Networking With Your Brothers and Sisters
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/13/style/how-to-move-up-the-sorority-track.html?ref=fraternitiesandsororities
An article by New York Times writer, Ruth La Ferla, cites a few examples of how a Norfolk State University grad, Feona Sharhran Huff, jump-started her career as writer in a matter of weeks after she moved into New York City shortly after graduating. Her secret on how she did this was as simple as being in a sorority throughout college, and networking with other members, or “sisters” of her sorority. Upon becoming an assistant editor of College Bound Magazine, and publisher of SingleMomz Magazine, Huff then continued down the chain of networking and helped a fellow sorority sister land a job at a financial consulting firm in New York City.
From reading this article, one can assume that national fraternities also provide such opportunities via networking too. Statistically, if a fraternity or sorority has hundreds or thousands of members nationally, then it is quite probable that at least one of those members works in a field that interests any graduated “brother” or “sister” just entering the work force, and can provide a means of getting other members a job. They do say, after all, that half of the battle of getting a job is just having connections to others in the working world. As shown within this article, greek life can provide such connections, which in turn, may lead to careers for many members of a certain fraternity/sorority.
In our class lecture series concerning graph theory, we talked about nodes, edges, and what type of edges exists in between two nodes. It is interesting to be able to draw parallels between the rudimentary networks we have compiled in class and in our problem set, to this network mentioned between sorority sisters and fraternity brothers. Upon entering a frat or sorority, an edge is created between newly accepted members and the fraternity/sorority that s/he was accepted into. This edge most likely represents a strong connection since the members of each fraternity/sorority become very close as they live together, play (party) together, etc. But an edge is also created between all of the other members nation-wide of the same fraternity or sorority–it links two students who may otherwise not be related at all. Therefore, this edge is probably a weak one. Yet, at the same time, it provides a network that bridges that ultimately links every single member of the same fraternity or sorority, creating a huge network of fraternity brothers and sorority sisters. It is therefore no surprise that Huff was fortunate in landing such a successful job shortly after relocating.