The time has come again for CSUN’s clustered billboards and t-shirts with over a thousand guys and gals representing their houses loud and proud in their new bid day gear.

Yes, my friends, recruitment has come and gone and each house has been filled with its fair share of new members to represent the future of Greek life at CSUN.

But along with all of the new members comes the rolling of the eyes and the judgment from those who have decided to agree with the preconceived notion of what sorority and fraternity life actually means.

I will never forget the first time I told someone that I was part of a sorority.

They looked at me like I was insane and said, “Ew, why would you do that? I could never see you as the type of girl that would be involved in that kind of stuff.”

Talking to my fellow Greek members, the question of why we would do “this kind of stuff” seems to come into play more often than not. But to those of you who question it, what does stuff actually mean to you?

“Stuff” to me means that I participate in events that raise money for different charities across the U.S.

“Stuff” to me means that I get to be a part of a sisterhood that has my back no matter what the occasion.

“Stuff” to me means that the ridiculous number of students we have here gets to feel just a little smaller with my fellow Greeks.

“Stuff” to me means that I get to enjoy this next year with my sisters, welcome in the new members and show them how magical it is to be a part of our house.

Now, I am not oblivious to the fact that in the past year CSUN Greek life has been the center of a large amount of controversy. With hazing incidents coming to the surface, fighting the stigma of what we people see on TV is incredibly difficult.

Yes, we have parties, and yes we have events that look a lot like your high school homecoming but if you want to tell me that I pay for my friends then that’s fine, because that just means that they pay for me too and that I don’t come cheap.

And trust me when I say, the relationships you form and the positive experiences that you have are well worth their weight in dollar bills.

Do not let the mistakes of a few cloud your judgment of the many. We provide a home away from home for those that feel they have no place to go. We contribute to the community through philanthropies and fundraising. But most importantly we create bonds and ties that take us through the rest of our years.

Now, I might be slightly biased but I think that sounds like a pretty great thing to be a part of.

So the next time you want to roll your eyes at someone wearing their house’s letters around campus, think about why they wear them and what it is that they’re proud to represent. You might realize that those letters are actually a lot cooler than you originally thought.

You never know, maybe by the time the next recruitment comes, you’ll be signing up to see what Greek life is all about.