When is it Time to Leave the New Member Period?

            The new member process is a lengthy time frame that will give you an insight on sorority life. You get to meet new girls who you get to call your sisters. You’ll see why that house became your home away from home. However, within the new member process, a lot of changes can happen. Change can come in the form of lack of communication, not enough time, and sudden disinterest just to name a few. Here is a list on why it would be okay to leave your new member period.

It's giving me a lot of stress/ I have prior commitments that can't be met

No sorority should make a new member feel this way. There may be stressful moments when you have to do new member education but you have prior commitments that you need to meet. Everyone has a life outside Greek, whether you have work, school, or family that you need to tend to, your chapter needs to understand that. They shouldn't tell you that you have to do something that's causing you to miss those prior events. Although new member education may seem important, missing an event is not the end of the world. You need to think if the chapter is worth staying in if it's causing you a lot of stress, late nights worrying, and not being able to meet your prior commitments because of "mandatory events", which are in fact excusable.

No one is reaching out to me

With a medium sized to large sorority chapter, it is impossible to meet every girl in chapter and remember them. This is why active members need to reach out to you and get to know you. They needed to make an effort into making you feel welcomed in the sorority because it's their job to help you ease into Greek life and meet new people. If it's a few weeks into your new member period and you still don't know any active members personally, it's okay to reevaluate your time to the chapter. You shouldn't spend so much money and time on sisters that can't make time to get to know you.

I don't like the image my sorority is portraying

It's understandable if you feel this way because it's almost as if you see their true colors behind all the glitz and glamour of recruitment. One night can make you see the wild side of your sisters and instead of having fun, you’re just turned off by the kind of fun they are having. This is the red flag that’s waving in your head because this shows how much you really don’t want to fit in with your sorority, as bad as that sounds- it happens. If you can’t see yourself being happy with what other sisters are doing, then it’s time to look into other friends who can offer your kind of happiness.

I’m being hazed

Hazing can come both in physically and mentally forms. You will know immediately if you are being hazed if an active member tells you to do something that’s shameful like eating something disgusting. It can also come in a mental memorization form like remembering millions of facts of chapter history. Although you will need to know chapter history in your new member period, learning that much in a short time period with other things to get done can cause you to have a mental breakdown. If you feel at all stressed or embarrassed with how your chapter is treating you, leave immediately or call a hazing hotline. Do not continue with your process with “sisters” treating you terribly.

Being in a sorority may be exciting, but there can be a lot of problems that can occur. Your new member period will be an eye opener for the better or worse. You can decide if sorority or greek life is for you if you find yourself in these type of situations. There is no problem wanting to leave the new member period because it's not making the happy experience you'd thought it would be.