Recently an article was published by another Odyssey writer titled "Why I Didn't Rush." It has some 6,000 shares and many comments. Most of the comments are written by sorority women bashing this article and saying why everything written within isn't true.

If you haven't seen it, heard about it or read it, you can do so here.

I am a strong sorority woman, but that is most definitely not all there is to who I am. When I read this article, the first response I felt was anger, then resentment. So I decided to write a response piece to it. But not one of anger, one of understanding and from a different perspective. One of someone who did not go through "recruitment/rush/whatever you call it" as she so blatantly put it. One of someone who felt as if she wouldn't fit in. I am a firm believer than everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but in order for someone to form a proper opinion of something, they need to hear every side to it; so this is mine.

Here goes nothing.

She opens her article by not even attempting to call recruitment by its proper name. Which in my (say it with me) opinion comes across as a bit salty and disrespectful. If I am not a part of something for any reason and supposedly had friends in said something, I would offer it the utmost respect. I would definitely call it by its correct name. But again, that is my opinion and I am not saying that the author was intending to be disrespectful. She then goes on to talk about how she was so weirded out that everyone asked her if she was rushing. I don't think that is weird at all. It's just like when you become a senior and literally everyone you meet asks you where you are going to school. What if you aren't planning on going to school? Shouldn't it be weird that literally everyone you meet is asking you that? You will constantly hear the questions "What's your major?" "Where are you from?" "Are you in a sorority?" "What organizations are you in?" Everyone at a college is from all walks of life, of course they are going to ask you questions. Curiosity is a very normal human thing.

1. "I knew I didn't belong."

Since when are wedges something that every sorority girl owns? There are several "stereotypical" sorority girl items that I most definitely do not own. White lace dress? That may be the ritual outfit of choice for a certain sorority, but not every one is like that. In my sorority, we must have a white dress for different occasions. Does it have to be lace? No. There are sororities who call for a solid black dress. Everywhere is different. I am certainly not rail-skinny with waist length blonde hair. In fact, I dye and cut my hair to different lengths. There are girls in every sorority I could name that are a size 16 with short hair of every color. Never once have I been to a Zumba class, nor have most of my sorority sisters. There are handfuls of sorority women who have never touched a drop of alcohol in their lives, by their own choice. Nobody tells me what to do or what to wear. I choose to follow the rules of the organization I chose to be a part of because that is respectful. There will be rules in your honor program with people telling you what to do and what to wear to meetings. There are some of my sisters that I am not friends with. Just because someone is my sister doesn't mean I "like" them. I respect them as a sorority woman and as a sister of mine. It's hard not to belong in an organizations that praises you for your uniqueness.

2. Sorority Moms

One thing we do have in common: my mom is a bad ass, too! She's one of the most fun people I know and always has a huge smile on her face that is the most contagious thing you will ever see. She is strong, independent, confident and not a sorority woman. "She doesn't spend her days at lunch with her girlfriends, shopping and spending tons of money, gossiping and socializing, or begging me to do anything. She is where I learned to be an independent woman." The sorority moms I grew up around, I couldn't even tell you if they were in a sorority or not. They were not "always in everyone's business" and they were also not "always putting me down because I wasn't wearing Lily Pulitzer or buying MAC makeup." Oh, and did I mention they were my fellow church members along with my amazing mother whom I am all proud to know?

3. The Money

Not joining an organization because of money is perfectly OK, but using this excuse as to why you specifically didn't join a sorority is just a moot point. It's not paying for your friends, it goes towards charity, there are payment plans to help you out when you can't afford it, and you pay money to be a part of any organization, not just a sorority.

4. College was a clean slate.

Another thing in common, I was a dork in high school, too! I had like three friends. I studied a lot and read a lot of books. When I moved away to college, I didn't want to jump into any organizations either. Which is why I didn't join a sorority right off the bat. I knew though that if I had joined a sorority that I wouldn't be expected to be anyone other than myself, I didn't have to "pretend to be rich and happy all the time" if I did decide to join a sorority, which I later did. College is supposed to be a clean slate for a reason. Try new things, step out of the box, be yourself. If a sorority doesn't want you for who you are then you shouldn't be in that sorority anyways. But there is one out there that would accept you just the way you are.

5. The social gatherings were a 'nah.'

As a freshman, I took 18 hours of classes and was trying to maintain a perfect GPA. But where was my incentive? It came once I joined a sorority and wasn't allowed to go to all of the mixers and formals if I didn't keep my grades up. For someone that enjoys that sort of thing, it made me work harder for it so that I could go and have fun with my friends. For someone who doesn't enjoy that kind of thing? You don't have to go. Stay in studying. That is perfectly normal and would not be frowned upon. Academics and serving others comes first in a sorority.

6. The Process Of Rushing

Whoever told this author that the basic goal was "to make people like you" during rush was completely wrong, and I am super sorry she felt this way. The whole point of rush is for girls to be themselves so that sorority members can see these real girls in all their uniqueness and figure out who best fits in where. If you had a bad day and wake up with a headache, tell the sorority girl you are talking to, "Hey there, I'm so sorry, I've just felt really horrible all day and am not myself right now." That sorority girl would jump up out of her seat to go get you a cold rag and some medicine and tell you how sorry she was. You are never supposed to not be yourself. Ever.

7. The Stigma

If someone composed a negative stigma about me based solely on the fact I was in a sorority, then that is someone I do not want anywhere around me. It is a part of who I am, but it is not who I am. Being in a sorority has, personally, given me many opportunities that I otherwise would not have. It has gotten me jobs and connections that will be very valuable to me in my future. If a possible employer sees that I was in a sorority and that makes them not hire me, then that is, at the core, not someone I would want to be working for in the first place. If someone thinks something about me based on another girl or another chapter, then they are not someone whose opinion I care anything about. It's about being strong in yourself and who you are.

8. Time Commitment

If the author was intentionally being hateful in this paragraph when she said "before you tell me that I'm a bitch and I'm crazy, take a minute to actually think about the differences between you and me" then I will call her a b*tch because there is no reason to be hateful to other women you don't even know just because they are different from you. Our differences are to be praised by one another. And she was right, there are girls who do both a sorority and the Honors program and completely dominate it, and congratulations to them as she said. You manage your time between things that you want to manage your time between. If you really want to find time for something, then you will. And that's just a fact.

So for those girls out there who are torn between rushing or not, ultimately it is your decision, and I will not think differently of you for choosing either path. But don't be discouraged by someone saying negative things about Greek life when they don't even know what it's truly like on the inside. I've been on both sides. And that's something I'm proud to say. There are plenty of positives and there are plenty of negatives, to both being in a sorority and not being in a sorority. You just have to find what works for you, just as this author has done for herself.

Be proud of who you are, and don't ever hide it from anyone for any reason.