[ClassyLady]

I know that I'm kind of "resurrecting" this topic, but I missed out on the interesting turn that this conversation took.

I must agree with SeriousSigma, parents do play a key role in planting the seed of interest. As I said, my mother is greek. She has been a member of her sorority for over thirty years and an active member in our area for over the past twenty. She is one of the charter members of her chapter. All of her friends are her sorority sisters. When me and my sisters were growing up, her GLO was all that we knew because she was soooo active in it. Every Saturday she was gone at a meeting or some community service event.

My sisters and I were in her sorority's youth groups. We played with her sorority sisters' kids. At parties, there were always the same familiar faces. To this day, I call my mother's sorority sisters my aunts and their children my cousins because when I was growing up, I really thought that they were. We were more like one large extended family rather than friends. I didn't even know that there were other sororities until I was thirteen. I thought that my mother's was the only one because that was all that I had been exposed to.

I say all of this not to toot my mom's horn, but to show what an influence she had on us. Both of my sisters are now members of her sorority.

On another note, my father is a Kappa. He stopped being active well before any of us were born. I didn't know that he was a member until I was in high school and I didn't know anything about Kappa Alpha Psi until I got to college to see for myself. The chapter at my school is the only one that I have ever been exposed to. If me and my sisters had been born boys, I really don't think that any of us would have been inclined towards a certain frat before entering college because of the lack of exposure. I know for myself that if I was a boy, I would not choose Kappa. The chapter at my school is suspended and since my dad is inactive, I would have no way of being exposed to it. I'd probably choose the frat that runs the yard.