Fraternities do not always provide friendships

The life of an incoming college freshman to college can be lonely. The want to make friends is one of many reasons why young individuals may join a fraternity (interchangeable with sororities in this piece). However, joining a fraternity to make friends is not the most effective way to make friends. Many of the times your frat boys may not be your friends, and such acts can close the door for making other friends.

Frat boys do not always become your friend. The dynamics that arise from peer pressuring an initiative into a negative act can make it hard for a friendship to evolve. For example, if an initiative is required to wear the opposite gender’s clothes, the embarrassment that the initiative feels will be associated with the pledge master. How can a friend be made when there is such friction? And if you are thinking the initiative can say no at any time and find other friends, it is not that easy. How much courage does it take for a young individual to say no to a group, knowing they will be ostracized? Being accepted into a group is the most powerful force in a young man’s life. Failure to achieve this can result in even more embarrassment; all of this stems from the issue that the other frat members may not be your friends.

Another main issue with fraternities is that it may close the door for making other friends. If the aforementioned emotions negatively affect one’s character, and the individual becomes mean or sad all of the time, how easy will it be for them to make friends? Someone would be hard-pressed to say they are better at making friends when they are going through negative phases rather than positive phases.

Of course, some individuals are looking for friends and fraternities work for them. But if you are looking for friends, it is best not to place so much stock in such a group because they may not be your friends, and initiation acts can close the door for making other friends. Remember, this is Nebraska, the state where strangers wave to each other all the time. Making friends does not have to be as hard as frats make it seem.