Everyone stereotypes—we only have so much cognitive capacity, and grouping helps us keep our efforts on difficult tasks like navigating through university life. We are constantly being tested both inside and outside the classroom, so it’s no surprise we place women into groups. They are either the athlete, the writer, the quiet one, or the sorority girl. The sorority girl wears heels and drinks only Starbucks. She looks exactly like the other members of her chapter, or at least this is what television has taught us.
Here at John Carroll University, however, the sorority girl is so much more than her letters. She is the athlete, the writer, the quiet one, AND the sorority girl. No stereotype could possibly resemble our chapter as a whole. We are so diverse. There is no mold we are meant to fit.
Rachel: I am a member of ROTC. Most people do not picture a military member and think sorority girl, but my sisters do.
Jasmine: I am a lover of all things retro. Our sisters see us as individuals and they have no expectations for who we need to be. We do have standards we need to uphold, but these standards help us to be the best version of ourselves: a self that is unlike any other “typical sorority girl.”
You may think that we are the exception to the rule, but that is not the case. At a small school you get to know every member of a Greek organization. You share a residence hall rather than separate houses, you are partners on a group project, and you attend everyone’s philanthropy events. All of these people are unique. We are not afraid to fly because we know we have people supporting us.
If you thought a sorority was just about matching shirts and glitter, take it from a tomboy and a free spirit that it is not. We could not be less alike. We are different majors, races, religions, have different exercise habits, but we are both members of the same sorority. Greek life here may not be what you have seen on television, or even what you have seen on other campuses, but it is our home and our mosaic.