To a lot of students, nothing can seem more frightening than coming to college, being hundreds or even thousands of miles from home, and having to be on your own for the very first time. For me, this was certainly the case. I didn’t know what college was going to be like, especially at a large university like USC.
When I arrived on campus, I decided I would try out greek life to see if it was a good fit for me. Like the college environment itself, greek life was entirely new to me, other than having seen the exaggerated movie portrayals like “Animal House”. Actually being a part of it, however, I realized greek life was, in fact, nothing like that. Fraternities and sororities are about friendship and academics, stressing both the social bond of its members and the studious aspect of achieving good grades. Greek life provided a great opportunity for me because it made USC a smaller community. I immediately had a group of friends with whom I did everything from tailgating to philanthropy events.
Some of the events the fraternity holds are structured, and some are not, but they always provide a great time and a chance to build brotherhood among the members of the fraternity. Some examples of events include weekender trips (when students go up to either Cal or Stanford to watch the away football game), camping trips, and even bungee jumping trips.
Another thing we never lose sight of is our goal to enrich the lives of those around us, and to hold philanthropy events to benefit the community. Last year the fraternity organized a concert for the entire student body, and the proceeds went to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.
Whenever I have free time, I try to spend it at the house, because I know that the people who I’m surrounded with are my best friends. Tau Kappa Epsilon made USC smaller for me, which I believe is necessary when attending a large university. For some, a fraternity or a sorority might not be the right fit, but what’s great about USC is that there’s truly something for everybody, and the friendships formed here will certainly last a lifetime.
