sorority life isn’t all glitter and gold

I’m going to be completely honest here. Sorority life isn’t all glitter and gold and I found that out the hard way. Girls are cliquey, snobby, and flat-out mean.

I thought being in a sorority was what I always wanted in life. I thought I was home and I had found my forever friends and my future bridesmaids. But that isn’t always the case.

Right away, I did everything I could, volunteering for every event possible and being an active sister. I literally BREATHED my letters. I was the perfect member—until I started to open my mouth.

I had a few issues regarding my sorority and the way I was being treated. My mistake was trying to start a conversation about them. All of the sudden, a lot of things changed.

My big began distancing herself from me and began choosing to hang out with other girls in my pledge class, despite being “too busy” to see me. People spoke less and less in the group message, and made their own group texts, excluding other members than just me. Over the past few semesters it’s gotten worse. I’m now almost on my fourth year of the sorority and honestly I feel like it’s caused me a lot of pain.

I was treated horribly. I was alienated. Intentionally or not, these girls made me feel awful about myself. Even now, I am being judged for having feelings and speaking up about them. Unfortunately, this matters more to me than I would care to admit.

A part of me wishes that I didn’t care, but I know I always will. I will use this as a learning experience as I move on. I’m still an active sister but at this point I’ve considered going early alum — I would drop but I’ve invested so much money. Honestly, I feel like I wasted my money.

Guess what? I couldn’t have tried any harder. I did everything I possibly could. I poured myself into a chapter that I got very little out of. I was not the problem here—these girls and their pettiness were. I hope that you never feel the way I did. I hope that one day you will learn what it means to be a sister to your chapter, not just the people you want to be a sister to.

To anyone else who is a part of an organization that doesn’t see their value, I hope you find the strength to walk away. It is not giving up or quitting, it’s putting yourself first, and it’s so important.