It’s Tuesday at 10:15 AM, and my first class of the day starts in five minutes. I run out the door, taking the stairs down two at a time, not bothering with the elevator. As I sprint outside, I wave good morning to one of my sisters who is working the front desk, and then fall into step with another sister, chatting about schoolwork, on the walk to class. As we get to the quad, a group of a few more sisters shout our names from across the grassy expanse, all wearing letters proudly displayed across their chests. Getting to class, I slide into my seat just in time, and another of my sisters taps me on the shoulder from where she sits behind me, smiling as she hands me the attendence sheet. Later, during a break between classes, I check Snapchat to find a picture my Big has sent me from London, where she is studying abroad. After responding, I check Facebook, and find one of my sisters has posted several pictures from the philanthropy event we did last week. Smiling, I then text another sister, wondering if she wants to grab coffee and study somewhere.
In these small ways, I am always surrounded by my sisters, bonded through the Greek organization that we are all a part of. Whenever I need, I always have girls to lean on, or just to chat to. I have a constant network of amazing women.
However, this time last year, and really for my entire life prior to that point, I never for a second thought I would join a sorority. Growing up in Austin, TX only a few miles from the center of campus at the University of Texas, sororities were very different from those at AU. In the South (though Austin itself can be considered a bit of an exception), Greek life is huge. My friends from high school who went through recruitment at a Texan or another Southern school all prepared for months in advance. They got reccomendations from women in various chapters, worked out obsessively, and picked out their outfits for rush with the calculation of someone preparing to do battle. In some ways, they were. Recruitment in the South, from all reports I’ve heard, is cut throat, and many times boils down to how you look and who you know as the basis for whether or not you make it into Greek life.
While I have a history of Greek life in my family (my grandmother went to Ol’ Miss and was a Tri Delt), the experience of rush at a big state school anywhere in the vicinity of Austin was not something that appealed to me. Thus, when I came to AU, I virtually ignored the various Greek organizations for almost my first semester here. I assumed based on my upbringing that they would be fake, preppy, and generally exactly like the classic Hollywood rendering of a stereotypical sorority. In fact, I had such strong blinders on that were it not for one of my close friends from my freshman year floor, I probably wouldn’t have gone through recruitment. It was one night last November that she convinced me, as she was signing up for sorority recruitment, that I should give it a chance. That I should just sign up and see what happened, and to put my ingrained prejudices against Greek life to the side for a few days.
Thus, I signed up for rush, with the full intent of dropping at any time if I didn’t feel like I belonged in the process. I bought a few dresses over Winter Break, and chatted with my friends already in sororites at other schools to get some tips about rush, something they were astonished to hear me asking, since I had previously been very vocal about my dislike for Greek life. However, to my astonishment, once the process began over MLK weekend, I felt, despite the grindingly long days of chatting with different girls, that I was where I needed to be. Never at any point once recruitment began did I consider dropping, since each day, as I narrowed down the possible Greek organizations I wanted to join, I talked to more and more girls who seemed like they were exactly what I was looking for in a sisterhood. They were intelligent, genuinely friendly, down-to-earth girls, none of which were qualities that I had previously associated with Greek life.
It wasn’t until Preference Round though (which is the final day of rush) that I was completely sold on the idea of joining a Greek organization. At the second of the two parties I attended that day, I cried. Truly. I don’t easily cry, and the fact that this occured during rush was something I still can’t quite understand to this day. I simply felt during this party that I belonged, completely and totally, as part of this group of girls, and that these girls were genuine, amazing people who somehow already felt like family. Not surprisingly, when I got a bid to join this sorority later that night, I was elated, and happily accepted it. I felt like I had really found my place.
Now, nine months later, I could not be prouder to be a member of Phi Mu. I wear letters to class, often carry bags with letters stitched on, and brag about my sorority to one and all. I look forward to events, such as those for our philanthrophy, or those such as Semi-Formal, which is quickly approaching. I also look forward to just seeing my sisters, of which I now have over at hundred (at least at AU), around campus, chatting and eating lunch. I have a family that encompasses all of campus now, not just my freshman floor, something I was missing before I joined Greek life.
That being said, I am still very close to my friends outside of Greek life, and I see them the same amount that I see those in Phi Mu. They are just as happy not being in Greek life as I am being a part of it, and that is something I love about AU. In the South, going Greek pretty much means that all of your friends will be part of this system, and it’s difficult to move outside that bubble. At AU, Greek life is more like a very close-knit family, and just like any family, we all have interests outside of the sorority. We lead our own lives, but are always together in spirit.
Not for a moment do I regret rushing. For those reading this article who are considering it who, just like I was, are suspicious of all the Greek life entails, I encourage you to sign up. The worst that could happen is that you will drop halfway through, and continue with the amazing life you already had. For those that don’t drop and end up joining a Greek organization, though, you will find a group of girls who you feel are most like you, and who you can share your college experience with, girls that you will stay in contact with for the rest of your life. The group that I found was Phi Mu, but every girl will be different, and will hopefully find themselves in the group that feels most like home. Take every chance that comes your way, such as rushing, because otherwise you may feel like you have missed out on something very special. Live with no regrets.
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