because baby big aka is expensive expensive [Music] hi guys welcome back to my channel i'm arielle sharday if you're new here make sure you like and subscribe so you can stay in tune with the bad gang purr so if you clicked on this video obviously you're interested in joining a sorority or a fraternity on the graduate level and baby i'm here to spell the t because when i crossed five years ago there were no resources like this on youtube it was no one really smelling to see and telling you exactly what you have to do to join and of course joining an organization on the graduate level there's no linear route to doing that but i hope you can take the tips that i'm going to tell you today to get into your dream organization so let's get started hey guys so i have my list below to just keep me on track but i'm just gonna try to give it to you raw because that's the best way i know how to do it okay number one research if you're at the point where you're trying to join a graduate chapter you pretty much already know what organization that you're into maybe in college you can join because either you weren't chosen at the time maybe you didn't have the money maybe they were off the yard at the time it's several reasons why you didn't pledge an undergrad but now you're ready you're more mature you're out of school you maybe have a little bit more points to spend because lord knows and i'm going to touch on that graduate chapter is not cheap please don't go into the inspection thinking oh yeah i'm just going to get in and that's going to be that staying active and financial and actually living the principles that your founders your potential founders i should say lived by it costs money it costs points okay the most important thing that you have to remember that on the graduate level this is a business it's completely different than undergrad i'm going to say that again please don't go into graduate chapter thinking that you're going to relive your undergrad fantasies and i'm telling you that as somebody who crossed that 25 who is extremely young or i'm not even going to say extremely young but what's considered young for a graduate store right you cannot relive that time you have already graduated college you've matriculated onto adulthood you're past that time so please again get it through your head because a lot of people were disappointed i can be transparent i was disappointed it's nothing like undergrad you need to understand that graduate chapter is a business it is the business of x y z organization and you are helping to perpetuate that so after you understand that and you still would like to pursue the chapter of your choice or the organization of your choice next thing that you want to do is research the specific requirements for graduate and take membership of said organization you can do this by going to the national website of stud organization so for example on mine of course you have to have a four-year degree to be considered a graduate member so you have your four-year degree you have to have a certain gpa requirement um you have to have a certain community service requirement there were several different things that you needed to be considered for membership so you want to go on the corporate website and jot down all those things literally do it like a checklist guys go down the list and say yes i have the degree i have the community service i have the gpa once you know that you fit the minimum requirements the next step is getting to know that chapter luckily in this day and age in 2022 most of all of the chapters that you're interested in um excuse me well yeah the chapters because there's several different chapters in your city unless you're in a small town most of those chapters will have a website and on that website under the events tab they'll list all the public events that you can attend guys this is where you need to get to work okay especially now being in a pandemic is so much easier because everything is virtual you can go to these events and get to know the members now when i crossed five years ago everything was in person and i was actually physically going to the events getting to know the members they would always see my face guys i was always around to the point that when the line was actually coming out two members came up to me and said hey we see you at everything we just want to make sure you're good because we are having a line coming out and you have to be on it that's how much facial recognition that you want to have within your respective potential organization the members need to know you they need to know your face they need to know that you're about business and they need to know that you're ready to put in the work because nobody wants to bring in a t-shirt where guys nobody wants to just like put their name because you are literally putting your name on the line for your candidate when you're bringing them in and if you're getting to know somebody and wanting them to sponsor you you don't want to be a dead you don't want to be lazy you don't want to be somebody that they regret bringing in so make sure that this is all to anyone that you're showing your face you're at the events you're getting to know the members or if you're still in a virtual environment that you're going to all the virtual events you're speaking you're raising your hand to speak on the events and you're just getting to know the members that's really the simplest and easiest part make genuine connections with the members let them know you let them recognize your face let them remember your name let them say hey well ariel i know her because she's always at our community service events she's always helping us clean up the park she's always helping us pack backpacks she brought soap to the sorority house to help with our fundraiser all types of things like that okay that's how you get the members to make these genuine bonds with you now let me give y'all a jump because baby i'm not even going to say who raised y'all because i'm first generation i didn't know a lot of these things and i was actually very thirsty as well so i get it but now that i know and i'm on the other side i'm telling you what not to do what not to do is to not know somebody at all and write them on social media saying hey arielle i heard that your chapter was having a line and i would like to go out to coffee to get to know you guys that's weird don't do that don't do that that's just like for example somebody you don't know saying hey i want to go pick your kid up from school tomorrow is that cool like isn't that weird if you don't know somebody to do something that personal why are you messaging them on social media asking them to bring you in their organization that they fought blood sweat and tears for when they don't know you it's weird guys don't do that and see this is my thing you wouldn't have to be dming members if you were showing your face and people knew you they will already know you i was extremely familiar with the women who are interested in joining my sorority because they came to everything and that's another thing that you guys have to remember just by showing your face at our events you're showing your interest even if you're a little bit shy to talk to people just by being there we know that you're interested a lot of times we have assignment sheets to our event so we know who's coming to the events we know you're interested it's going to be up to you to force these genuine relationships with the members okay so that's step one get to know us okay so the next thing that you want to make sure at some point is your service resume if you're ever so lucky to get invited to join these organizations or to attend a rush for one of these organizations you want to make sure that your credentials are on point you want to have lots of service on your background you have to keep in mind at the end of the day these organizations are service based and that's what we stand on so you want to make sure that you have a strong resume with that um at the time that i pledged i was the lead of the atlanta young professionals organization i volunteered and did community service with the chapter i did community service with united way i was also helping out with girl scouts i had a multifaceted service background so on my application i was able to list all those things and i had so many things to list that i had to attach an additional paper to my resume and application so you want to seem like you're that girl or that guy when it comes to service like you want to be on point because to me i feel like um if you go through a candidate's pocket and they just have like maybe one service thing it's just like okay did you just do this to join the organization or is this really in your heart so you want to make sure that your service is on point so if you're thinking about joining a chapter and you maybe don't have any type of service background look into some local things that you can do some local soup kitchens or any type of thing like girl scouts like i mentioned junior league something that you can volunteer with so you can have that background on your resume okay so i definitely want to really quickly put out this disclaimer some people go to events for years and never get invited to join that's just life that doesn't mean that you will never be a part of the organization maybe now it's just not your time so keep that in mind like i said earlier this advice is not linear some people are going to get in that you have never ever seen at an event one time just because they know somebody okay that's just the reality but if you don't know anyone hopefully you can take these tips and build a genuine relationship with someone to get invited for membership so that's my disclaimer moving on okay next you want to make sure that your reputation is on point once again you're either going to go to a rush where it's going to be over 2000 women there or men and you have to get chosen or if you go to an informational what people hear about you and what they think about you especially on the graduate level is everything people think just because it's the graduate level everybody gets in that's not true there are things that can be said or rumors that can be started that can stop you from giving an invitation to membership so you want to make sure in your everyday life that you appear to be a good prudent responsible person we're adults and of course no one can tell us what to do but when you're trying to pledge these prestigious organizations you want to make sure that you're on point especially on social media it's so funny because um when i got to the point where i knew i would probably be receiving an invitation my line sisters and i my well they weren't my life sisters yet but they were going to be for sure and i knew it in my heart but what we did is we all went on each other's instagram and facebook and we just like went through it picture by picture and we're like delete that hide that hide that delete that because some of these organizations will actually go on your social media and try to figure out who you are matter of fact on the application they asked you for like your linkedin your instagram etc do you really want to have a booty out picture and a thong while these people are going through your resume and you can have all of this accomplished or all these accomplishments you can be a doctor you can be a lawyer whatever and that one booty picture is gonna have people looking at you sideways when they don't even know you you have to keep in mind that your social media presence is everything especially when you're trying to join these organizations so it's very key to just have just a classy presentable relatable friendly open social media and girl or boy i'ma just give y'all a pro tip put your social media on private just put it on private if you don't want to delete those pictures or hide them until the process is over go on private so nobody can look at your stuff but if you do have a public presence make sure it's on point okay make sure when people google you that good things are coming up um of course you know you can't have any type of um record trying to join these organizations you do have to have a clean record so if you do have something like that that was not expunged unfortunately you will not be offered membership until that is cleared however um as far as social media guys just make sure you're on point um don't post anything that you wouldn't want your parent or someone to see that was important to you because unfortunately or maybe fortunately these organizations do check your social media okay guys also you need to know your why so you know that all of your life you wanted to be an aka or whatever else but why what is your why what are you going to bring to the organization why do you feel that being a member will enrich your life what are you going to do to enrich the ideas and goals of the organization you always need to have your why in your head because i think a lot of times well at least i know for me and what a lot of other people do they're gonna ask you when they notice you're coming around so why are you interested in my organization and it can't be oh because my favorite color is pink and green because girl what no don't ever say that please don't ever say that have your reason i would like to be a member of xyz because and i feel that i would bring this because and when somebody is going to hit you with a rebuttal and say well we already have that we already have the people who are doing service we already have the people who are putting on programs what extra are you going to bring guys be prepared i'm telling you when you get those tough questions especially if you have to go through an interview round in a rush or just even people who may potentially sponsor you for the interest meeting ask you these questions you want to make sure that you have very clear concise honest and humble answers to these questions okay we don't need i mean just what i said we have all of those things so what are you bringing extra to the organization have that in your head that needs to be your why your reason that we should offer you membership in the first place okay babes let's get into some cons because with any greek organization you have to take the bitter with the sweet if you know you know and if you don't i hope you'll be able to find out soon so in taking the better with the sweet let's get into these cons honey number one and i said this early and i'm gonna say it again because i don't want you guys to potentially get into your perspective organizations to say arielle did not tell me this this is the fourth time i'm stating it because it's important are you ready graduate chapter is not like undergraduate chapter you're not going to be strolling the yard 24 7 all in some undergrads faces going to homecoming showing out being around town acting wild and reckless like you were an undergrad you have to remember you're an adult now we are past that time we're about the business of our organization are we gonna have fun absolutely i just told you all the pros you're gonna turn up it's gonna be lit it's gonna be a moment and on top of that you're in your dream organization you finally have those letters on your chest it's an amazing experience but what's not clicking stephen you are not an undergrad anymore okay so listen guys i mean i'm just trying to keep it very very very very clear for you do not be a 30 year old man or woman walking around acting in an undergrad manner now listen that first year you're gonna be on super head ass neo mode and that's okay okay everything you do is gonna have pink and green or whatever hearts you're gonna put it on every instagram post you're gonna be extremely greeky you're gonna be taking your pinky or whatever signed pictures with everybody i get it i did it i was extremely annoying so i understand but guys relax like it's it's good to be happy it's it's great to be happy and listen celebrate and express yourself in whatever way you want to because nobody knows how hard you wanted this nobody knows how long you wanted this nobody knows how much you cried and and just genuinely crave this and now that it's here celebrate how you want to just remember though you are past the undergraduate level and i'll just leave it at that i feel like that's very self-explanatory so yeah you're not going to live out your undergraduate goals in a grad chapter you're all about the business of that org that's number one okay number two this should have been number one because baby baby what i recommend if you are thinking about joining graduate chapter that is having a savings account specifically for that organization that should cover you should have at least i can't speak for everyone but from my org at least about three thousand dollars save just those are fees just to even get in after that in order to remain an active and financial member of your organization you're gonna need to go to conferences clusters regionals the local events that we have the corporate events that we have the national events that we have i mean of course you're not required to go to any of that but it's good if you would like to to have that money put off to the side because baby big aka is expensive expensive my organization being in my organization on the graduate level is like having a child and i don't have any kids the money is going to the organization the biggest thing that it's going to go to regardless of whether if you go to any conferences or events or not is your corporate national dues that you pay every year mine are due in december i already know baby that 417 dollars coming out that count at the end of the year put it to the side i don't even miss it because i know it's coming out every year and i've been active in financial every year that i've been a member so that's already thousands of dollars that i've spent on just being active in my org so you have that yearly expense of your dues on top of any conferences and regionals and events and baby when you go to those events the vendors get you every time i'm trying to tell you there's not one time that i went to an event that was on the corporate level like such as the boulet or regionals or whatever and i didn't buy hundreds of dollars in like items like because you know girl you got to get the gifts for your friends and you may see a cute shirt i don't really wear nail anymore but just in case i saw something cute or like a little pin i wanted i'm gonna buy it so you have to have a budget for conferences that goes to the vendors a budget for the conferences themselves and a budget to be active in financial every year so don't think you're just going to get in and not have to pay anything i mean if you're going to be a t-shirt where you already know in your head you were just here to get your letters and dip then yeah but if you plan on being a prudent active and financial member of said organization put some money to the side child because listen the rainy days may come or may not come but when they come you got to make sure that you're on points because at the end of the day big aka or big whoever else is going to still be there but you have to make sure that you can pay your bills and survive so putting the money to the side is my best advice okay number three i came in my organization at 25 as i told y'all i was considered a young store the oldest store on my line was 66 years old so if you think that you're gonna be taking these live pictures with just the young chickadees it's not gonna happen you're gonna have all types of age groups and depending on the size of your line i mean regardless i think that happens in undergrad as well like everybody kind of breaks off into their click like we have a 20s click and the 30s click and the 40s click and so on and so forth you're just always going to branch off into the people you feel more comfortable with and maybe you came on a small line and you're maybe the only young star right there that can happen too so keep in mind that it's not going to be just 25 year olds on the line this is college-educated men and women who have graduated college they can be any age you know from 20 to 100. you know what i mean so keep that in mind that's something very important to keep in mind um when you're thinking about the dynamics of the age of everyone and really honestly i don't know why that's important but i do understand wanting younger uh my sisters online brothers around your age to do things with especially when you come in young that's just i wanted that too so i get it but i'm just saying that to say don't think it's just going to be all young people these are all college educated people of a certain age keep that in mind okay the shade the shade i don't care how bad of a chick you are how handsome of a dude you are if you were that girl or that guy on campus it's always going to be a negative person to shade you for going grad that's just life people have an elitist i don't know they're just elitist people in general and they're going to shade you about being great it has happened to me plenty of times it want me being that girl okay it has happened um some people are just going to feel like they're better than you because they crossed undergrad and you didn't and they don't know your process they don't know what you did to get there they don't know how hard you work they don't know the battles you fought to be where you are now and guess what i'm just going to put it this simple an undergrad member and a graduate member are on the same exact level they have the same exact letters they have the same exact founders they have the same exact principles don't ever ever ever if you are so lucky to join let anyone make you feel a type of way for going grad don't ever let anybody do that to you because your letters on your chest are the same as the undergrads letter on their chest but i mean you have to have a thick skin people are going to shade you especially like i said coming in young they're gonna be like oh where did you cross and then when you say grab chapter okay okay you know like you'll get a little nice nasty shade like that just be prepared guys i mean it's not gonna always happen but if it does just let it go off your shoulders it doesn't matter you're a member just like they are babes so but the gag is i'm probably active and financially you haven't been active in financial since you graduated college tell the truth and shame the devil okay don't worry about that y'all don't worry about it um really the only other cons that i can think of i would say just being transparent everybody's not going to vibe in jail with their chapter um of course you're blessed to be in your chapter they're the people that brought you in this organization but you're not always going to get along with your chapter you might definitely have problems with your line even on the graduate level that doesn't end pettiness doesn't end and [ __ ] and drama doesn't end just because you crossed on a graduate level that's the truth um you know you're gonna have maybe issues with your line maybe issues with the chapter maybe you don't like your leadership in your chapter there's several different things that can occur but i would say that's like at the very very very bottom of the list i wouldn't be pressed or worried about that that's just life and it may happen or it may not happen um but i think the four that i named those are like the main cons that i've experienced since being a graduate member so i just wanted to give you all the t on that okay so now that we got the negative out of the way let's get into the positive being greek is so much fun and if somebody said otherwise they're lying to you baby especially coming in young it's so lit y'all listen it's the time i've had the most fun that i've ever had in my life like so many more experiences that i would have never had if i wasn't greek so i don't regret anything even though deep down um inside i do wish that i had the chance to pledge when i was an undergrad i didn't have the chance to um pledge at all and i do wish that i had that opportunity but even though i'm grad i still made the most of it and i maximized it and i'm going to tell you how so first things first when you cross you're in a worldwide network you're always going to have your sorors or your frat bros always right you're always going to have that connection you can go anywhere in the world and meet somebody in your prospective organization there's been times where maybe something came to town and the sarah was stranded or needed something needed help and there's been a sore to help her i've been in groups where um i remember i saw i was stranded at the train station and in the group they asked was anybody they were in chicago and they asked was anybody in chicago even though it was a um national group and like could someone go get that soror and let her stay over the night and someone came and got her me being the only child like that sisterhood aspect or brotherhood aspect that you will get it's just mind-blowing to me just having that family that family worldwide and that network that you can lean on and depend on it's an amazing feeling i'm honored and blessed and so grateful to god that i'm able to experience that um literally the networking opportunities i've received jobs um by meeting sole roles from my organization i've received jobs i've received special things and free things at the airport maybe i'll have like i don't know like my um my name tag on my suitcase is the aka tag and someone will notice that i'm greek even if we aren't in this thing or it can give me a perk at the airport like you have that network okay you're gonna be able to leverage that from getting jobs to having more opportunities to just having friends that's an amazing resource to have and that's the amazing resource to be a part of so that's definitely that's 100 approach to me just to have the networking opportunities that you receive once you join these organizations and then if you're able to get a line number you have a club so for example if you're eight everybody all over the world whoever is greek and who's the eight those are your clubs so you have that connection of course you know when you join you get more knowledge and you'll know like about like your stands and you know those are the people that have these things crossing here you'll learn all of that but you'll have those connections with those specific people it's just like a never-ending never-ending circle of witness connections networking friends opportunities that come from being greek so that's something that i absolutely love and take advantage of every day absolutely love being greek okay so next the group chats okay so even like i said earlier if you're maybe the only young member or you're coming in and you don't really know anybody child that first week you're gonna get added depending on who you know to all these group chats and um it'll be a group chat for like um i don't know like a fraternity and sorority love or maybe all sorority girls all sorority boys like when you go to greek events it's all types of chats the people that you're going to meet and the connections that you grow are just ongoing like baby those group chats one of my very very best friends to this day i met in a store and fraternity group chat that's one of my closest friends to this day so you genuinely make these connections guys um the greek parties listen baby green pigment oh god i tell everybody you have to go to at least one atlanta greek picnic i had so much fun guys how it worked out for me okay so i crossed on the 11th my birthday was the 14th my first greek picnic was that weekend so baby when i tell you it was up and stuck like that first week of me crossing i can't even put into words how lit that was i can't even put into words what a moment that was i had so much fun i was like i have waited and waited for years i was out of college when i crossed i was out of college four years so i waited all of this time for this to happen for me and i soaked up every single moment guys i enjoyed it i was living my best life okay i went to atlanta greek picnic at nashville greek picnic and texas greek picnic like guys listen i was living my best life and guys when you get to go to those picnics again you're meeting people that you will know forever i'm still friends with people that i met at my first freak picnic five years ago we are very close friends so like you always have that connection guys it's lit you got people coming in from all over the nation to these parties into this picnic and y'all it's the vibe like you know listen everybody knows when you're at gdi and you're not greek yet we're on atlantic greek picnics page watching the vibes wishing you were apart like listening guys it's a moment like even if you're older just go to the picnics and experience it because it's so much fun it's nothing like seeing all those thousands of people strolling and lit turning up having fun going to the after parties etc so that's a moment for you that you have to experience period um what else what else oh of course the biggest pro being a part of your dream organization that you hoped and wishing had blessed sweat and tears and prayed to god for to be a part of you're finally here you're in that moment all of your hard work paid off you're able to say that you're a member of xyz organization it's the best feeling in the entire world but lastly i just wanted to chat with you guys and kind of reiterate everything and let you know although these tips are not guaranteed to get you sponsorship or a spot after a rush for a graduate chapter organization i hope you take what you learned here and apply it to your everyday life it's important that we as adults present ourselves in the best way possible to receive every opportunity and every good thing that's coming to us so i hope you take the steps that i gave you and the tips that i gave you when the dues and the don'ts to join your dream organization and i'm praying and hoping that all of you make it just keep in mind it's an everyday process guys the work does not end when you're in it only begins and this is a lifelong commitment that you have to be financially mentally physically and spiritually ready for and if you feel like you are i'm wishing you the best i hope that you all get to join your respective perspective organizations and if you need any help or have any questions make sure that you leave me comments below or you can also send me a private message i'm wishing you the best of luck and i'll see you next time [Music]