Occupation of a residential property where undergraduate members live, i.e., they have a residence where members live
A set of complex identification symbols that can include Greek letters, heroic achievements, ciphers, emblems, footprints, hand signs, passwords, flowers, and colors.

If you dream of studying in an American college, you may already have thought about joining such a fraternity or sisterhood. However, here I give you a different model of fraternity, a different vision that I only discovered after I started studying in the USA.

I have been doing marketing in Florida for a year and I wanted to say that this is my vision and experience with fraternities. I have friends who are in them and love it, so don’t take it all literally.

So let’s go to the 10 reasons why I didn’t join and will not join one of these fraternities in the US.

  1. Price
    Did you know that you have to pay an annual, semester or monthly fee to be in one? Yes! Besides the college tuition, your dormitory, food, books, cost of living in the American college, you will also have to pay one more fee on top of all that. I don’t know why, but I think the people who donated to my cow wouldn’t like very much to know that I was spending their money to join a fraternity.
  2. My college
    My college is the second largest Catholic college in the United States. So I don’t even have to say that their view of brotherhood is super different from the American stereotype. Yes, there are several in college, but they are much more reserved and less publicized. So I didn’t have a very big incentive to participate.
  3. Pay to have friends
    That’s basically it. You pay a fee to be part of a group of people who have also paid to be part of that group. You don’t choose them, you are the chosen one. I was able to find amazing people much more like me on the internet or at events and conferences I went there. Which, by the way, are countless.
  4. Negative behavior
    Fraternities are known for their negative behavior. People who like to go out, party, drink and don’t care much about their future. That brings me to my fifth point.
  5. Rule of 5 friends
    There is a rule that says that you are the average of 5 people you live together. This is very true for me. And I believe that the person I want to be is not the average of the 5 people that I have with me in one of these fraternities in the USA, you know? And then, by the logic, it’s better I choose well with whom I connect and relate.
  6. Time
    Who knows me knows my routine. I am in an accelerated and advanced program in college. Besides taking more classes than anyone else, I still have scholarships. These things make me get very high grades, besides having the best job in college and a lot of other activities. It’s hard enough to find time for myself or my family… Imagine for a fraternity!
  7. Drinks
    The fraternities are known for having parties with many drinks. And in the USA, for those who don’t know, the minimum age to drink legally is 21. In other words, many people consume alcoholic beverages illegally there. And I have a giant fear of being deported, so I’d rather stay away!
  8. Entry process
    As is shown in the movies, in many fraternities there is a long, arduous, and humiliating process for those who want to join a fraternity. This can include cleaning houses after-parties, depriving oneself of sleep, intoxications, and even sexual simulations with objects. Needless to say, I don’t want to or need to go through that, right?
  9. Principles: One more thing to take into consideration is that when you enter a fraternity, you must obey the house rules. In other words, you need to do everything that everyone tells you. You need to “fit in” that is, change your personality to fit in with the objectives of the organization.
  10. Ambition: I have very big life ambitions and very different from many teenagers. Therefore, I need to do different things and give up many things. If I have giant ambitions, my actions need to match. And honestly, being in a fraternity would not be the best choice.

Yes, I know I have very contradictory points and maybe different from what you’re used to seeing around. However, only I know how hard it was to get to where I am today and I also know that I will not give up this opportunity.

Maybe there are people who come and say that I am only saying this because I didn’t get into one of those fraternities in the US or because my college has no good fraternities.

But the truth is that I’m just bringing a different vision of who is living this in an American college. I still want to bring my friends, Brazilians, who are in an American fraternity, and who love this experience, to rebut every one of my points!