Being in a frat is awesome, because RAGE. But shockingly enough, there are many other, arguably more substantial benefits that come with enduring the pledge process and beyond. 

Below are some of the valuable #lifelessons that you'll accrue from a proper fraternity experience: 

Realizing People Suck

I mean this in an endearing way. You get rushed hard by that dude who you thought was the dopest cat around, only to realize that his excessive flirtation renders him a serial cheater. Or, after worshipping that straight playa who seems all confident and hooks up with girls left and right, you realize that he could never possibly hold down a girlfriend, let alone a relatively stable relationship.

The unique commitments of a fraternal experience, combined with people “discovering themselves” as a result of being on their own for the first time, lends itself to some pretty interesting life takeaways. What I (think I) discovered is that we’re all flawed, and judgements are mad overrated. Cool people can easily be shitty, and people that you think suck are often secretly pretty cool.

Musical Palette Expansion

Frequent partying leads to frequent playlist making. The conflagration of 50 different music tastes will render some interesting playlists and frat anthems. By the end of your four years, it’s almost a given that you’ll still be jamming to your old stuff, but that old stuff will be nicely complemented by the collective influence of people not shutting the fuck up about how sick their music tastes are.

Free Pad Thai 

Like a fair number people who graduate college, I moved to New York City. A little bit of this and that from a current Brother put me in contact with an older alumni, who was all like what’s good. So I was like what’s good back, and due to our mutual interest to start an initiative within the alumni base of our Fraternity, we met one day for lunch.

Since he’s all "successful" and I’m all writing words on this page, he paid for the lunch, deflecting my wallet grab with remarkable swiftness.  The pad thai was that much better.

Sweet Gear

Sweatpants, hoodies, gym shorts, lax pinnies, beanies. If most people wanted to be, they could be walking advertisements of their fraternity. Of course, the effectiveness of said advertisement would likely be quite counter-intuitive, given that you’ve gotta be all kinds of toolbag to rock your frat gear with every public appearance.

Ego Boost

There’s a certain ego boost that comes with being a member of a fraternity. For the first two years, you get to brag to wide-eyed innocents that you’re in a “frat.” (and puff out your chest in a way that indicates your contrived social worth really IS that impressive.)

But for the last two years, when girls realize that kissing your feet in hopes of attaining a sacred Natty light is ludicrous indeed, you actually get a more rewarding sort of ego boost. Namely, the younger freshman who think you’re the shit, and breathe in every single word you say as if you are The Prophet, and truly know the way. It's awesome.