If you’re not a part of Greek life, you’re only perception of it may be from movies such as Legally Blonde, Animal House, and The House Bunny. You may think that frat boys are jocks who just want to shot gun beers all day with their bros and that sorority girls are just ditsy girls that drool over frat boys. But I’m here to prove the stereotypes wrong.

I understand why people believe these stereotypes to be true because growing up I always believed them too. I didn’t have any real experience with Greek life until my junior year of high school, when a friend of mine moved to the University of Alabama and rushed Delta Gamma. She told me how much she loved her sorority, her philanthropy, but most of all her sisters. Her amazing experience is what drove me to rush at the University of Florida, and I’m so glad I did.

Being in a sorority or a fraternity offers you so many opportunities and gives you experiences you couldn’t find anywhere else. One of these experiences is getting to work with a philanthropy. Each fraternity and sorority has their own philanthropy that they spend all year working with and raising money for. Because we work so closely with our respective philanthropies we all grow so close to the causes that we support. Whether it’s Building Strong Girls, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, or Service for Sight Greeks love to help out and make their communities a better place.

Greeks also put a strong emphasis on education and scholarship. Study hours are basically a requirement for most chapters to ensure that their members prioritize their school work, and we are constantly reminded that we are in college first and foremost for our education. You can actually be put on probation and not be allowed to go to certain social events if your GPA is not up to par, and late nights spent in the library with sisters has become part of my normal study routine.

Speaking of sisters, sisterhood and brotherhood is one of the most important things to us. Within one month of knowing some of my sisters I was closer with them than I had been with people I’d previously known for years. I know that I can go to them with any problems I may be having and they’ll support me, no questions asked. When people say that within your sorority or fraternity you’ll meet some of your best friends, the people that will be in your wedding party, and those that will be with you for the rest of your life they aren’t lying. I personally can’t imagine my life now without my sisters and I constantly thank Gamma Phi Beta for bringing us together.

So, the next time someone says that Greek life is just about partying or that we buy our friends or just about any other stereotype, remember that we are much, much more than that.