Sitting at a fraternity party where you feel like the only non-Greek person is one of the strangest and yet most entertaining things I’ve experienced while at college.

From the outside, Greek life is an amalgamation of t-shirts, parties, brother and sisterhood, nice houses and a little bit of philanthropy thrown in for good measure.

It took two years, a few house parties and a girl who turned out to be my best friend to figure out that yes, living the Greek life may be exclusive and seem like just a way to swipe a MasterCard and receive friends in return, but there’s one vital piece of information missing that everyone seems to forget: they are just like the students, brothers, sisters and friends that the rest of us have.

My very best friend, the one that I can watch bad TV with, tell all my secrets to and sing “Boom Clap” with at the top of my lungs, is in a sorority. She’s very active within her sorority and loves her sisters like they were her actual sisters. And here’s a fun fact for you: she’s not a robot. She has self-respect, she speaks her own opinions and even though she may enjoy wearing a large Comfort Colors t-shirt, she knows that there is clothing that exists outside giant t-shirts and Nike shorts.

I was friends with her before she joined a sorority, and I am still friends with her. Through her, I’ve met her sorority sisters that are also not robots and fraternity guys that think about more than getting in bed with the next girl that walks by. Her being in a sorority has changed her for the better and me knowing her as a “sorority girl” has made me a better person as well.

All too often we judge people and situations from the very edges of their circle. We form our opinions on our “one-time-this-sorority-girl-said-something-stupid” stories and write off all of them as stupid, arrogant and not someone that could ever be our friend.

What my small peek behind the Greek life curtain has shown me is that fraternity and sorority members are proud, intelligent and caring people that do have a life outside of their organization. Don’t judge the masses by the few; take some time to actually get them for who they are and not the letters they wear across their chests.