I am and always will be one of the first people to tell my friends to join the sorority and fraternity life on their campus, and I'm a bit partial to the whole idea of Greek Life since I'm an active in my sorority. I regularly show up to class with Lily Pulitzer print letters, and my Chicago Blackhawks printed letters purse at my side. I love Pinterest, glitter, and online shopping. I'm also a representative for country club prep, which is a big hit for the preppiest kids of Greek Life. I also realize the amount of monograms I own might be unhealthy. I guess a non-sorority member would say I have tendencies of a stereotypical sorority girl.

However, here's my pitch: Let's ditch the idea of stereotypes for good. In fact, let me ask you this: What is the sorority stereotype? And, how can someone outside of the Greek Life community feel as if they are educated enough to create such a stigma?

A favorite quote of mine is, "From the outside looking in, you can't understand it and from the inside looking out, you can't explain it." I adore this because I don't go around judging other organizations in which I'm not involved in for petty, insignificant reasons. I'm going to do my best to explain Greek life from the inside looking out.

To start:

- I wear my letters with pride because I'm a proud sorority woman.

- I'm proud to be a part of the Greek system where the average GPA is higher than those of non-Greek members.

- I'm proud to have completed community service hours that are done annually by fraternity and sorority members nationwide.

- I'm proud to represent my community and my university by upholding the ideas of sisterhood, scholarship, leadership, philanthropy, and becoming a better citizen at any chance I can get.

Yes, I do have many friends outside of the Greek Life community but of course my sisters are the closest to me. They're not the closest to me because we are forced to hangout, but because we are naturally get along and enjoy spending time with one another. We all joined our chapter because we believed that we could see ourselves standing on the platforms that our chapter dictates and we now represent those platforms each and every day. Obviously, my best friends are going to be those with whom I share common interest and ideas with. My membership dues don't pay for my friends but rather allow me to be a part of something that pushes me to be a better person while my best friends are by my side cheering me on

I recently went to Walgreens to pick up some medicine with a sister of mine and I happened to be wearing a Sigma Sigma Sigma hat when the pharmacist asked me how long I had been a Tri Sigma for. I had told her I was recently initiated in the fall and she informed me she was an alumni from a chapter about 30 minutes out from the area. We all chatted for awhile and then my friend and I left and continued our day. Later that day I realized that I'm not only a part of my sorority at my university but involved in something much larger. I'm surrounded by active members of my chapter, active members at other chapters and alumni throughout the nation. This was when it registered to me that I'm not just representing myself and my chapter at school, but I'm representing the thousands of women I call my sisters across the nation.I'm constantly inspired and motivated by the women in my sorority because of the amazing people and leaders that they are. They're goofy, headstrong, determined, beautiful, intelligent ladies.

Some of them do enjoy a few hours of Pinterest therapy after a long day of studying, a couple episodes of "Gossip Girl," and of course, monograms. However, some do like to say, "Screw you to J.Crew", enjoy watching and playing their fair share of sports, and enjoy the no-frills lifestyle. Exterior appearances shouldn't determine what a person is like on the inside, let alone immediately develop stereotypes as an entire group of people in a certain way.

Hopefully, this provides any skeptics from the outside looking in an honest opinion of how I feel from the inside looking out.

“People ask why I am in a sorority and I try to explain all the things a sorority is that they cannot see. A sorority is more than letters on a sweatshirt, I’ll say. More than traditional songs, a gold pin, rituals, an obligation, or a way of life. A sorority is learning about people, a sorority is giving without expecting return. A sorority is earning respect from others, as well as for yourself. A sorority will not solve all your problems but, I have made good friends and found confidence there to help me take this life one step at a time.” - unknown