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25 Things Sorority Girls Taught Me

Posted: 05/27/2012 2:06 pm

By A. Streffer

In college, I pledged a sorority -- and spent the next four memorable years pretending I wasn't the world's most inept sorority girl. Here's a quick and dirty inventory of the actually valuable knowledge I absorbed in the process.


1. Never go full hooker.
2. If you can blame white people, patriarchy or the colonizing West within the first five minutes of class discussion, it's acceptable to spend the rest of the hour on Twitter.
In drinking, sex, working out and studying for finals, if you look better after or during it than before, you're doing it wrong.
3. Frat boys are far more likely to do you a favor if you wear a sundress when you ask.
4. If your male friend ends a text with a smiley face, he's trying to have sex with you.
5. If your female friend ends a text with a smiley face, she's trying not to be a b-tch.
6. Delicate negotiations among roommates are best approached with a tray of something warm and Nutella-scented in hand.
7. Weeknight going-out clothes should either show off one's boobs or one's legs. Doing both and doing neither are frowned upon equally.
8. LinkedIn is for sober, earnest, employable you; Facebook is for mobile-upload-blurry, tipsy-but-not-yet-sloppy you. And having a Pinterest account is a telltale sign that you're taking your 9. M.R.S. degree far too seriously, or that you're a Gwyneth Paltrow/ a robot.
10. Spontaneous nudity makes any occasion more memorable.
11. Sleeping with someone because you've seen him on ESPN is a poor decision, but a great story.
12. What "no makeup" really means is just undereye concealer, foundation, blush and a little mascara.
13. Any sister who's eating buttercream cake frosting out of the jar probably doesn't want to talk.
14. It's best to be solidly mediocre at drinking games.
15. No one worth paying attention to has ever worn weightlifting gloves to the gym.
16. Dressing up, baking and booking any kind of travel itinerary are all activities best completed sober.
17. Say you "love sports" and you'll start a cute flirtation. Say you "think John Groce was probably the wrong choice for Illinois, but pretty much anyone's a step up from Bruce Weber," and 15 minutes later you'll be shotgunning beers and wishing you wish you'd worn flats.
18. Of all the places you can choose to vomit, into your own running shoe is one of the most regrettable.
19. House flip cup rules are to be f-cked with at one's own peril.
20. When there's no rubbing alcohol to clean up an injury, Skol vodka is an acceptable substitute.
21. The sister who holds your hair in a bathroom stall is a good friend, but the sister who holds your hand at a pharmacy counter is your best friend.
22. Emotional validation is always a welcome way of showing someone how much you care. So is a cupcake.
23. Pickle juice and high fives are the best chasers.
24. If you have shower sex in the sorority house bathroom, you deserve it when your sisters slow-clap your entrance at breakfast.
25. There's always a casualty when there's Jaegermeister involved.

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By A. Streffer In college, I pledged a sorority -- and spent the next four memorable years pretending I wasn't the world's most inept sorority girl. Here's a quick and dirty inventory of the actual...
By A. Streffer In college, I pledged a sorority -- and spent the next four memorable years pretending I wasn't the world's most inept sorority girl. Here's a quick and dirty inventory of the actual...
 
 
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09:35 PM on 06/09/2012
This blog post was obviously not written to be taken seriously. Sure there are girls that join chapters to just party, but that definitely isn't the case for most. I owe all of my academic, personal, and extracurricular success over the past three years to the relationships I have forged with my active sisters and our local alum. Best decision I ever made, and I am sorry that everyone posting such negative comments hasn't had the opportunity to experience the kind of sisterhood that I have.

http://www.usatodayeducate.com/staging/index.php/campuslife/examining-the-benefits-of-greek-life
04:41 PM on 05/31/2012
YES.
"23. Pickle juice and high fives are the best chasers."

Pi Beta Phi
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EastBishop
Freedom is not a given.
02:48 PM on 05/30/2012
It's funny because everything I learned I can't put on here or else I'll get banned.
This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program
08:55 AM on 05/30/2012
It you were in college, you are legally a woman. It's too bad you chose to waste 4 adult years of your life in a sorority and stunt your growth.
01:09 PM on 05/29/2012
Rule 26: In an attempt to seem less like a robot, become a robot.
Rule 27: Embrace your inner hedonist, but don't attempt to control your urges until they've landed you in a.) Jail, b.) Pregnancy or c.) 6 figure debt.
Rule 28: Don't learn from others mistakes...you're a special woman! Your life must be new and original! What could millions of people who have done EXACTLY the same things have to offer in the way of life experience and what NOT to do?
Rule 29: Submit list to Huffpost! OMG yai!
Rule 30: Sit back, relax and just enjoy the flaming!
01:07 PM on 05/29/2012
Things I learned from joining a sorority
1.Drop out of sorority first year
2.Transfer to college in another country to meet people from all over the world
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TheEvilAtheist
I love satan, drugs, and homosexuals
12:26 PM on 05/29/2012
...what's wrong with weight lifting gloves? Does this go for both men and women? I'm genuinely concerned. I can't imagine concern for calluses being a bad thing.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Ty2010
11:06 AM on 05/29/2012
This appears to be more a list for exotic dancers that share housing.
11:05 AM on 05/29/2012
Why is the picture of a group of 12-year old girls? I'm supposed to believe that they are in a sorority? One of them has braces for crying out loud!
11:04 AM on 05/29/2012
My parents gave me a list before I left for college. It looked like this:

1. Studying and homework comes first no matter what.
2. When studying and homework are done, don't get arrested.
3. And don't get anyone pregnant.

That was it.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
MarieNat
Lobbyist, wanna make something of it?
10:10 AM on 05/29/2012
Wow. I read this hoping it would dispel some of my prejudices but sadly, though meant to be satirical (I hope) it reminds me of everything that's wrong with sororities, fraternities and every other group that discourages individuality.
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08:59 AM on 05/30/2012
Stupid people will always seek same company, MarieNat. Our daughters attended Friends' colleges, where the "Greek" life is non-existent because on those campuses no group is permitted which practices exclusion in its membership.
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Sean Hobbins
insert witticism
09:30 AM on 05/29/2012
Why on earth is this an article on the HuffPo? This is like a bad chain letter.

A side bonus is the people who come out of the woodworks to defend greek/sorostitute life. Yeah you all joined for the "leadership" I'm sure.
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09:00 AM on 05/30/2012
...and that tired canard about all their charity work, hauled out every time one of them gets caught abusing or killing another pledge.
This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program
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Eric Shin
The Asian Superbrain Redundant I know
09:27 AM on 05/29/2012
You can learn the same lessons by watching reruns of Blossom
05:14 AM on 05/29/2012
Sororities do not belong in college. They encourage stupidity.
09:51 AM on 05/29/2012
I have to disagree with that. I am a sister of Delta Phi Epsilon sorority, and it was the best decision I have made in college. I'm also an Honors student, Honors student assistant, and president of the English major Honors society Sigma Tau Delta. By becoming a sister of DPhiE, I got a chance to meet girls that I probably wouldn't have (if only because of different majors) that have become some of the best friends I have ever had. Also, I've been doing community service since I was 14 as a firefighter, but going Greek has allowed me to do more in different areas. Our philanthropies are the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, and the Delta Phi Epsilon Educational Foundation. By being in a sorority, I am helping raise awareness about diseases that either people don't know much about, or media tries to hide. I feel as if DPhiE is helping me make a difference in ways I wouldn't have thought I could.

Also, we are anti-hazing and do not encourage "stupidity." I know that on my campus, it isn't the sororities causing the problems on the weekends! We pride ourselves on being an example, and we make damn sure to keep to it.
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09:02 AM on 05/30/2012
Please tell us which college you attend so we will all know just how low they obviously set the bar for their 'Honors' programs. ;-)
04:43 PM on 05/31/2012
Also have to disagree. From a real life business standpoint, I learned more about leadership, networking, delegating, teamwork, etc. in my year of being on exec board of pi phi than I did in all four years of classes in college. Our chapter consistently had the highest GPA of any Greek org on campus, and Greeks in general at my school had a higher average GPA than non-Greeks.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Lily P
Sofa King Awesome!
11:22 AM on 07/20/2012
I find it insulting as a Grecian American that people like you consider them self "Greeks". Get over yourself.
02:45 AM on 05/29/2012
I'm a member of a sorority and I find this list AWFUL. You're perpetuating the stereotypes that, as you should be well aware of, all members of greek life work so hard to disprove. I've learned many of the lessons you've listed above, but I strongly believe that these aren't things that are caused by greek life because many college kids find themselves in these situations (believe me, I've witnessed plenty). Instead the things I've gained out of my sorority are things like responsibility, respect for others, leadership...I could go on forever. Instead you're making all the work we do seem like a total joke.
snaggle2th
my micro-bio is empty, just like my life
07:06 AM on 05/29/2012
" I've learned many of the lessons you've listed above..."

Er, doesn't this somewhat PROVE that these aren't entirely sterotypical behaviours?

:-)

(see point 4!)
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
MarcEdward
likes all cats more than most people
09:48 AM on 05/29/2012
There is a reason that "greek life" has a stereotype, and it's because the stereotype is generally true.