Not For Everyone- Carfully Consider It Mar 02 '00    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet Well, this might end up being one of the longest epinions in the history of this website. I will try to lay out the positives and negatives of Greek life and let you in on some of my experiences. First of all, I will discuss the positives of the Greek system. In the short term, anytime you enter a club type system you will immediately have a group of friends and this is a positive when arriving in a hostile environment, such as a new school. You will also have the opportunity to meet a number of new people in a different setting- namely something other than bars. The settings include formals and other get togethers that are beneficial in many ways other than socially. For one, they teach you how to act in a formal situation if you have not previously been exposed to this type of situation. Another positive is that some of the people who enter the Greek life manage to better themselves and take on a great deal of responsibilty that will serve them well later in life. For instance, become treasurer of the house and see if you can make a difference. Finally, over the short term, you will be exposed to a lot of different activities that may not be available to the other college students. For instance, how many students will go away for a weekend formal? How many will don a tux and eat a six course meal? The group activities are a big positive and range from trips to bowl games and formal weekends, to intramural sports and charity functions. Many of these activities form a lifelong bond among friends and provide many priceless memories. The Greek life offers many advantages and most of them are socially oriented through your first three years in school. As you near graduation you will notice the biggest advantage of all- you have a network of people who you have met over the years who are ready and willing to help you. I realize that this is not the primary concern at this point in your life (Partying, the opposite sex, and what is going on Friday night are the biggest concerns), but it is something that you will be grateful for down the road. Having a network of connections will prove to be the biggest positive of the Greek system over the long term. So what could possibly be a negative? I mean from what I have written so far, you will be meeting the ooposite sex, have friends, have partyies to attend, and have a great network of individuals willing to help you when it is time to graduate and then down the road. Well, the negatives are numerous and they can also have serious consequences on what your life is like down the road. To begin with, please do not listen to someone who tells you that they do not haze! I cannot tell you how many times I ran into this when I was pledging and then heard from friends who went ahead with the Greek life and found out that they were forced to drink a ton of alcohol, or go weeks without sleep, or stripped and dropped off miles from campus. Usually, this would occur shortly before the end of pledging and it was tough for these people to drop it after pledging for so long. Bottom line: They all haze in way or another and this goes for sororities as well as fraternities. A point should be made that you can always say not to some of the hazing tactics. Yes, the short term pain may be great and you may be removed from the pledge class and even ostracized from many people who used to be friends. However, keep in mind that rarely does a month go by when you do not hear of someone dying from a hazing accident. Do not get me totally wrong- some hazing can be good and is beneficial when it s not done to an extreme. Secondly, consider the impact that pledging and the Greek life in general will have on your academics. Some of you may feel that the only effect will be during the pledge period, but I would beg to differ. A simple fact of Greek life is that there is always someone around and someone urging you to go here or to do this. That is a lot of temptation and when combined with the late nights of college can add up to academic problems. Additionally, many of your evenings are spent in group activities that are not study related. I know they are more fun, but remember why you are in college in the first place. Thirdly, if you go the Greek way, please be one of those who does something with it. So many of the Greek organizations promote their volunteer work and how active they are in the community, but the acts are too often forced and not done with feeling. Example: I went to a sorority car wash shortly after graduating and witnessed a gilr vomit right beside my car door. Drunk? Hungover? Most likely. About five other girls were busy laying around in bikinis (PArt of the reason I stopped). My point is if you are going to do volunteer work, do it with some class. You would not do these things on a job or at a volunteer function where you could actually get into trouble. Finally, consider the costs. You will have to pay dues and will be expected to buy clothing with your "letters" pasted on the front or back. Donations do not pay for all of the parties and social events. Keep this in mind before getting in too deep. In summary, I would consider all of the aspects of Greek life. If you can handle the pledging process and thrive in the environment I would suggest that it can be a great experience. However, college life can be difficult and being in the Greek system is no guarantee that you will succeed academically, emotionally, or socially. I would suggest spending a semester or two before pledging in order to get a feel for how your school's social life is structured. In other words, Greek life is huge at some places and is an afterthought in many others. Take some time to find out what it is like in your particular situation. As an aside, I would mention that I never did go through with the Greek life. I was on the golf team at a school that was quite competetive in golf and I always held the dream of making it to the tour. I felt it was more important to follow the dream. Between golf, studying, and my girlfriend at the time, I would never have had the time to go through it all. However, my opinion has been gathered from what I have heard from friends and have observed personally. I have tried to present Greek life in an unbiased manner and hopefully I succeeded.

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