In high school, I was always known as the quiet girl. I went about my days minding my own business, going to class and doing my work.
It was a pretty normal routine to me. For a while, I was okay with it––I didn’t mind having a small group of friends and I didn’t mind the fact that I only joined one club, in which I barely even participated.
As graduation got closer, I finally started to realize that I actually longed for something more. I couldn’t quite tell what it was yet, but something was definitely missing.
In the fall of 2014, I finally started my first year of college at California Polytechnic State University on the San Luis Obispo campus––referred to as Cal Poly SLO. I made the conscious decision to try new things and step out of my comfort zone so that I wouldn’t repeat high school.
Of course, it wasn’t going to be easy. To be honest, I didn’t even know where to start.
My mom suggested I join a sorority, probably because she was in one when she was in college, but moms know best, right? So, I went through the formal recruitment process, but I had no idea what I was doing. Anything I knew came from what I had seen in movies or heard on the news.
I was pretty skeptical about it all, but I stayed until the very end. My recruitment counselor told me that everything works out the way it’s supposed to and she was right.
I accepted my bid to Kappa Alpha Theta–affectionately known as Theta–over a year ago, and it is exactly what I had been looking for. I have found a huge group of girls I can rely on. I have found a reason to get more involved.
Since joining, I feel that I have grown immensely as person and have left my high school self behind. I think that my sorority has truly empowered me and helped me branch out more to discover the things that interest me. I keep Theta’s values close to heart and they motivate me to put as much effort as I can into everything I do.
While there are so many positive aspects to Greek life, the negative aspects are more commonly brought to light. I constantly hear a variety of negative stereotypes and rumors associated with Greek life, and they can actually be pretty offensive. Greek life tends to get a bad rep, and many people have the wrong idea of what it’s really all about.
Before I even joined a sorority, I had no clue as to what it was like to be a part of Greek life. I had heard all of the horror stories from movies and TV shows, but it didn’t seem all that bad to me.
Once I officially joined Theta, I realized there is so much more to Greek life than what is portrayed in the media.
A crucial part of being in a sorority is service. Each fraternity and sorority has its own designated charities that it raises money for. How awesome is that? This is the important stuff––and the stuff that barely gets shared on the news.
The negative stereotypes and insults about Greek life should be put aside in order to focus on all of the great things fraternities and sororities have done for college students across the country. While I can’t speak for everyone, I know it changed my life for the better.