Tri Sigma Blog The official blog of Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority

In an age of fraternity/sorority members searching for significance, we are really impressed with this blog.

Take a look at what a young woman has done to gently and honestly offer tips on maximizing your sorority experience. She’s kept the advice and information straightforward and simple. She’s not trying to sell books or herself as a speaker, and her authenticity just really works. We encourage you to take a look.

Kayla, the author of The Greek Guide didn’t set out to write a novel, she just posts simple and to the point tips on living a ritual focused life. She’s a member of Theta Phi Alpha at University of Michigan – Flint, a campus where our Theta Beta chapter is! 

And these messages, beyond being so desperately needed and appreciated, are being sent out on social media channels like blogs, twitter, and Pinterest every single day. We noticed that lots of them were purple, and when we saw “To receive much you must give much…” we were intrigued!

These postings are the little reminders, the little whispers that your membership matters. You can see lots of Kayla’s postings on our Pinterest “Friendship, Character, and Conduct” board.  Lots of other pinning organizations, including Alpha Delta Pi and Delta Delta Delta have also pinned her materials. All this from a young woman who wanted to put something positive into the larger fraternity/sorority community.

We reached out to Kayla to find out more about why she started “The Greek Guide”.

Here’s what she had to say.

Like most ideas I have (like my first blog I started back in 2008), it was late one night and I couldn’t fall asleep. I started searching for fraternity/sorority stuff on tumblr and was surprised when I didn’t find anything besides Panhelleniclove that gave advice to people considering going through recruitment. If it wasn’t for my sister (who’s in Alpha Delta Pi) giving me advice and guidance, I never would have considered going through recruitment. A lot of people don’t have someone like that. I wanted to create a place of advice, tips, and guidance for not just potential new members, but also current members. I sometimes forget why I joined Theta Phi Alpha, and working on Greek Guide has helped to remind me, and I hope it helps to remind other people as well.

My experience COMPLETELY shapes Greek Guide. I only write from my personal experiences being in Greek Life, and luckily other peoples’ submissions and input help to round the blog out. The blog isn’t really about me or my experiences even though that’s what makes up most of it. It’s about the Greek community as a whole and everyone’s experiences, advice, and tips.  I really wanted to make greekguide as complete as possible, and knew I had no knowledge of fraternity life, so I asked my friend Logan McGrady of Kappa Sigma Fraternity (the chapter at UMFlint) to provide fraternity posts every now and again.

I think it’s incredibly important to remember why each and every one of us decided to go Greek. Oftentimes people forget when there are so many responsibilities to keep up on and things just get overwhelming. I went Greek because I loved what Greek Life stood for:the values that were being upheld and the leadership constantly occurring. I don’t think outsiders realize that Greek Life isn’t about parties, so I guess in a way Greek Guide is also trying to show to them how much more there is to being Greek.

I honestly had no idea people on pinterest are using Greek Guide posts and when I found out I was shocked. I had no idea this would go anywhere beyond a few followers. My only goal was to show a few reluctant people that they should give Greek Life a shot and go through recruitment. I had no clue I’d just such amazing feedback.

5. What has surprised you about The Greek Guide? The number of followers? The types of tips you get?

What surprised me the most about Greek Guide is also my favorite part about it. I never imagined people would send me questions regarding Greek Life, honestly interested in my opinion and thoughts. Every time I get a question in my inbox I feel so incredibly flattered that someone out there wants to know what I think. Creating Greek Guide was just a silly idea of many, so the fact that I now play a very small role in shaping opinions of Greek Life online, continues to shock and humble me.

Sidenote:
Kayla has started to make videos about her Greek Life experience as well. She figured this would be a good addition to the site because it puts a face to Greek Guide —  that will keep it from feeling like randomly generated posts without emotion behind them. We love this idea. A quick conversation with friends/followers about why you joined is always a good idea. You can check them out where you find her insights! Thanks, Kayla!