You've packed your lifetime's possessions into your car, you've been sat down by your nagging mother who makes you promise to call her and eat well, and she can't help but get a bit teary when she talks to you. It can only mean one thing. You're on your way to college.

A person's arrival to a university is a life-changing experience, with college offering students endless amounts of clubs and organizations in which to immerse themselves. One potential solution for students wanting to get involved while at UMBC is the Greek life system. Collectively, there are nineteen Greek associations on campus; for the men, there are the fraternities, and for the women, the sororities. And while Greek life has attracted some stereotypes, especially from the movies, brothers and sisters are keen to promote the positive activities that go on among their associations.

For a start, Hollywood runs on stereotypes, and they aren't an accurate reflection of UMBC Greek life. Many UMBC Greeks were all too aware of the stereotypes they face as brothers and sisters.

President of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity, Danny Burch, says that when he first arrived at UMBC, he was "totally anti-Greek," with James Whieldon, External Vice President of the same brotherhood, also hating the idea of fraternities. "My roommate got involved in freshman year and I hated watching what he had to go through."

The idea of the party animal slacking on his or her studies is one that brothers and sisters are keen to fight. "A lot of people think that just because I'm in a sorority, I would be self-centered, snobby, and that I would only enjoy partying," says Christine Paul of Delta Phi Epsilon sorority. Whieldon adds that "fraternities are subject to a huge number of stereotypes. People assume we just get drunk and party. You hear bad things happening in chapters, but what people don't realize is that this happens outside of Greek life, and the people who get us the stick aren't even directly involved within Greek. It's the charity stuff that we do that we don't get as much recognition for."

Social networking is a major benefit of associating with Greek life. "The number of people in my phonebook has increased by 25 in the past week alone," says Alex Mercado, a pledging member of Pi Kappa Phi. Charity work also plays a crucial role in Greek life, with each association advocating a particular charitable organization. "Every semester my sorority sisters and I involve ourselves in community service and charities. It's a very rewarding experience and I walk away with something different every time," says Paul.

Junior student Daniel Ashford, a transfer student from Swansea, South Wales, currently pledging with Pi Kappa Phi, adds "the fraternity has its own independent national organization, PUSH America. It has programs like 'Give-a-push Weekend' and 'Journey for Hope',;a bike ride across the United States, starting in Seattle and San Francisco, ending in Washington DC."

Charity work carried out by UMBC's Greek organizations is, according to Whieldon, "spectacular." His fraternity hosts the North American Food Drive, where they collect food to donate to a food bank around five miles from campus. Lambda Chi Alpha has previously worked with diabetes charities, gathering at fun runs offering encouraging those crossing the line. "The MyUMBC tool gives charity great publicity, we recently managed to donate 280 pounds worth of food."

Greek organizations require members to reach a certain standard of academia, normally a minimum GPA. In addition, new members don't have it so easy that they can call themselves a brother or sister without doing their research; for some chapters there are classes to attend, assignments to complete and facts to learn. Brothers and sisters meet regularly to focus on their studies, with Greek associations realizing the importance of workload to their members.

While the benefits of Greek life can be great, new members have to work for the perks. Ashford, used to the slightly more relaxed workload of British universities, says, "To start with I was surprised with the workload Pi Kappa Phi expected from me, but now I realize that to get used to the American System it is good that we have to log 16 hours per week of study hours, 10 individual and 6 with a partner. It ensures that I do regular studying every week, which helps no end." "Some academic departments gave me [problems] when they knew I'd joined," says Whieldon. "But actually, Greek life has inspired me to do more work and manage my time better."

Finances needn't be an issue, if a student feels the financial commitment to their association to be a burden, as some students are offered the chance to work at Ravens and Orioles games to pay their way; sororities and fraternities receive no government funding. "I find the idea of us 'paying for friends' ridiculous. It's like everyone chipping in for a pizza, we all pay but we're all going to benefit. It's not just paying for our friends, it's having to fund things like insurance," says Burch.

The worry of gang law in Baltimore means that the stigma surrounding Greek housing isn't present on campus. "We have to be really careful with hazing, even a playful slap on the back can be seen as an act of bullying and we really don't want to give off that impression," Burch says. Hazing is taken seriously at UMBC, with a hotline being offered to report any suspect activity. "We're not going to force anyone to go and make us a sandwich. We make an effort to make new members feel really welcome with the fraternity."

Most brothers and sisters are able to brush away the stereotypes and cling to what they believe to be important through their involvement in Greek life; the friendships. "My favorite thing about being in a sorority is the closeness I can get," says Paul. "None of my sisters are alike, and yet we get along so well. I always have someone to go to whether or not I need something, always someone to talk to, someone to sit in class with, to study with and party with all at the same time. It's something I'll carry with me for the rest of my life."

Burch is even due to be the best man at a brother's wedding next year. "The connections are fantastic for things like internships. These friendships can stay with you for life," states Whieldon. "There are real bonds. When we call each other brothers, we take it seriously. We can fight, we can bicker… but at the end of the day if anyone gives my brother any hassle, I'm right there to support him."

They really are like family. Add this to the fact that membership in a fraternity or sorority can stand out on a resume and set you up with some useful contacts for employment, it's no shock that this year's recruitment program has encouraged a number of people to get immersed in Greek life.

However, a number of students who aren't involved in fraternities and sororities aren't as complimentary about Greek. "Greek life doesn't appeal to me because I don't feel the need to become part of a family away from home," says Claire Smith, a 20 year old English major. "Also these brotherhoods and sisterhoods, to me, are just excuses to exclude; be a part of the social hierarchy that exists within colleges. This doesn't appeal to me as family life, it just appears as another clique within another institution of education, only in this case the people involved are in their twenties and not fourteen."

Shruti Patel, 18, a Communications and Psychology major, is still opposed to getting involved in Greek life but doesn't speak as harshly towards to the organizations. "It would just take up too much of my time. Plus I don't really want to have to pay for it. Saying that, I wouldn't say I believe all the stereotypes about the fraternity boys. I know a lot of nice ones; they're not elitist or sleazy at all." Visual arts major Sandra Stegel, 21, from Nancy, France, was also afraid of the time constraints associated with sorority life. "I was afraid because I have so much work, and I really do have a lot of homework to do." But she disagrees with Patel's statement about elitism. "I went to an event early in the semester and the sorority girls I met didn't seem interested in anyone outside the group that came along to the event."

Whiledon's sentiment that involvement in Greek life actually benefited his academic performance has been echoed by UMBC faculty. Dr. Clayton Laurie, a history lecturer, believes "the [Greek life] System is not just a social system. Sororities and fraternities facilitate the creation of closer bonds between students in higher education institutions, and promotes intellectual, moral, and emotional growth and responsibility-scholastic and socially," adding "[Greek life] develops leaders and productive members of society at both the university and in the wider community."

Teaching assistant Daniel Kielbasa states, "as far as Greek life impacting academic performance, I think it can go both ways. I've met a lot of incredibly intelligent Greek students that perform really well in class. I've also met some that do not, these tend to be the types that fit the classic Greek stereotypes of beer-pounding guys and catty girls. I think if you want to do well in school you will, whether involved in Greek life or not."

Having to adhere to a certain minimum GPA, and having a cumulative GPA higher than the UMBC average for the last two semesters (the Greek collective GPA was recorded as 2.932, compared to the UMBC average of 2.87 for the Spring 2009 semester, and 2.955 compared to UMBC's average of 2.823 for the Fall 2008 semester) shows that the stereotype of the party animal Greek brother or sister may not be applicable here at UMBC.

Yes, there are bad eggs among Greek life, but their activities shouldn't taint the achievements of other fraternities and sororities. "I think the typical student that UMBC attracts isn't the sort of person you'd expect to get involved with [Greek life]. All the chapters on campus are different to any stereotypes of [Greek life] you get," says Hannah Dier, of the Phi Sigma Sigma sorority.

"I would definitely say that people should just come along to events and see what we have to offer first-hand instead of relying on what people say," says Burch. "I'd show them how many people we know, Greek life has helped us to meet so many new people and you gain such valuable connections."

Whieldon agrees, "Lots of people involved in leadership and the SGA here at UMBC are involved in [Greek life]. We don't just sit around acting bored. We make things happen on campus." New members are also keen to praise Greek life; Mercado says he has no regrets about getting involved with a fraternity. "I can tell I made a great decision that is going to make my college experience even better."

It may not be for everyone, but with an impressive nationwide alumni list (Bill Clinton and Donald Trump are just two names amongst many), maybe Greek life is onto something.