Coming from a small, all-girls high school, and basing my opinion off what I saw on movies, I didn’t want any information and didn’t care to find out about the Greek Life Sonoma State had to offer.
Little did I know that during my first semester at SSU, I would be taking every chance I had to leave on the weekends. I only spent one weekend a month at SSU. When I came back for the spring semester, a friend asked me if I would be interested in rushing a local sorority with her – Kappa Delta Zeta. I was still not sold on the whole idea of being part of a sorority, but I told her I would go with her to the info night.
Upon entering a room filled with girls wearing dark purple shirts, I realized that they all seemed nice, real, and a lot like me. I decided that maybe sororities weren’t all that bad, and went through the two-week rush process. Kappa does rush in a completely different way than national sororities in that they space it out over two weeks. You end up attending at least six rush events and one of them can be an information night. The rush events are themed, and everyone is broken up into small groups allowing you to get to know each of the members.
My favorite event is speed dating, although you may not have a voice after this event, every rush gets to talk to every active member for at least two minutes and vice versa. The rush process is fun, exciting, and allows you to get a better understanding of the sorority. After completing the two-week rush process I received a bid and began my new member process. Through the new member process I was able to sit down with every girl in Kappa and get to know her on a personal level. I went from being anti-sorority to absolutely loving it.
Kappa does not fit the average stereotype – we are different for so many reasons. It is a rare thing for a girl to be able to say she knows everyone in her sorority and has a friendship with every member. We are the only Kappa Delta Zeta Sorority, we have the power to change our constitution – if we don’t like something we can change it. So maybe you are interested in Greek life, maybe you’re not; I know I wasn’t. But something about Kappa sold me and I wouldn’t change a thing. So set your stereotypes aside and give local and national sororities a chance.
Maybe when you hear local, you think that they might not be as good. Or you hear girls putting down Kappa, which may discourage you. Luckily for me, both before and after I became a part of the sorority, I only heard the good. Just because we aren’t national doesn’t mean we don’t have a big voice on campus. Last spring: Greek Week champs, last fall: Powder-puff champs, and for the third semester in a row, we are the sorority with the highest grade point average. We may not have 160 girls but we definitely stand out.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Sonoma chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.