My decision to join Greek life was somewhat of an unorthodox one. Unlike some of the people I knew, my perception of Greek life didn’t come from watching stereotype-based movies like Animal House and Neighbors, or from following supposedly comedic sites like TFM on social media, and I couldn’t tell you a single Greek house outside of the [fictitious] Delta Nu sorority from Legally Blonde. My knowledge of Greek life was virtually zero.

In fact, my first experience with Greek life wasn’t a positive one – as a new member of a fraternity on campus, my Freshman year roommate came back late night after a party and urinated on our dorm floor and attempted to dry it up with my clothes. At that point, I became convinced that Greek life was a conduit for partying and wanted nothing less than to be like him.

I was mistaken about what it really meant to be Greek, however, and Sophomore year I developed a different outlook about becoming more involved on campus. The year prior I attempted to branch out within the Honors program and my major, but grew largely disinterested due to how little I achieved from these endeavors. As a result, my next idea was to join a club or organization for the new school year. Not finding any appealing clubs, but still wanting to network and be involved on campus, I turned my attention to Greek life. I noticed how much of a positive impact Greek organizations had on friends from class or people I graduated high school with, either here at UND, or on other campuses, and wanted to see if I could obtain a similar experience from it.

I had no idea exactly how much that experience would change my college life, though. I slowly began to see how blown out of proportion Greek life’s reputation was to some non-Greeks on campus, the media, and even to family members (who still to this day rely on Animal House to tell me that they think they know an experience they never had better than I do). I even discovered that my roommate’s actions the year before went against values of the Greek system; Greek houses each have their own set of values and morals that members abide by (or face corrective action).

This all sounds awfully optimistic, but Greek life isn’t always a paradise either. It’s similar to a club in that it takes time and requires individual as well as collective participation. Like a work setting, you’re not always going to get along with each and every one of your co-workers (in this case, brothers or sisters) 100% of the time. It does indeed cost money (variable by house) and there’s no shortage of required meetings/events. It’s not a perfect system, but I know I would have missed out on a hell of a lot without it.

If you would have told me Freshman year that over the course of my college career I’d twerk on stage (and once in a pool) to help our house win sorority competitions, eat eighteen pancakes and six grilled cheeses in one sitting at other philanthropies, and travel to places like Omaha and Chicago for leadership conferences, I would have looked at you very quizzically. My lens of Greek life isn’t limited to fraternity life either; as an [honorary] member of a sorority, I’m continually in awe of sororities’ dedication to philanthropy and involvement in their community.

Again, it’s not a perfect system; there are occasionally people that act outside Greek values but do not represent Greek life as a whole. For me, Greek life was the escape from third-wheeling my destructive, inconsiderate Sophomore-year roommate who treated his girlfriend (and later my belongings) roughly, it was my anchor when I wanted to transfer to Macon, GA on a whim, and it was a social outlet that I’d never thought I’d be able to have. But most importantly, I know that I’m not the only one who’s gotten something meaningful out of the experience; I see people profoundly affected by their Greek experience each and every day.

It’s okay that it’s not for everyone, it’s okay for Greeks to be friends with non-Greeks and vice-versa, and most of all Greek life has taught me it’s especially okay to look beyond the stereotypes, organizational or otherwise.