Thoughts on sorority life?

yourmomma
Sat, 30 Mar 2019 22:51:03 +0000

My daughter is a freshman at UC Berkeley and to my surprise, she joined a sorority last fall. I was not involved in greek life during college so I know very little. I guess I’m wondering how “normal” some things are. One, they seem to party quite a bit. During the semester they take off on mini two or three day trips. Two, they seemingly only hang out with other greeks. I was hoping she was going to spread her wings and join different clubs and organizations and meet many other students but so far she hasn’t. The sorority almost seems somewhat cult like.On instagram she is ONLY with her sisters, and nobody else (except a few with roomie). Three, the girls seem so preoccupied with their appearance. My daughter went from being a pretty high school kid to someone who now wears full makeup to class. She looks like she’s twenty one instead of eighteen. Maybe it’s just me missing my little kid what have your experiences been? Was greek life a positive?

I am sure your daughter will have a positive experience. Nobody in a sorority/fraternity is all alike. They may have similar interests and backgrounds but you would be surprised by the actual variety. It won’t limit her from other organizations and you should encourage her to find another organization to participate in – many do student government, student foundations, philanthropy groups, professional groups, etc. It may take a little time as she is a freshman.

Since it is a social organization, most of her “hanging out” time will be with her sisters. If parties are involved, non-Greeks may be limited because the risks are too high these days. Houses have been punished because someone, nobody really knew, came to a party already drunk and got hurt. And it’s not just the host fraternity that gets in trouble - any sororities/fraternities who were there gets in trouble too. Pictures and social media need to be handled thoughtfully as well.