07/24/2017
Keeping up with the Brother of the Week, this week Brother Evan Braun (Pols '16) wrote a few words about his time as an active at our chapter. Here's what he had to say!
Sometimes people ask me why I joined a Fraternity, especially people I grew up with. These same people held the common stereotypes for a Fraternity in mind: crazy parties, dumb popular jocks, and a general lack of respect for anything calm. Honestly I’m not offended by the question, growing up I was not a super popular guy, I wasn’t a party animal, and I only played sports for the fun of it and not in competitive leagues. The stereotypical frat bro couldn’t be further away from what I was, and I would argue, what all of us have become.
The truth is, I didn’t seek out becoming part of this Fraternity, I kind of stumbled into it. I never envisioned myself as a frat-boy and I held the same stereotypes as everyone else. What changed was a friend introduced me to the brothers and they introduced me to everyone. When I joined, we were just a fledgling chapter which meant I could meet every single brother. The thing that really stood out to me was how nice everyone was, they asked me all sorts of questions to get to know me, and they made sure to include me in everything.
So how did I go from being skeptical of joining a Fraternity to an active brother? Well, one day I realised these guys were all my friends, they all invested time in me and they wanted me to become a brother. They saw something in me that convinced them I would make a good addition to the Fraternity. I was very touched by that; consequently, I decided I wouldn’t let them down and I decided to commit to joining the fraternity.
What I learned from my experience pledging Zeta Psi was that it didn’t matter where you came from, your skin colour, your sexual orientation or anything else. If you showed up to events and displayed a serious interest in joining the Fraternity you can join. Through the pledging process you learn to become a leader, you learn to manage time, and you learn more about not only yourself and your capabilities, but you also learn about your fellow pledge brothers and the Fraternity members. You learn about their likes and dislikes, and more importantly you forge relationships with them through interaction. By the end of the process when you become a brother, you feel like you’ve earned it, but you also know all the people around you and the effort they put into the organisation.
One thing I think people get very wrong about Fraternities is that all we do is party. I won’t lie, we do party, but I’d argue it’s like any other student at Queen’s. What makes us different is our organisation and our efforts to give back to the community. The past three years straight, the Theta Psi team has raised the most money for Queen’s Relay for Life, the grand total now exceeding $20,000 over 3 years. We are active participants in Remembrance Day ceremonies every year, ensuring we pay our respects to those that have died for our country. We also consistently go on canned food drives around the Queen’s community in order to collect canned food for the Kingston Food Bank; and moreover, we raise money for Movember every year. So if you join Zeta Psi looking to party all day every day, you’re joining the wrong institution.
The reality is, there is no shortcut to becoming a leader. You have to put in the work. Zeta Psi Fraternity is open to anyone who is looking to better themselves and become a leader in their community. It doesn’t matter if you’re popular or not, if you’re the stereotypical frat boy or a book worm; you’re welcome to join the Fraternity, you just need to put in the work.
