The lifelong bonds you form, the communities you serve, and the invaluable lessons you learn are all part of an unforgettable Greek organization experience. Joining a brotherhood or sisterhood is an honor and a privilege, and with it comes social awareness and responsibility. Each week we are going to be featuring an essay written by a fraternity/sorority member to highlight how Greek life has had a positive impact.

A Family I Respect

I came into CSULB as a third year transfer student from the bay area. I knew literally nobody from the Long Beach area. And my major doesn’t have many people so the connections I could make in that were limited. I needed an outlet for social activity. I needed people in my life. And honestly, I never really had a family that I considered family other than my little brother. My first week in school I was asking about how fraternities work and where I can find them. I knew for a fact that I wanted to be in a fraternity. Not just for my career and not just to have fun in college. But so I can have a group of people that I really consider family. I went to the alumni event for my organization FIJI and I met some really amazing old dudes. I knew it was something special that these people still invested time in this fraternity despite their age. They told me this wasn’t just for college days alone. I got a bid the next day and I promptly accepted it. I had people that would love me unconditionally if I went through the same ringer as them. I put full effort into the process and I went to every event and I learned what it meant to manage time and have a brotherhood. I saw what brotherhood could do for people during this time. My pledge brother Eduardo almost dropped. He felt vulnerable because he had a bad midterm and felt like his life was falling apart. Me and a couple other actives stayed up all night waiting for him and then talked to him for a couple hours. We went over his time management, what he wanted to do with his life, and in what ways we can help. Eduardo realized that the fraternity didn’t hurt him and that the people around him could actually help him with school. We are a group of smart guys. Because of moments like this, the adversity we have gone through together I now have someone who I’d die for and someone who would die for me. We will always have this and the Greek life facilitated this type of brotherhood. So for me, Greek life wasn’t about the girls or partying, which are both nice. But it gave me a family. A family that I like and respect and love that didn’t occur through happenstance. We all went through similar struggles and we are all marching upward for the betterment of ourselves and brothers. This is how Greek Life affected me.