Keep Calm and Go Greek

With many freshmen now settled into their first semester of college and now understanding how to handle their workload, they are beginning to look for more activities and groups to get involved in. That being said, I want to share what I think are the best reasons to go Greek–doing so was the best decision of my college career thus far.

Joining a fraternity or sorority can seem like a daunting task at first. The rush process for girls takes up the majority of the first two weekends of second semester, and for both men and women, it requires walking into a group of a hundred plus individuals you likely do not know and trying to figure out if you would fit in with them. After the process of rushing comes thoughts such as, “What if I chose the wrong house? What if the time commitment is too great? What if Greek life just is not for me?”

These are questions that every individual in a fraternity or sorority has asked themselves at one point or another, but I guarantee that despite those moments of hesitation, they will agree that the choice to go Greek is one of the best they ever made. Greek life provides you with a fun and useful extracurricular activity, as well as a group of over a hundred people in your house and over a thousand in other Greek houses who share your interests, activities, and desire to get the most out of your college experience, both academically and socially.

Apart from the amazing friendships you’ll make and the opportunities you’ll have to take a leadership role in countless areas (from president of your organization to social chair to philanthropy or community service chair to vice president of public relations for your chapter), joining a sorority or fraternity will help you to learn important life skills. Greek life harnesses the ability to work in groups and accomplish huge tasks, and to learn public speaking and public relations skills that translate to job interviews and future careers. In addition, it teaches time management and the ability to balance school work, Greek activities, and other organizations you will likely become involved in.

The moral of my experience in Greek life and my love of the organization is this: not only has it helped me to form some of my best friendships and made up some of the most fun times of my college career, it has helped me to become involved in many other OSU student organizations, taught me the importance of philanthropic involvement and volunteering, and has allowed me to steadily improve my GPA with every term since joining a sorority my sophomore year.