The first thing most people will ask when they find out that one is part of Greek Life is, "Why did you pick that sorority?" That is a very good question. It is also interesting to hear the stories some people pick up that they believe is true about Greek Life.
My biggest reason for joining a sorority was that I felt I needed to learn how to communicate better with females, and what better way to do so by joining an organization that is made up of just females. I grew up being the only female in my neighborhood. Of course I have a mother and aunts, but they weren't the same as females who are my peers. So while most girls were playing with dolls, I was playing tackle football and man hunt.
It took me quite a few years to become more "girly", since I was for the most part a "tomboy". Even when I got to college I was given signs that I don't communicate well with my own sex. I would hit others (not hard) but playful and there was some friction since I thought I was showing affection while others thought I was being mean. Also, by growing up with guys, I don't play games with other people. Nor do I like when people try to play games with me, especially mind games. We all know how a group of girls get when one or more doesn't like another girl. I can't stand that type of stuff, so I usually just stuck to hanging around guys, since when you are with guys you know where you stand in the group heirarchy.
But in college I knew this would be my last chance to work on it before I would head out into the real world. So I decided a sorority was what I needed. I did my research on who the recognized sororities were. I never thought to join an unrecognized since they are unrecognized for a reason and whether or not they walked off campus or were kicked off, I still would never consider it. Of course everyone is different and I would never hold it against anyone who did join unrecognized, but that wasn't the path I was looking for.
Of course by talking to active members you get a completely different story at times on how their particular pledging process occurs, so I thought it would be best to just listen to pledges. It was really easy to hear pledges in my classes and most of the stories were pretty horrible and I would sit there and think to myself "Why the hell are you letting people do that to you?!" I am a strong person and I would NEVER let myself to be hazed by anyone. I promised myself if any group tried to haze me, I would just leave. I know who I am and where I want to go in life and I don't need people to try and pull me down and treat me badly. So that knocked a lot of sororities out of my book, including one in particular since at the time my one friend was pledging and as the weeks flew by, I steadily saw her dissintigrating before my eyes. She was doing worse in school, she looked like hell, and I just would shake my head.
By the time spring came, I was at a loss. In a way I wanted to join a very big sorority, but I knew I can be very individualistic. I enjoy being in groups, but other times I just want to be by myself. I also didn't want to fail out of my major or school. But then one of my friends in my major was wearing letters one day and I asked her what group she was part of, and her reply was "Pi Delta Chi. We are the best sorority ever." I didn't remember seeing it on the Oneonta web page, so later that day I checked it out. It was a lot smaller than all the others, but I was intrigued. The next day in class I asked her more about it and her first description was "We don't haze." That was a big plus in my book, and the second was, since she was also in my major and pledged, then I could do it too. She brought me to a rush party to meet the other girls and it was amazing. They weren't in my face to pledge, they didn't even ask me about it. They spent more time trying to get to know me and I felt so much at ease. Then I went to another one of their socials and decided that I found my fit.
Of course I can't talk about certain things that occured during my pledging process since that is part of joining is the bond of sisterhood and commitment, but I will atest that I was never hazed, therefore I bonded with every single one of my sisters and hold no grudges or resentments against anyone. In fact, I've invited all my sisters to my wedding and my big sister is one of my bridesmaids. They also made the pledge process flow well with my schedule and if something didn't fit, they just moved stuff around to make sure that I got my academics done. I was in bed by 10:30pm, and I had an amazing time. Also, since my sorority is smaller, I seriously know all my sisters. I know their likes and dislikes (and I'm not talking about favorite drink or least favorite drink). I know them and they know me, and to me, THAT is sisterhood.
We are not the best because we are the oldest, we are the oldest because we are the best.
Peace, Love
LC
