Fraternity Life

http://www.survivingcollege.com

    Going to college can be difficult at times, but also the best times of your life. A decision I am going to have to have to make is whether to join a fraternity. From what I hear, the parties and social life is a lot of fun, but I have also heard it can be distracting. My brother goes to Indiana University and he is in a fraternity. He always tells me I should join one. I have visited him and it was a lot of fun, but that wasn’t going to convince me to join one. I knew there was a lot to think about. I read an article titled “To Pledge or Not to Pledge: Pros and Cons of Frat Life.”  In this article, the author describes some reasons why people should join fraternities and why people shouldn’t. He addresses that fraternity life is well suited for some people and not for others. This article is reliable because there is no bias and gives good facts about fraternity life.

    The article starts off with the pros of joining a fraternity.  In the article, it states “One of the most obvious benefits of fraternities and sororities are the friendships, brother/sisterhoods and connections that come with being a member. The friends that you gain during your time at a fraternity or sorority are usually lifelong and the connections can you give you an advantage over your competition when you enter the job market.” My brother has told me this as well. My brother is always telling stories about his friends at his frat house. When I visit him, I talk to a lot of his friends and they are all very nice to me and funny. The article also states that “When applying for a job, you can put your fraternity on your resume which will help you get the job.Most businesses believe that fraternities produce responsible members of society.” If I join a fraternity, then it could help me in the future. Last advantage the article talks about is housing. The author states that “The greatest advantage of Greek life is the housing, which is often less expensive than the university housing, and allows you to live with people who you have something in common with.” Joining a fraternity could help me save money for housing.

    The author also talks about some negatives of joining a frat. He states that “A disadvantage is the single most publicized aspect of Greek life: partying. To some, the frat and sorority parties are the best part of the deal and, according to a college alcohol study by the Harvard School of Public Health, 4 out of 5 five members of Greek life were binge drinkers.” This is a bad quality of fraternity life. They can sometimes get out of hand with the drinking which could lead to medical problems. He also states that “Another extremely publicized downside of Greek life is hazing. Hazing is a lot more rare in today’s society, due to the many anti-hazing laws that exist in 44 of the 50 states and anti-hazing policies that have been established in many Greek chapters.” My brother has talked about hazing and hazing stories are always coming up on the news every once in awhile. This is a downside to frats. My brother has described the hazing to me and it does not sound fun but he clearly thought it was worth it after it was over. Lastly he states “ In one of these cases reported, a college sophomore at Cornell University ended up in a body bag as a result of hazing. The student, George Desdunes, was tied up and quizzed on fraternity lore and traditions, and for every question he got wrong he was force fed drinks. The next morning George was found on the fraternity house’s coach, and by then he’d already died of alcohol poisoning.” This is the most concerning part about joining a frat for me. There are ways to avoid the extreme amount of drinking. My brothers frat is a non alcohol hazing fraternity.

    These are all things I need to consider when deciding whether to join a fraternity or not.