“Oh, I’m not in one,” I responded this past weekend to a fraternity member who asked which sorority I was in. He proceeded to have the flabbergasted reaction I’ve gotten used to receiving when conversing with greek members during my years at IU.
He began interrogating me to find out what in the world I do during the weekends and how I’ve managed to make friends without participating in greek life. I’ve grown weary of having to explain that I do indeed live a very full and exciting life without being someone’s “sister,” “big” or “little”.
I have nothing against greek life. I am friends with many greek members and am dating a guy who is in a fraternity.
I understand there are many benefits of joining a sorority. You build friendships, make future business connections, participate in charity events and have an active social life.
However, these are all things that are possible to do outside of greek life. I have actually done all of these things on my own accord without the pain of rushing a sorority.
I have made so many incredibly close friends by taking the initiative on my own.
For example, I met my current best friend on an elevator. We started talking about extracurriculars and clothing and realized we had a lot in common. Hundreds of cups of coffee and thousands of memories later, we are now best friends.
I proceeded to meet many other girls and become close friends with them, too. One plus of making friends outside of greek life is you become close with people from a variety of backgrounds and interests.
It is commonly said you become like the five people you spend the most time with, and I have found this to be true. Because my friends are so different in terms of interest and backgrounds, I have developed into a very dynamic person with a variety of interests because my group of friends is so diverse. That is something I may have lost when joining a sorority.
In terms of making business connections, I have taken the initiative of making so many on my own. I have built connections and taken opportunities offered by my friends’ parents who own businesses. I have gone out and found my own business mentor. I have spoken with successful alumni at different events.
I have also participated in so many charity events without the affiliation of a sorority. Because I had more freedom to decide which charities I was actually interested in helping, I experienced more joy in giving back to communities.
Participating in charity events of my choice has given me opportunities to meet incredible people with similar goals and travel to places I’ve never been. In terms of keeping an active social life, that has actually been very easy.
My friend and I were asked by a greek member what we do on the weekends if we aren’t part of a sorority that brings parties to us. We listed off many ways to be social that seemed surprising to this greek community member, such as going to house shows, going out to bars and, shockingly, throwing our own parties.
It is not always necessary to join greek organizations in order to live a full life. I have experienced and accomplished the same things a greek member has just by taking a different approach.
