My first introduction to Greek life was through my second grade teacher, Ms. Green. Ms Green was a tall, thin, elementary school teacher with long hair and an obsession for the football player Deion Sanders. My classmates loved her because she was young, "hip," and would create fun raps and rhymes for us to remember equations, measurements, or state capitals (I can still recall one that helped with remembering the days, weeks, and months in a year. Smh...) Unlike my fellow students however, I did not put Ms. Green on a pedestal. For some reason, there was something about me that she did not like. At times, I felt as if she picked on me for no reason at all, and often she made me cry in front of the class or hold up dictionaries. It even got to a point where my mother and sister threatened to go up to my school and "set her straight," but because I was afraid that I would face repercussions in class the next day, I cried and pleaded for them not to. One day, Ms. Green showed us a video of some "club" that she was in, and while I don't remember much of the video, I DO remember the women doing what she called "stepping." I watched it with partial curiosity, mostly dislike, and made a vow that whatever club she was in, I would never be a part of.
My second exposure to Greekdom would be from the television show "A Different World." I would watch and look at the extras walking in the background, thinking "What the hell are those letters on their shirt?" Other shows such as "Moesha" and "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" would soon follow with episodes about pledging and "being on line," but I still had no idea of what sororities and fraternities were and what did they do. Not until I reach U of M. As a freshman, I walked around Festifall trying to decide which sisterhood was the best for me. It was never a question as to if I would join a sorority in college. That was something I decided by high school. The question was "which one?" After researching many orgs, I felt the right organization for me was Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated. I'll spare you the "interview response" of why I chose to wear the royal blue and white, but I will sum it up: Gamma Delta, finer womanhood, networking and my second family. Women who have been there for me through thick and thin, and, as I said before, added to my college experience.
The stepshows, the strolling, the parties-those are the fun aspects. Any Greek would tell you that. U of M's Greek life has a been....a rollercoaster to say the least. But I've met some great people, and we had some good times. And while there are some who argue that the Greek life on our campus isn't what it used to be, we have came a long way.
But while there is the bright side to Greekdom, there's also the dark side. To outsiders, there's always speculation about what that "dark side" consists of, but Greeks who deal with it on a daily basis can understand the pressure and stress being Greek causes. There were many times when I had to step back, breathe, and go back to the reasons why I became Greek in the first place. I refused (and still do) to let the ignorance, foolishness, conceitedness, envy, and spitefulness of others- sorors and bruhs included -denigrate my reason for becoming a Zeta. In joining the org, I knew that I was not only making a commitment just for undergrad, but for a lifetime. As much as I will miss my undergraduate chapter, I can't wait to experience what it's like to be in a graduate chapter. I've already prepared myself for the 180-degree change, but I'm sure it will still be a positive experience....especially since there's already GD alum in the chapter. :-)
What led me to write this blog is one of the other aspects to the dark side of Greekdom- the inability to separate Greek life from personal life. It is something that frustrates me to no end. While my graduate chapter will be something that I'm a part of as an adult, I'm proud to say that I know that my life will not revolve around the chapter and chapter business. I've joined urban planning committees and officially became a member of the APA, I'll still be working two jobs, thinking about joining a church family, etc. etc. There's so much going on in my life, that I don't have time to think about Zeta 24/7. Unfortunately, that doesn't go for every Greek. There are those who talk about nothing but "being owt," stepshows, and parties, and the ironically, the ones who practically preach on Twitter "Greeks need to stop talking about Greek stuff all the time!" are the main ones who have Greek-related discussions or trending topics polluting my timeline and newsfeed. And on days like that, I avoid the social networks and pay attention to what's going on in the real world. Christina first, Zeta second.
By the way, my second grade teacher? I won't disclose her sorority. I'll just say that her name fitted her. ;-)
bwahahahhahaha love that last comment
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