I JUST PREFFED

Growing up, I always heard varying opinions about Greek life. And, by "Greek life," I mean social organizations at upper level institutions, not the every day going-ons of Grecian peoples.

From some I heard that joining a sorority or fraternity was one of the best decisions they made when going to college. From others I received advice that the whole establishment was just "paying for friends." From pop culture, I got a message loud and clear that Greek life = getting trashed with a tight-knit group of people that you would be friends with forever. I didn't really have my own opinions about it; I'm not sure what I would have done if I had gone to a secular university, pertaining to Greek life.

However, I'm a student as Mississippi College; I've been blessed to go to an institution that serves the Lord and seeks to glorify Him in every aspect of campus, including social organizations.

Pause for a moment. I believe that Christians can grow and flourish at secular universities, to be clear. They can do great things for Christ in regular non-Christian Greek life. I'm not saying secular sororities and fraternities are of Satan or just party groups at all! Labeling something as Christian does not always mean it's good or better or perfect; sin is everywhere, even in the Church. I'm just trying to paint a picture of what Mississippi College offers and why I think it's unique.

At MC, Greek life is referred to as "clubs" for boys (fraternities) and "tribes" for girls (sororities). There are 4 tribes to choose from for girls: Kissimmee, Laguna, Swannanoa, and Nenamoosha (simplified to KT, ST, LT, and NT.) Each one seeks to honor God through a sisterhood in Christ.

Each one has a theme verse or idea and a philanthropy (mission). KT, for example, has the verses 1 Peter 3:3-4 with the belief of being beautiful in Christ rather than seeming to be beautiful. NT is about having a sisterhood founded on love. ST wants to serve each other and Christ rather than be served.  LT seeks to serve each other and provide opportunities for growth and diversity.

Each one works with a different mission - there's "Mustard Seed" which works to meet the needs of the developmentally disabled, "We Will Go" which seeks to serve Jackson in a variety of ways, and many more.

Regardless of different mission affiliation or theme verses, each one is a sisterhood in Christ that seeks to grow each other and His glory.

Today is Pref Day, where we submit our preferences for what Tribe we want to join. The past week has been general rush where we've attending parties and skits put on by each tribe. Tomorrow is Squeal Day, where we go on a scavenger hunt mission to find out which Tribe we were put in.

The way "Preffing" works is really unique, I think. You fill out a card with the tribes in the order of which one you would prefer and then you place it in a big box. Then, Hunger Games style, one card out of all the cards of the girls who are rushing is pulled out at a time. You are then placed in your first choice. However, each tribe only has a certain number of spots so you might not get your first or second or even third choice.

Here's the thing though: it doesn't matter. 

Because, at the end of the day, all of them are great. When I heard this coming in I was like "yeah, okay, you have to say that," but it's true. All the tribes love the other tribes. All of the girls in the tribes love and respect one another. All of them have the goal of serving Christ. Where you end up is pretty much in God's control. You will end up in the tribe you're supposed to. You might be wearing a different color T-shirt than you wanted originally, but you get over it because each tribe is amazing.

So I just preffed and I literally had no idea what order to list the tribes. There's only four, after all, but I had no clue. I could see myself in any of them. I had to take a picture of my card sheet so I would remember what I wrote down because it was just random.

Either way, I just signed my soul away for the next 6 weeks of Rush. I cannot wait to see where I end up, who my "Big" is, the opportunities I receive, the friendships I make, and how God is going to use being a part of X tribe in my life.

Because no matter where I end up, it's going to be a blast.

We should make all our decisions like this. ;)

I'll let you know what happens, party people. Have a great weekend.



http://nenamoosha.weebly.com
http://lagunasocialtribe.wordpress.com
http://swannanoa.weebly.com
https://sites.google.com/a/mc.edu/kissimee-social-tribe/home

http://www.mustardseedinc.org
http://www.wewillgo.org/main.html