Fraternities

After reading the disucssion called "Should Colleges Ban Fraternities?" on the opinion pages of The New York Times, I was a little offended. I am a member of a sorority and the majority of my guy friends are in fraternities on the SMU campus. Although they are somewhat looked down upon by outsiders, I think fraternities are necessary.

Within the first month of school, I already had established a very close-knit group of friends, four of which were boys. Even though I loved them all like brothers, they were so immature. Taking them out to restaurants for group dinners was embarassing. They were constantly asking for help to put their laundry away or how to work the washing machines. They couldnt even put sheets on their beds.

However, after they joined a fraternity all of that changed. I think having a group of older guys who are very similar to themselves giving them guidance on everything from how to live in a dorm, how to study and how to act like men really helped them to mature. It was a noticable difference. They went from acting like destructive toddlers to southern gentelman.

I understand the arguments against Greek Life but if college campuses were to rid themselves of it, I think they would be doing more damage than help.

Stop This Train

I decided to write this blog post in the midst of packing up my dorm room on 3rd floor Boaz. For some reason my iTunes library knew I was moving out and, while on shuffle, decided to play all songs that had to do with growing up which in turn made me very sentimental. The song that especially got me to start thinking was Stop This Train by John Mayer, when he sings:

"Stop this train I want to get off and go home again

I can't take the speed it's moving in

I know I can't

But honestly won't someone stop this train"

He hit the nail on the head with that one. How weird is it that your life seems to slowly go by, anticipating the day you're an adult. However, when you turn 16 life seems like some one hit the fast forward button on your life. You go from your 8th grade graduation one day to moving out of your college dorm room the next, asking your self, "where has the time gone?" 

After making the easy decision to attend SMU (I only applied to two other schools as back up), I became apprehensive yet excited for the unknown life that soon lay ahead of me. Although I was only moving 4.5 miles away, I knew college in general would be a different world. AARO quickly came and went. However, I met two of my best friends and sorority sisters in AARO Group 6. Next thing you know I had said goodbye to my high-school friends and was angrily, against my will, riding the bus to Mustang Corral. After surviving the overwhelming amount of ice breakers, I finally settled into my room anxiously wondering how this next year would go in this nicely decorated jail cell. My neighbors were all people I didn’t know and there were boys walking down the hallway when you got out of the shower. How was this ever going to feel like home?? 

But in the blink of an eye, I found my best friends right down the hall. Awkward hallway encounters turned into familiar hellos'. And before I knew it the people I was living with quickly became my new family and Boaz Hall became my new home. From countless parties to random nights out; late night study sessions to late night food runs- this year has succeeded my expectations further than I can imagine. 

As the months rolled by it never occurred to me that this would end. And now here I am packing up my dorm room, ending my first year of college. As I take the pictures from this year off my bulletin board, I smile a bittersweet smile and think of the quote from Grey's Anatomy said by Meredith Grey, "when did we become adults and how do we make it stop?"