I’m going to be completely honest: 99% of the time, life in the top tier is not as fun as it looks.
When I was in high school, I was never one of the “cool kids”. I wore the right clothes and did the right activities and drove the right car, and the cool kids were perfectly friendly towards me, but I was never really one of them. As much as I loved my friends, I was pretty jealous of the cool crowd, because they always looked like they were having more fun than my friends and I were.
I went off to college, and it was pretty much the same thing all over again. I went through rush, got dropped by all of the top tier houses, and ended up joining a bottom tier house. Like you, I loved my sisters, just as I’d loved my high school friends, but I couldn’t help but be a little jealous of the girls in the top houses. They just got so many awesome social opportunities that we didn’t, and at least on Facebook and Instagram, their stuff all looked so fun!
Then, a miracle happened. I started going out with one of the best looking guys in one of the top tier fraternities. He was wonderful! He was crazy about me! And thanks to him, I got to go to all of the best parties, and hang out with all of the people who’d always looked like so much fun! It was the greatest thing ever…except that it kind of wasn’t really.
It’s not that the people were snotty jerks, because they totally weren’t…or at least, most of them weren’t. Lots of them were really nice. But on the whole, they were also pretty boring. I can’t really put my finger on anything that was “wrong” with them, but it certainly didn’t seem like anyone was having that great of a time, either. The majority of the guys had zero personality, and the girls spent more time taking pictures of themselves having fun than actually doing anything fun. I’m sure everyone on the outside thought I was having an amazing time, and don’t get me wrong, it was nice to be viewed as one of the “cool people”, but it really wasn’t as fun as it looked.
I hate to break it to you, Hot Piece, but you’re still basic. So am I. It’s okay.
Look, I’ve done a lot with my life so far. I was an engineering major. I kept my grades up while staying active in my sorority. I got into a top grad program. I’m happily married to a wonderful, loving, successful man. Multiple people have called me an inspiration, and one or two have credited me with changing their lives. All and all, I think I’m pretty great.
At the same time, I’m not exactly Marie Curie. Yeah, I’m awesome, but most of the people I know are pretty awesome. In the grand scheme of things, I’m still pretty basic. And that’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with admitting that even though you are a special, wonderful, unique snowflake, there’s a whole blizzard out there that’s made up of lots of other awesome snowflakes (which you did acknowledge in the column).
I’m basic. There are thousands of other girls out there who are basically just like me. There are thousands more who are honestly way more accomplished than I’ll ever be. That’s not something to deny. That’s something to be thrilled about. If I’m “basic”, it means our society is headed in the right direction!
I get where you’re coming from. I definitely do see people who epitomize the stereotype, and I understand the temptation to “fill in the blanks” from there regarding what type of person they are. However, when you do that, you’re ignoring a huge part of who that person is.
I mean, especially during the first part of my undergrad career, I totally looked like the stereotype on the outside. I wore Norts and excessive amounts of neon on an almost daily basis. My closet was nothing but Lilly, Vineyard Vines, shack shirts, and Norts. I monogrammed EVERYTHING. I got blackout drunk on a very regular basis, and occasionally danced on tables while blackout. I was no stranger to the public makeout session. I’m sure that to plenty of people, I was a walking caricature of a “sorority girl”.
At the same time, I was a virgin who believed in saving sex for marriage, I had a 4.0 GPA, I was extremely active with political groups on campus, and I studied structural engineering for the fun of it. Yes, I liked chugging cheap vodka and dancing on tables, but there was way more to me than just that. There’s also probably way more to those girls who you’re talking about than shacking up and free drinks. And I feel like that’s what this article was saying–it wasn’t saying that no sorority girls do that, or that the author is better than the ones who do. It was saying that we aren’t two dimensional caricatures.
I’m pretty sure she made no references to her sex life or her tendency to gossip here, so I’m not sure how you even reached that conclusion. Besides, different strokes for different folks. I’ve seen every type of girl (and guy) find love.
I’m going to be completely honest: 99% of the time, life in the top tier is not as fun as it looks.
When I was in high school, I was never one of the “cool kids”. I wore the right clothes and did the right activities and drove the right car, and the cool kids were perfectly friendly towards me, but I was never really one of them. As much as I loved my friends, I was pretty jealous of the cool crowd, because they always looked like they were having more fun than my friends and I were.
I went off to college, and it was pretty much the same thing all over again. I went through rush, got dropped by all of the top tier houses, and ended up joining a bottom tier house. Like you, I loved my sisters, just as I’d loved my high school friends, but I couldn’t help but be a little jealous of the girls in the top houses. They just got so many awesome social opportunities that we didn’t, and at least on Facebook and Instagram, their stuff all looked so fun!
Then, a miracle happened. I started going out with one of the best looking guys in one of the top tier fraternities. He was wonderful! He was crazy about me! And thanks to him, I got to go to all of the best parties, and hang out with all of the people who’d always looked like so much fun! It was the greatest thing ever…except that it kind of wasn’t really.
It’s not that the people were snotty jerks, because they totally weren’t…or at least, most of them weren’t. Lots of them were really nice. But on the whole, they were also pretty boring. I can’t really put my finger on anything that was “wrong” with them, but it certainly didn’t seem like anyone was having that great of a time, either. The majority of the guys had zero personality, and the girls spent more time taking pictures of themselves having fun than actually doing anything fun. I’m sure everyone on the outside thought I was having an amazing time, and don’t get me wrong, it was nice to be viewed as one of the “cool people”, but it really wasn’t as fun as it looked.
I absolutely loved that! Thanks for sharing!
I hate to break it to you, Hot Piece, but you’re still basic. So am I. It’s okay.
Look, I’ve done a lot with my life so far. I was an engineering major. I kept my grades up while staying active in my sorority. I got into a top grad program. I’m happily married to a wonderful, loving, successful man. Multiple people have called me an inspiration, and one or two have credited me with changing their lives. All and all, I think I’m pretty great.
At the same time, I’m not exactly Marie Curie. Yeah, I’m awesome, but most of the people I know are pretty awesome. In the grand scheme of things, I’m still pretty basic. And that’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with admitting that even though you are a special, wonderful, unique snowflake, there’s a whole blizzard out there that’s made up of lots of other awesome snowflakes (which you did acknowledge in the column).
I’m basic. There are thousands of other girls out there who are basically just like me. There are thousands more who are honestly way more accomplished than I’ll ever be. That’s not something to deny. That’s something to be thrilled about. If I’m “basic”, it means our society is headed in the right direction!
I get where you’re coming from. I definitely do see people who epitomize the stereotype, and I understand the temptation to “fill in the blanks” from there regarding what type of person they are. However, when you do that, you’re ignoring a huge part of who that person is.
I mean, especially during the first part of my undergrad career, I totally looked like the stereotype on the outside. I wore Norts and excessive amounts of neon on an almost daily basis. My closet was nothing but Lilly, Vineyard Vines, shack shirts, and Norts. I monogrammed EVERYTHING. I got blackout drunk on a very regular basis, and occasionally danced on tables while blackout. I was no stranger to the public makeout session. I’m sure that to plenty of people, I was a walking caricature of a “sorority girl”.
At the same time, I was a virgin who believed in saving sex for marriage, I had a 4.0 GPA, I was extremely active with political groups on campus, and I studied structural engineering for the fun of it. Yes, I liked chugging cheap vodka and dancing on tables, but there was way more to me than just that. There’s also probably way more to those girls who you’re talking about than shacking up and free drinks. And I feel like that’s what this article was saying–it wasn’t saying that no sorority girls do that, or that the author is better than the ones who do. It was saying that we aren’t two dimensional caricatures.
I’m pretty sure she made no references to her sex life or her tendency to gossip here, so I’m not sure how you even reached that conclusion. Besides, different strokes for different folks. I’ve seen every type of girl (and guy) find love.