From a former Gamma Chi and Active Greeklife member

Don’t join Greek life.

I get that a lot of people will disregard this as a bitter post, and they may be partially right, but there’s still value to what I have to say. When I was at Okstate I was a very active member in Greek life. I did shows, attended as many philanthropy events as I could, attended Panhellenic meetings, and I was a Gamma Chi my senior year. To say there weren’t good times would be a lie, but looking back on those memories now, it all feels artificial and inauthentic. I was a crazy person when I was in a sorority, I took rules way too seriously and strove for the approval of others in Greek life constantly. I pretended that I didn’t care about house “rankings” and that they didn’t affect the Greek community, but they most certainly did. Houses were always pitted against each other in one way or another and nothing reflected that more than recruitment. It pained me to see so many heart broken and dejected girls, and what was worse was learning about the horrible ways houses chose their PNMs from other Gamma Chis. Many houses already go into recruitment knowing exactly who they want (girls from other girls hometowns, girls who were prominent in-house legacies (if your mom was in that “top-house” somewhere else it wasn’t likely to help you, etc) and so many amazing girls slip through the cracks of recruitment (I consider those the lucky ones honestly, even though it feels so incredibly unlucky in that moment).

All that being said, looking back retrospectively, I can honestly say I wish I had never joined Greek life. It all felt so important at the time and now it just feels like a monumental waste of time and money. No matter how mature I thought I was being at times, I just subjected myself to high school drama part 2. People were so judgemental, even the ones who I thought were the nicest people I’ve ever met ended up showing completely different sides of themselves later on. Cliques form in the houses and many time you’ll have the “partiers” vs the “non-partiers” and that was honestly some of the biggest BS. Because I was all about rules, I didn’t go to parties and usually DD’d and it’s honestly a quintessential part of a college career for MANY people, and we are all of adult age and there’s no reason that these arbitrary rules should hold people back from experiencing life.

I know so many people that were in sororities that barely talk to their sisters now, because the bonds formed were so surface-level, forced by circumstance of being in the same house, and they never truly meant anything.

It feels like home because you receive blind acceptance from the beginning, but home is something that takes much longer to build than a week, and I felt so much more at home with my non-Greek friends who chose to be my friend not because we were in the same club or house or whatever, but because they genuinely liked me as a person and shared my hobbies and interests.

Just take it into consideration, Greek life leaves so many people feeling unsatisfied and used in their college career. ITS OKAY TO DROP YOUR HOUSE, there’s no shame in the game, you are not a quitter and you will not be friendless, people at okstate are so nice and welcoming as it is, and college is learning how to make friends with new and diverse people.
If I could do it over again, I never would’ve gone Greek and maybe this’ll change your mind or make you angry/upset, but Greek is not the only thing in college and I wish I had recognized that.