Before I came to college, I told myself, “I’m going to rush into a sorority.” My plan was to go Greek and join an organization that would be fun and introduce me to many empowering and inspiring college women. All of my friends from high school were going to rush, so why can’t I?
At Winthrop, there is a certain rule where you have to have a minimum of 12 credit hours and a 2.5 GPA to even go through recruitment, meaning if you are a freshman, you would have to wait until January to go through it (which I think is smart in my opinion). Well after I got used to Winthrop my freshman year and started to learn more about sororities, I started to think that Greek life wasn’t for me. My best friend at another college rushed into the sorority she wanted and there were cute pictures all over social media. I wasn’t jealous. All of my college friends rushed into the sorority that they wanted here and I was happy for them – but I wasn’t jealous. I had decided that I didn’t want to go Greek.
The way I see it is, I didn’t want to walk around campus and people look at me and say “oh that’s the new sister that got a bid Sunday night.” I wanted to be more than a bid. I wanted to have a name and purpose. I wanted an identity.
Thankfully at my school, Greek life is so well established here that Greeks can be close friends with non-Greeks without judgment. I know that at some bigger schools, it’s frowned upon for a sorority girl to be friends with a non-sorority girl. Heck, I live with 3 sorority girls and half of my friends are Greek and we are all the best of friends. Sure I feel left out sometimes when they talk about things like events that their chapter is throwing that week, or the sisterhood retreats that are coming up, but in the end, I’m happy knowing that I don’t have to worry about any of that and can focus more on myself. Because I didn’t go Greek, I focused more of my attention on my studies and also the start of Her Campus Winthrop. I wanted something that I helped create and something I could look back at later and be proud of. I wanted to do something so whenever I walk around campus people would say, “that’s Catherine, the girl who started an organization and succeeded.” I now have an identity.
I have nothing against Greek life, I just think that it isn’t for everyone – and that’s okay. I am happy knowing that I can still make in impact in a young college woman’s life with Her Campus while preparing myself for my career in journalism.
Every young woman has the ability to do what they want to do. Darling, you can do anything you set your mind to. HCXO.
Follow Catherine on Instagram and Twitter, @cathclowe!
Â