Allow me to take you back to the year 2008. As an 19 year old student, I moved to the vibrant city of Groningen, a city up north of the Netherlands. At the time I spend a year traversing South America, in particular Argentina. Travelling alone in a pre-wifi age I learned to connect to myself, and figure out my personal boundaries. That changed when I joined a fraternity.
What started out like a personal challenge of being able to withstand a traditional hazing, turned out to be the start of a toxic relationship with myself.
A fraternity is a social pressure cooker. There are literally deadlines to make friends. Deadlines to make your mark. Deadlines to proof you worthiness. The first year I surrendered to that experience.