When I first told friends and family I would rush a sorority, they all seemed confused. “You aren’t the sorority type,” they told me. Truthfully, I never thought I was the type either. I’ve never considered myself bubbly, a party-girl or a fan of Lilly Pulitzer, and clearly, those are three essential criteria to being in a sorority. Even as a highschooler, I knew I would never be “that girl,” whatever that means. Looking back on those high school thoughts, I realize how extremely judgmental I was. As a senior, I had never even met a sorority girl, obviously, because I wasn’t in college. By allowing stereotypes, gossip and the media to dictate my perspective of Greek life, I assumed I wouldn’t belonged. I assumed I was better than them.
Well, towards the end of first semester, I quickly learned I wasn’t better than anyone, and hadn’t felt a sense of belonging anywhere yet. Missing the sense of family I had in high school, I increasingly began to think about sorority life. I have two friends that went Greek and had amazing results, so I thought maybe I could too. When the time rolled around to sign up, I went with my gut and shocked my friends and family who remembered that I said I never would.
Driving up with my dad for recruitment, I was pretty scared. Oddly enough, I wasn’t worried about them liking me or making a good impression. I knew I was gonna do me and they could take it or leave it. I was more concerned with finding an group of girls I would want to be around. I walked into recruitment as open-mindedly as possible, and I certainly reaped the results. During the first day, I realized that a sorority “type” doesn’t exist. Within my first few conversations, I talked about all sorts of things. Deep conversations and witty rapport filled the houses 90% of the time (the other 10% was awkward and unavoidable small talk, which definitely will happen). There are thirteen different Panhellenic sororities offered here at Virginia Tech, and I guarantee you could find girls all across the spectrum. Mainly, I was searching for diversity, and thought it would be a rather difficult search. Contrarily, I learned that all women, even women like me, like my best friend, like my mom or like my cousin could find a home that they want to be a part of.
I went back to my dorm after the first day of recruitment and became angry with myself for ignorantly judging Greek life without the slightest clue of what it was about. Frankly, it’s just a place for women to surround themselves with other strong women. It’s a place to grow, a place to get out of your comfort zone, a place to think about things in a way you haven’t before.
I ended up in Gamma Phi Beta, one of the many loving, accepting, and genuine sororities here on campus. Being a new member, I’ve met women from all different walks of life, which is exactly what I had hoped for. On the outside, sororities may seem like a place to party, and if that’s what you’re looking for, then you’ll definitely find it. However, I’ve discovered more than that–I’ve found genuine girls and have made some pretty great friends. If I hadn’t given it a shot, I never would have known. Now, I know to get my facts straight before I make an opinion. And, hey, the facts may surprise you more than you think.