<p>I am a college freshman and I have just really started to make a lot of friends within about the last month or two. So far things are going well, I feel like I have more friends already than I did in high school, I am concerned however about one thing. The majority of my friends have pledged Fraternities and I have not. I understand both the downfalls and the benefits of going greek and I have decided that I don’t think it’s for me. Pledging is starting this week, and it seems to be pretty demanding. What I am concerned about is whether I will be able to easily still be friends with these people once they are active with greek life and I am not? What is everyone’s experience with this issue?</p>
<p>So what’s going to happen is that pledging is a *****, time wise. They’re going to be pretty busy getting to know the brothers, getting to know those in their pledge class, and making their way through the requirements of that frat. Once they are active members, however, that time commitment changes-- it’s up to them how active they want to be. There will still probably be meeting requirements (usually not as strict if you’re not on the E-Board, I don’t think), and they will probably have to have a community service requirement. But as far as things like parties go, a lot of Greek orgs throw parties that are open to non-Greeks or that members can invite guests to. What it really boils down to is the individual frat and the choices of the individual after becoming a full-fledged member. It is TOTALLY possible for Greeks to have good friends who are not involved in Greek life.</p>