As any college freshman gets acclimated to their school, one of the first things any one on campus will ask them is “So, what clubs and activities are you involved in?”. Joining student organizations is perhaps the most competitive thing a student can experience in their first weeks of school, though this varies at some universities more than others. Club fairs introduce students to the plethora of activities they could join on campus, and if you find yourself in the south, a majority of those clubs are going to be fraternities and sororities. For the unfamiliar, fraternities are social organizations founded for undergraduate students.  These organizations are assigned letters from the Greek alphabet and uphold their own personal morals, traditions and secrets.

Greek life is largely stereotyped in the media, usually in a negative light. They are generally associated with binge drinking, shallow personalities, objectification of their members, and forced initiation. When I found myself looking at a way to get myself more engaged at George Washington University, I was thinking some of these things too. Fortunately all of these rumors are myths of the past.

While Greek life is certainly not for everyone, it was a wonderful choice for me. My sorority provided me a small environment in a large school that allowed me to relax and be myself. My sisters are wonderful resources to talk about my problems and feel at ease when everyone else in my life seems to be dealing with their own issues. I’m proud to wear my letters and meet so many different people from other chapters and talked about our shared values, the importance of tradition, and how much we all love our bigs (big brother/sister)!  Greek life has great networking abilities as well. Alumni love hiring collegiate women from their own chapters, and often pass down job spots and internships to younger sisters as they move up in the working world. They offer amazing advice on classes to take, professors they love (or professors to avoid), and so much more. I suggest asking around and research about Greek life on campus as much as possible. There are academic greek chapters, multicultural greek chapters, career oriented greek chapters, and more. There are places for everyone to fit in and find a niche family all of their own.