I am certain that if you heard Lily Pulitzer, chubbies, Yeti coolers, XL t-shirts, “norts”, and monogramming all in one sentence your first assumption would be that we are speaking of Greeks. Well these are just a few of the stereotypical fads that are paired with members of a Greek organization. A common myth you’ve probably heard about Greeks is that “They are all the same”. I am here to prove this stereotype wrong for all of you who believe it to be accurate. I myself am Greek and if you would have known me before college you would have never guessed I would have been the type of girl to find a home in a sorority. I actually recall telling my friends in high school that I was going Greek and they all genuinely thought I was joking. That could be because in high school you would have seen me walking the halls in a pair of converse and a t-shirt with a punk band on it (yes I went through that awkward punk stage). Anyways I had never heard of Lily Pulitzer and I had never owned anything with my initials monogrammed into it…well unless you count my purple L.L. Bean backpack that I used to carry down the halls of my junior high school (but I mean who didn’t have one of those). I played soccer and basketball and never cheered a day in my life. I guess you could say I was a tomboy. Scratch that…I was definitely a tomboy. Basically what I am getting at is that I wasn’t the type of girl that you may think would belong to a sorority in college because I obviously didn’t fit the “standards”, right? Wrong!
(My standard was I didn't fit the "standard")
To my surprise, and my friends' surprise, I very skeptically decided I was going to go through recruitment. I told myself that if I didn’t fit in I would just find something else to be a part of on campus. The more I heard about sorority life from a couple rumors and the more I saw from the movies (The House Bunny) the more I started convincing myself that I wasn’t going to fit in and that terrified me. However, upon my skepticism I took a risk that I will never regret.
Today I have been a member of my sorority for 3 years and I can honestly say that I haven’t had to change anything about myself to “fit in”. I wear my same old converse, rips and all, almost every day. I can see how Greeks may be perceived as being very similar to one another. Yes! Most of us in a sorority might wear big t-shirts and running shorts…but I mean WOW if you tried this outfit just once you’d probably never want to wear anything different because of the comfort. However, behind the outfits and brands we are all so very different. In fact, diversity is a word that you will hear often within the Greek community and for good reason. Each brother and sister that makes up Greek life comes from a different background and lifestyle. What you rarely see as an outsider is how we come together as an organization to learn from one another’s differences and grow individually from them. Honestly one of the greatest things I have learned from being Greek is that "being you" is a beautiful quality to possess and my sisters accept me for the person I am. It is heartwarming to see girls feel so comfortable and encouraged around each other to not be afraid to be who they are.
I think this is one of those myths that can only be proven wrong from the inside and that is why I sit here typing this as a genuine inside source of the Greek community to tell you that the men and women that make up Greek life are all very unique in their own way. That unique quality lies within every brother and sister of the Greek community whether it be behind the large t-shirt and “norts”, or in my case, the flannels and converse, and I encourage everyone that believes this myth to be true to take some time to truthfully get to know a brother or sister of a Greek community. I promise this myth will be busted.
Written by Paige Droulliard; Edited by UNA Panhellenic
No comments:
Post a Comment