Young college men should consider joining a fraternity, a family
Living in a fraternity is certainly a new world for young college men.
Many will be thrown into a stark new reality of doing chores, laundry and washing their own dishes. Though these trivial things are likely to be scoffed at by “independent” students, it’s just as likely they and many others have yet to experience the reality check fraternities are meant to offer.
The stigma of fraternity men and sorority women “buying friends” is applicable to any other student on campus who pays to attend college — unless they have no friends. The difference between the friends one discovers by joining a fraternity and the friends the stigma purveyors have is that fraternity brothers are united by common goals and, more often than not, common problems and struggles. Often observable, these friendships are much stronger and more meaningful than threads of friendships founded during chemistry lab or founded through high-school dramas.
On the flip side, joining a fraternity throws a lot of adversity at college men.
There will always be things that happen, regardless of which path someone takes, that won’t be appreciated much. Not everything goes your way. Fraternity men are certain to not get along with each other all of the time. There will be someone who may not be considered a friend.
Joining a fraternity is likely to make personal space pretty null sometimes, which can be hard to manage. This is okay though, as it encourages finding alternative outlets like the campus and many other places around town.
Besides the everlasting friendships formed in fraternities, perhaps the most important skill learned is how to deal with people. Joining house leadership is the best way to do this, but it can also be done without. Fraternity life isn’t a cakewalk, and a lot of times living and leading in a fraternity is like herding cats. When given enough time, managing forums, interpersonal communication, confidentiality, mediation and general understanding of how people think are all learned. These are very valuable skills sure to be learned, but they — and many others — can all be learned in a fraternity.
Ultimately, the pros and cons of living in a fraternity are in the eyes of the beholder. Being a little more cliché, it is what you make it.
Young college men looking for more friends, fun, meaningfulness, responsibility and experience — both through adversity and not — than their neighbors in dormitories would do well to join a fraternity.
Silas Whitley can be reached at [email protected]