Greek life isn’t for everyone, and that’s okay.
Going into college, most people feel pressured into rushing, they see all their old friends from highschool going through the process and finding their forever homes or their sisters. All the cute shirts and the poses and the people being excited to be a part of something bigger.
Even after dropping out of recruitment twice, I still ended up in a sorority and it is one of my biggest regrets. I thought it was a sign that I should join one when I got the bid after dropping out.
I should’ve just ignored it.
At first, it was a lot of fun, expensive, but fun and I was making tons of friends and then it was big/little reveal and eventually initiation and I was finally a real member of the organization that I had grown to love.
The decision to drop ultimately came from finances and needing to get excused and exempt from things that I couldn’t get excused from. Also people weren’t necessarily respectful of others’ backgrounds or boundaries.
I was terrified at first, I thought I was going to lose all my friends and I thought I was one of the only people to ever drop their sorority.
At this point I had taken in twins after being convinced by my (sorority) family to stay involved. These people will go to no ends to try and prevent you from dropping, it’s quite frustrating. I do still feel a bit bad about leaving them but one of them also ended up dropping and went though some similar situations that I did. I wish we were closer but we’re still friends and I will always be there for her. The other fully understands where I came from and we’re closer than ever.
Ironically, I did end up losing almost all of my friends. It still hurts, but it was for the better, they weren’t the right people for my life anyways.
At first I was really angry with pretty much everyone involved in the organization and Greek life in general, it was hard for me to understand why anyone would willingly put themselves through that situation, but for some people, they find that the benefits outweigh the cons. For some people they actually find their sisters and get what they wanted from Greek life. Not sure how this makes it worth it with how many issues there are, but to each their own.
If you’re reading this, this is your sign to do what’s best for you, and if that’s dropping your toxic sorority, it’s okay. You’re more than a number on the roster and more than a paycheck.
Take a look at the bigger picture and don’t turn a blind eye when you aren’t being treated right or when you see that you ‘sisters’ aren’t being quite sisterly.
Dropping isn’t easy. It takes a long time, it takes a lot out of you mentally, but you learn what your old sororities true intentions are and who your true friends are.
And to those who stuck by my side even after I dropped, thank you. I love and appreciate you more than you could ever know. While I’ll never encourage anyone to rush, I hope that those of you who do know what you’re in for beforehand.
As the saying goes, “if it looks like a cult, if it sounds like a cult…”