A Geed Living In A Greek World
It’s not surprising that going to a new school is scary. You don’t know anyone and many people decide to join the Greek system to help them make friends. But, for some of us, the idea of being Greek doesn’t appeal to our tastes. I was one of the students who chose to live the “geed” life.
My best friend (let’s call her H for privacy purposes), who transferred to the University of Illinois at the same time as me, decided to join a sorority. This house has the pledges stay in the house with them, so there were a lot of times where I ended up being the outsider going into the sorority to hang out with her. At first I felt really out of place going to the house. No one knew who I was, and I was too quiet of a person to talk to people I didn’t know. However, over time I became comfortable at the house and took away some interesting experiences.
Since most of H’s friends besides me were from the house, my main group of friends ended up also being formed in the sorority. Any time I go out for a girls’ night with my friends, I am generally the only one who is not part of the sorority.
When we first started all going out together I felt awkward, as though I had to apologize for being the odd one out. After going to the bars a few times though, I embraced being the GDI of the group and felt so comfortable around the girls that I stopped thinking of myself as outside of their world.
I’ve also ended up going to numerous sorority events with H, including formals, crush parties and I-parties. Unlike going out with the girls, everyone who isn’t in the sorority or who hasn’t been around very long at these events assumes I am in the sorority until I tell them otherwise. It can feel very awkward as I am forced to explain how I’m just my friend’s “date.”
Because I go to these events with H, I get to live somewhat within the Greek world without having to be fully submerged in it. I don’t have to live within the rules of the house when I am not at the events, but I’ve been able to form some amazing friendships and memories with the girls in the house.
Although I do miss out on many events due to not having joined the sorority and my friends are often busy with sorority business and not able to go out, being a GDI in a Greek world was the perfect choice for me.