Buddies vs. Brothers.

by Matt Mattson

Brothers are different than buddies.

This brotherhood thing. This fraternity thing is a life-changing gift that we have a chance to give away only to the people whose lives we want to change.

When I was 18 years old, the greatest gift I’d ever been given to that point in my life was fraternity. It changed my life. It made me a better student, and a better friend. It made me a better community servant. It offered me a sacred and spiritual pathway to becoming the man I wanted to become, in an otherwise average and mediocre world. Since college, fraternity has made me a better entrepreneur, a better community servant, a better volunteer, a better husband, a better father, and every day it challenges me to be a better man.

“We are more.”

That’s the best, most succinct, most all-encompassing, and – the more you let it sink in – the most powerful way I can describe what being a fraternity man is all about.

It seems almost cliche on first glance.

“We are more.”

It’s nothing on it’s surface. Just a collection of a few words housed in a sentence. It’s a humble little sentence that many onlookers would breeze right past, thinking nothing of it. The individual words seem really common, but when they come together they reveal the power of a collection of people who choose to live in such a way as to exceed expectations. We are more. It’s like the brevity of the sentence camouflages the potential that lies within. Three little words that carry weight. Three little words that are timeless. Three little words. We are more.

Fraternity men make the CHOICE to be MORE. We are more gentlemanly. We are more charitable. We are more likely to raise our hand. We are more colorful and loud. We are more enthusiastic and confident. We try more, we achieve more, and we care more. We are more honorable, and more fun. We are MORE because we make the choice to be.

See this fraternity thing is more than most understand it to be.

Fraternity is not a club. It’s not a party. It’s a challenge and a promise. It’s a million moments of truth. It’s old and it’s new. It’s a gift entrusted to me to cherish and then give away. It’s a shared mission. It’s a lifelong expectation. it’s a daily call to action. It’s an ancient tradition. It’s a future of opportunity. It’s a chance to matter.

That’s what fraternity has done for me. It has given me a chance to matter. It has given me brothers who love me, and who I love.

Oh, and I should explain one more thing. Brothers. You might not understand me when I use this word. That’s o.k. Let me explain. Brotherhood is far more than friendship; more than buddies. It’s a shared cause. It’s a common purpose. It’s a commitment to helping each other live as our best self – every day. It’s trust. It’s a promise. It’s a lifelong vow to help me become all that I’m destined to be.