a good time and some of the t-shirts are really cute. Bid day is one of the best days and like most my sorority 'Big'- basically my role model in the chapter, and I are two peas in a pod. It's what happens behind the scenes that really keeps me in love with my chapter.