Becoming a part of the Greek-life family is something many Staples students plan on.  The sorority squat, the infamous profile picture changes to promote events, the constant resurfacing of the phrase “throw what you know” and, of course, the most outrageous and glamorous parties.

For a lot of people I know, Greek life was a large factor in deciding which college they wanted to go to. I even know a few people  already know to which sorority or fraternity they would like to pledge.  I, on the other hand, could hardly name four sororities and fraternities on a good day, have no idea how to pronounce any of the names, and still cannot completely comprehend the whole sister, big big sister, and grandma system.

While most of my friends will come out of school with 100 plus new sisters, I will come out with zero.

As for being one of the only people of my friends  will be going to a school without Greek life, it will definitely be weird.

I won’t be able to share the experiences of living in  glamorous sorority houses and going to convivial mixers with fraternities.

It will definitely be fun to visit them, but I do not regret my choice to go to a school without Greek life.

Despite what is depicted in almost every comedy movie, there are definitely perks to going to a school without the Greek system.

If you plan on playing a sport in college, which I am, your team acts as it’s own sort of sorority or fraternity.

A sense of community (why many people join the Greek system) can be found in other places, such as clubs, sports teams, organizations, and even finding a great group of friends with common interests in one of your classes.

Not to mention, going Greek is pricey.  On top of paying for tuition, books and everything else one needs to survive at college, sorority and fraternity dues are costly.

College is all about branching out, and while joining a sorority would give me an easy in with a set group of friends, I’m excited by the challenge of having to make friends without the structure of the Greek system.

It’s easy to be comfortable with your high school friends because you’ve known them for so long, but while being thrown into a completely new place with no allies is scary, it also provides a situation where you can go outside of your comfort zone and meet people you wouldn’t necessarily find yourself sitting with in the cafeteria.

I don’t worry about the fact that I am not going to a school with a Greek life because nobody in my future school is going to one, either.

We are all in the same boat, and while we are watching Snapchat stories of our friends from home out at a frat party, we will definitely be able to have similar experiences.