Walking around campus, you’ll often hear, “There’s no life without Greek Life.” Greek Life is a great way to meet people, build lifelong friendships and get involved around campus, but in truth, Greek Life isn’t for everyone.

I went through sorority recruitment, also known as “rush,” my freshman year and joined a house that I stayed involved with for three years. I met some of my best friends, attended dozens of social events, and lived in the sorority house. They were some of the craziest, most exciting and adventurous times of my life. I knew all 60 girls I lived with and always had something to do or someone to hang out with.

However, there are negatives and positives to joining a greek organization.

The actual week of recruitment is hellish. As a freshman, it is intimidating, fast-paced and unnatural. Even worse, you know each house is judging you on your personality and your appearance, so unless you have excellent self-esteem, it can be an uncomfortable and awkward experience.

When I was a part of the recruiting process as a sorority member, I still hated it. When looking for new members, we considered things like their grades, extracurricular activities and if they were a “legacy,” meaning if they had family members in the sorority. However, despite what anyone says, it is still a very superficial process, with physical appearance acting as a deciding factor. I had to keep reminding myself that after this week, everyone would be different and we would actually start to get to know one another.

Aside from recruitment though, joining a sorority was a fabulous experience that I wouldn’t take back. Some perks of joining include having a house in the center of campus, parking (if you live in the house), breakfast, lunch and dinner on weekdays, invitations to countless events and social and professional networking resources.

Of course, you can’t put 200 people together and expect every person to be best friends. Like every group, club or class, there are people you like and people you don’t like, but every chapter is big enough that you don’t have to try and force it.

Unfortunately, non-greek students put a stigma on being in Greek Life and perpetuate stereotypes such as being a slut, an alcoholic, dumb, blonde, rich, a drug-user … etc. Those may be true for a select few, but that is not what Greek Life is about and in no way accurately reflects the overwhelming majority of sorority and fraternity members.

These attitudes continue because there isn’t a lot of social interaction between greeks and non-greeks. For the most part, if you’re in a sorority or fraternity, the people you interact with the most are too. It’s a bubble. You’re in, or you’re out. It’s not enforced like some weird, “You can’t sit with us,” “Mean Girls” rule, but most weekends are filled with Greek Life activities or programs and bonds just form.

My final verdict: If you’re social, like large groups, and make friends easily, I say join. Just be sure to look past “rush” and stereotypes, because there is so much more.

— Janice Biancavilla is a spring 2012 journalism graduate. She can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu or on Twitter via @WildcatOpinions.