What! I Don't Need No Stinking Sorority!--An NPHC Membership Journey

[SISTERGREEK]

...going from non-existent to bad....

In addition to not being that well-versed about Greek life, my initial experiences with Greek Life in general did not leave me with very favorable impressions of these organizations.

I made a couple of rookie mistakes--such as sitting in an area that unofficially belonged to one fraternity and being asked none-to-gently, in front of a crowd of people, to move (I was with friends at the time, so that softened the sting a bit). Also, I was actually manhandled by a member of another fraternity for stepping on grass that had been marked as territory by his fraternity! Never mind that that patch of grass was on the front side of my dorm! I mean, I understand being enthusiastic about your organization, believe me I do, but you are doing a bit much laying your hands on me over a piece of grass.

In the whole grand scheme of things, these incidents were quite insignificant. But in the mind of an impressionable young freshman these events took on a great magnitude. (Granted, most of these early negative experiences had to do with fraternities and not sororities.) Greeks had attitude, I decided, and that was not something that I was interested in.

By the end of my freshman year, I had essentially decided not to pursue membership in any organization. None of what I had seen had particularly impressed me or inspired me to explore the matter more. There were so many other activities and organizations that were available to me, not to mention keeping my grades up, that I didn't really see the point. I was shutting the door on greekdom....

Dunh, dunh, dunnnnnnnh.... Will SISTERGREEK change her mind? (Well obviously I will.) More importantly, what will happen to change SISTERGREEK's mind. Also, what will SISTERGREEK's impressions of the different sororities be? Tune in next time to "I Don't Need No Stinking Sorority!"

[BabyPiNK_FL]

Lol! I think the part about the suit gives something away seeing as how it's not very common for "average" non-greeks to wear suits in certain color combinations. That narrows that one down a tiny bit. I'm going to be rooting for Punky Brewster. I grew UP on Soleil Moon Frye, she's awesome!

[PrettyBoy]

This is good. So good, half the bag of popcorn is gone.

[Still BLUTANG]

SisterGreek, did we go to school together? LOL.

[tld221]

Originally Posted by PrettyBoy

This is good. So good, half the bag of popcorn is gone.

is this before or after the bowl of chitlins you scarfed down?

and SISTERGREEK - glad i was an inspiration - keep it coming!

[SISTERGREEK]

At this point, all four organizations were on campus. X-Men had crossed a line the year before and their numbers began to rival those of Thundercats. By this time, many of my friends had crossed into the various organizations on campus. Also, many of my friends had tried and failed to gain membership in different organizations (including one series of unfortunate events that put an end to what I thought was a really strong friendship). By that time, I was beginning to be able to distinguish between the organizations based on the women that I knew who became a part of them.

I knew one woman quite well who joined Boy Meets World. She was a year behind me, and her coming out was entirely unexpected; I never even knew she was interested in a sorority. She was studious and in my major. We were also in an organization together. I liked her a lot because she was kind, steady, and reliable. She was my first real impression of the kind of women that Boy Meets World attracted, and it was an overwhelmingly positive one. I was really happy for her when I found out that she had crossed.

I knew several women who had joined the Thundercats. These women were smart, campus leaders, and quite visible socially as well. But there was something about the women who became Thundercats. They completely changed. Many of them seemed to carry themselves as though they were the ish (and not in the good way, in the bad way) now that they were members of their organization. It seemed that for many of them, their organization made them. This was not the case for all of them. There were several women that crossed whom I continued to good friends with. These women were intelligent and friendly, women that I greatly respected on campus. Also, a few women that I knew and really respected wanted to be Thundercats but were denied membership. But it did not sit well with me that most of the Thundercats seemed to be of the former variety. My impression of Thundercats at this point was not very good.

I also knew several women that had crossed into X-Men. Like the women of Thundercats, these women were smart (one was the valedictorian the year that I graduated), campus leaders, and very much socially prominent. Many of the women who became X-Men were actually women that had lived in my freshman dorm. However, unlike the Thundercats, I did not see any manifestations of a newfound superiority complex in the X-Men. They were the same women that they had been before they crossed, I just saw them less frequently now. Of course, there was that one X-Men that skipped out on her duties for an organization that I was president of (though that did not happen until senior year), but her linesister was right there to pick up her slack, which I respected.

And last, but not least, there was Punky Brewster. I still had not come into contact with any Punky Brewsters. I did not know, personally, any women that had crossed. I would see them occasionally on campus, but never had a really in-depth conversation with one. But for some reason, I didn't quite discount Punky Brewster, maybe because of the colors. (I really like that combination).

The really important thing that happened my junior year was that I begin
to reevaluate the sorority thing. Seeing women that I knew and respected joining each of these organizations made me give it a second glance. I begin to wonder what drew them to these organizations; there must be something more to it then I saw. I decided that I would spend the summer researching the organizations before make a final decision of whether to pursue membership or not.

To be continued....

[tld221]

i'm rooting for BMW only cause i wasn't a cartoon watcher and well, Ben Savage and Rider Strong pretty much rocked my socks in the mid-90s.

and well, they sounds awesome in this thread too.

[SISTERGREEK]

Oh, and there was that other "thing" that happened junior year.

What is it? What is that thing?.....

[tinydancer16]

I have to go with tld, I'm a Boy Meets World girl to the core -I'm not ashamed to admit that I still watch it allll the time on ABC family

[PrettyBoy]

Originally Posted by tld221

is this before or after the bowl of chitlins you scarfed down?

and SISTERGREEK - glad i was an inspiration - keep it coming!

LMAO.

[PrettyBoy]

zzzz zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz. PB sleeping in his chair with an empty bowl of chitlins and a half eaten bag of popcorn.

Interesting story though.

[Little32]

Thanks....I guess. Where is the smile that shrugs its shoulders?

[tld221]

Originally Posted by PrettyBoy

zzzz zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz. PB sleeping in his chair with an empty bowl of chitlins and a half eaten bag of popcorn.

Interesting story though.

PB is only sleeping cause he got the itis!

[Honeykiss1974]

Great writing and story Little32!

[SISTERGREEK]

Originally Posted by BabyPiNK_FL

Lol! I think the part about the suit gives something away seeing as how it's not very common for "average" non-greeks to wear suits in certain color combinations. That narrows that one down a tiny bit. I'm going to be rooting for Punky Brewster. I grew UP on Soleil Moon Frye, she's awesome!

Ahh, but certain of the color combinations are also good for professional looks. The school that I went to was all about honing that professional image (Still Blutang, does that sound familiar). Also, remember I was basically a clueless freshman when I got that suit. All I knew was that I was buying a suit in my favorite color, and it was a really good quality suit too.