Undoubtedly, entering into college is a somewhat new experience for the students. They deal with the prospect of the new environment and the new people. This particular phase of people’s lives can be difficult for them as they face the challenge of adjusting to the new and different paradigms of life. The particular feature of Greek life can provide necessary assistance to the students to easily and happily adjust to the changing pattern of their lives. Joining Greek life is known as the most effective way to easily adjust to college. It can be characterized as the two major aspects of sorority and fraternity (Rojas). It is notable to mention that there are also some dark aspects related to the concept of Greek life. These particular features depicted by media make it a controversial topic as many people believe that the hazing features of Greek life make it dangerous, so it should be avoided. Here, the focus is to critically examine all the positive and negative aspects related to the concept of Greek life and make inferences about the application of Greek life in college.
Greek life comes up with different perspectives which need to be discussed to make inferences about the actual prospect of Greek life. There the plenty of observations that indicate that Greek life can be the source of a successful life as it gives different life experiences to students. There is the existence of many aspects that can be the reason for the successful person not only in the phase of the studies but the rest of the life. Three successful US presidents can be considered successful examples of Greek life as they were members of Greek life in the form of fraternity (Glass). There are some features that can be considered as an example of the positive impact of Greek life on the students.
It is evident that Greek life provides academic assistance to the members who positively impact their educational journey as students. The effective level of involvement concerning the community and adequate form of networking are the other features that can be considered as the positive influence of Greek life on the lives of students. It is crucial to understand that Greek life is not just about the part culture of fraternities and sororities, but it can also appear as a form of necessary educational help to all the members of the Greek family (Camera). Different group study sessions and teaching practices are also influential factors in Greek culture. These particular paradigms can be helpful in developing an effective educational regime for students. Greek life provides the opportunity to work and study together for a better future. Students become able to interact with each other to attain a better understanding of knowledge. Different educational programs of Greek life encourage students to regularly visit the library every week to remain an active member of the Greek family. Another crucial feature that needs to be mentioned in the case of Greek life is that it comes up with the particular academic criteria to become part of Greek life. There is the requirement of certain educational grades or Grade Point Average (GPA) to sustain a strong position in the overall paradigm of Greek life. A good academic approach for college students is the ultimate aim of Greek life, irrespective of the paradigms of sorority or fraternity. All the Greek members came up with the approach to assist students as much as they could in enhancing their educational perspective. The particular prospect of Greek life is formulated to ensure a better future for all the students by giving them effective educational assistance.
The feature of Greek life has positive implications on the students’ lives as it encourages them to work hard to become members of the features of sorority or fraternity. Another positive related to the concept of Greek life is that it gives the sense of belongings to all its members. All the members of the Greek family are closely associated with each other as they take it as the one true dimension of the home. The broader concept of the Greek family is considered as the home away from home. All the members of the Greek family initiate different ideas to give a sense of belonging to every member of this particular family. Members formulate their relationship with each other as brothers and sisters and share their stuff with each other. It is one of the particular features of the Greek family that it creates the bond between all the members as they start considering each other as the family members and they behave as one family.
This particular aspect can be immensely effective for those students who live far from their parents and families. It is a reality that all college students are somehow going through with the feeling of homesickness if they are away from their families. At this particular time, they get emotional aid from the members of the Greek family as they consider each other as brothers and sisters. Another positive impact of Greek life can be characterized as it helps the students to effectively engage with the community and the campus. It initiates different programs of collaboration and gets to gather, which motivates students to get engaged with the different activities on campus. It is observed that students who are members of the Greek family have complete information regarding the different organizational events on campus. Greek family members also actively take part in the different social activities that happen in the community.
They perform different sorts of social work to play a positive role in the overall development of the community. Essential networking is another feature of the Greek family that establishes its positive role. It helps people to formulate their careers in their respective fields. Greek family ensures a positive connection to the fraternity or sorority, which helps to access the different career opportunities. It also provides the necessary elements to find a good job according to needs and specific competencies.
It is crucial to provide a necessary indication of the negative aspects associated with Greek life. Proper identification of the negative features of Greek life can be helpful to make the necessary inferences about the effectiveness of this particular paradigm. The one prominent negative aspect related to Greek life is that it is considered an expensive feature for the students. Students have an immense level of craze to become a member of the Greek family, but it can be immensely costly for them. It demands a high amount of investment to become a member of the Greek family. There is the possibility that the membership fees might be the highest amount of budget amount for college students. Different forms of the cost associated with the overall facet of the Greek family enhance the total expenses of the campus.
Hazing is another negative feature that is associated with the paradigm of a Greek family. Many people build their argument against the Greek culture that it only encourages the negative feature of hazing among students. Many new members of the Greek family have to go through different sorts of emotional, physical, and psychological hurdles to meet the standards of the Greek family formulated by different old fraternity and sorority members (“Join a Fraternity or Sorority: The Real Pros and Cons of Greek Life”). Joining Greek organizations is undoubtedly not an easy task for the new members. Different plagues of hazing are performed in many colleges in the name of fun and enjoyment. It is tragic to mention that many students lost their lives to the prevailing hazing concept in Greek organizations. It is notable to mention that all the new member activities cannot be characterized as hazing activities, but there is evidence of the feature of hazing in the case of a Greek family. Sometimes it is asked the new members to perform the pointless tasks which do not have any meaning or implication. Sometimes these activities are becoming the source of harming new members.
The effective approach of the Greek family can only be achieved if it comes up with positive implications for all its members. Proper implementation of the facet of the Greek family helps to avoid the negative features associated with the concept of a Greek family. It is crucial to consider that the feature of hazing can be avoided in the case of a Greek family if all the members are treated equally with a positive approach. Different positive features of the Greek family also encourage its development in the college. It can be an effective source of energy and proper direction for students who are clueless about their academic and professional careers. The prospect of a Greek family is also effective as it is a great source of developing different leadership qualities in its members. It provides necessary assistance to the members concerning working in groups for a particular aim. It encourages students to work hard to achieve their academic goals.
Work Cited
Camera, Lauren. “Is Greek Life Worth Saving?” Usnews.Com, 4 Dec. 2017, https://www.usnews.com/news/education-news/articles/2017-12-04/is-greek-life-worth-saving.
Glass, Nicole. “Examining the Benefits of Greek Life.” USA Today College, 8 May 2012, http://college.usatoday.com/2012/05/08/examining-the-benefits-of-greek-life/.
“Join a Fraternity or Sorority: The Real Pros and Cons of Greek Life.” The Best Schools, 2018, https://thebestschools.org/features/joining-a-fraternity-or-sorority-real-pros-and-cons-of-greek-life/.
Rojas, Rick. “Fraternities and Sororities.” The New York Times, 8 Jan. 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/topic/subject/fraternities-and-sororities.
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