A Letter from the IFC President
Fellow Trojans,
Let me paint you a picture. Two and a half years ago, I first stepped foot on this campus as a freshman, confused and nervous, still a boy. The sun was shining, as it does almost every day down here in Southern California, but on this particular day it shined just a little brighter. I never thought I would join greek life in college. But I took a risk, and I decided to try it out.
Since that first fateful day of rush, I have looked back at joining greek life as the single best decision I have made in college, or perhaps, life thus far.
Campus immediately became smaller. As I would walk up the three flights of stairs in New North, I would see the familiar faces of my friends across all fraternities and sororities. Meals at dining halls became grand social gatherings, and late night stops at TroGro were always accompanied by greek friends, old and new. Until this day, I have yet to walk into a classroom on the first day of school and not find a fellow greek student to sit beside with a smile. Everywhere I looked, my friends in the greek community excelled. From the three USG Presidents that I know, to the multitude of entrepreneurs I have met, the greek students were constantly accomplished in academics, philanthropy, leadership, social life, business– you name it. Walking down Trousdale, I feel honored to be in the presence of greatness of the future CEO’s, politicians, and thought leaders of the world.
As a freshman, I immersed myself in fraternity life and met various mentors, incredible business connections, and the best of friends. Through the network of my fraternity, I started a company with my “big bro” and another brother helped me secure an internship from a Fortune 500 company, all within my first semester of college.
As a business major, I have found that my education in the classroom alone is not enough. You can’t learn business by just attending lectures and reading textbooks. Rather, the experience I have been given by greek life has supplemented my academics and allowed me to hone my networking, organizational, and leadership abilities. Being greek has made me a better student, and being a better student has in turn made me a better greek.
The sun is still shining. It’s an exciting time to be greek at USC, one of the fastest growing universities in the world. Over 3,700 students like myself have chosen to take the leap and join greek life. To incoming students, the opportunities are endless and success is at your doorstep. I urge you to take that first step and find the greatness that awaits you.
It is an honor to be serving you as IFC President for 2013 and a privilege to serve greek life at the University of Southern California. Fight on!
