As a newly initiated member of the Greek community, I’ve gotten to see the side of fraternity and sorority life that isn’t seen by the outside world. Before I rushed, I swore there was no way I would join a sorority because I didn’t want to be one of “those girls”. I blindly allowed myself to believe all of the stereotypes I heard about Greek life and that greatly influenced my opinion on rushing. But once I talked to some of the people in my life that did join a fraternity or a sorority, I realized that it sounded like something I really wanted to be a part of. I also learned that the stereotypes that I once believed weren’t actually true at all.

1. All frats and sororities do is party

While functioning is part of what we do, that’s not the entirety of how we spend our time. Greek organizations are founded upon philanthropic service and/or academic excellence. We have community service hours to complete, weekly meetings to discuss important deadlines and events, philanthropy events hosted, and gatherings to stay connected with current chapter members and alum.

2. We’re a bunch of airheads and dumb jocks

Something that surprised me about Greek life is that each fraternity and sorority has minimum GPA requirement that has to be met to not only join, but to stay in the chapter. Academics are extremely important to us, so keeping our grades up is a necessity. If someone doesn’t meet the GPA requirement they’ll be put on academic probation and could even be kicked out of the chapter if they’re on probation too many semesters in a row. There are almost always study sessions, resources available, or brothers/sisters around to help members stay on top of their studies.

3. The hazing is intense

I’m not going to say that hazing doesn’t happen in Greek life, because that would be a lie. However, for the vast majority of chapters I know, no hazing happens whatsoever. For example, my sorority doesn’t haze new members at all. In fact, a house could be put on probation or even kicked off campus if they haze their new members.

4. The parties are super sketchy

Television and movies portray frat parties as being completely out of control, full of drugs, alcohol, and guys being way too aggressive. Does that happen sometimes? Definitely. Have I ever felt unsafe at a frat party? Not once. The reason I feel so comfortable at a frat house is because sober workers are keeping an eye on everything at the party. It’s their job to make sure people get home safely, going as far as to give them rides back home if necessary, and to keep things running relatively smoothly.

5. We’re unfairly judgmental

It’s no secret that Greek life is somewhat exclusive. When you rush, if the house you like doesn’t ask you back, you have to pick from the ones that did. If you weren’t asked back to a house, it’s probably not because you weren’t pretty/cool/whatever enough for them, it’s more likely that your grades weren’t good enough, you didn’t align with their values, or they didn’t think you’d get along very well with the other members of the house. Nobody is looking for a perfect, cookie-cutter brother/sister, we’re just looking for someone who will make a good impact on the house.

I’m still fairly new to the world of Greek life, and I have a lot to learn still. But I know that rushing was one of my best decisions yet.