Back in high school, everyone talked about how much harder college was going to be and how everything was going to be a lot different. Of course I thought it would be different, but I had confidence in myself that I could handle everything and that nothing would go wrong. Turns out, I was wrong and everything went wrong. Where do I begin…
Well the first few weeks of college were pretty easy and I didn’t have any troubles or concerns. I was rushing at the frats which made everything seem even more awesome. But then, like a brick wall, I got swine flu. I was suddenly behind in all of my classes when I was doing so well and, even worse, pledging started the day I got back. I went from being a happy, free, healthy and care-free guy to overwhelmed, worried and sick slave. Not the best combination.
As if my life didn’t suck enough already, my computer decided it didn’t like me and hatched an evil plot to ruin my grades. So it broke down the same week I got back from swine flu. It took the people at ITS almost two weeks to get around to fixing my computer and giving it back to me. Lucky, I didn’t lose any of my files or anything. So I wasn’t too pissed… until it happened again. Stupid computer. Never before have I wanted to throw an electronic device off the top of a building so badly. But for real, that is ridiculous for it to happen twice in a three/four week span. In addition to that, I recently found out that none of my blogs have been posting and that I am extremely far behind on my blog.
So far I have gotten sick once and my computer broke twice. To even things up, I got mono. This put more of a burden on me as I was just catching up from everything I missed with swine flu. You would think that getting sick twice in a semester would hurt your grades a little. Well that is false… it hurt my grades A LOT. For the first time in my years going to school, I am projected to get a C in one of my classes, maybe even two.
I thought college was going to be awesome. Well, only some of it. Being independent and doing whatever you want and going to parties is awesome. Everything else, not so much.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Brotherhood
Pledging at Sigma Chi was one of the most time-consuming periods of my life that kept me busy constantly. Some say it is “the best time you never want to have again.” That is the truth, but man was it ever worth it.
The final week of pledging, I Period, couldn’t have ended quicker. There wasn’t anything too bad we had to do, and I am not allowed to go into detail about it, but essentially we had to move into the house for the week, wear a coat and tie at all times, and participate in various fraternity-related activities that helped us to better understand aspects of Sigma Chi that are extremely important. We got initiated on a Saturday morning and, believe me, it was a glorious feeling. As soon as we became brothers, the party started. We partied all day, took a small break to go to the football game, and then partied all night. Pretty much one of the best days I’ve had at college.
Being a brother is such a wonderful thing that pledging almost seems like it was too easy to get something as great as brotherhood. I can come to the house whenever I want, leave the house whenever I want, and, best of all, not take orders from anyone. I can just hang out and enjoy the company of the only brothers I know (I’m an only child). Everything I do just seems better. Going to eat with everyone seems like more fun (because we don’t have to get anyone anything). Going to the football games is a lot more fun (I get to actually watch the game instead of going to get Cokes and food). Everything is just better.
My advice for anyone who did not rush or even think about joining a fraternity (I can’t really speak for sororities): do it. It is all worth it in the end. Yes I will admit, pledging sucked. It really did. You don’t have to do anything ridiculous or embarrassing, it’s just tremendously time-consuming. But I can speak from experience – it was a time that was necessary for my initiation into the fraternity. I know it sounds like I am talking up this whole frat thing, but I’m serious. It is awesome. I am so close to all of the guys there and it is so great to know that I have 50 some guys who will always have my back and be there for me. Fraternities aren’t all about partying (though it is a fun part); the brotherhood that comes with it is much more valuable.
The final week of pledging, I Period, couldn’t have ended quicker. There wasn’t anything too bad we had to do, and I am not allowed to go into detail about it, but essentially we had to move into the house for the week, wear a coat and tie at all times, and participate in various fraternity-related activities that helped us to better understand aspects of Sigma Chi that are extremely important. We got initiated on a Saturday morning and, believe me, it was a glorious feeling. As soon as we became brothers, the party started. We partied all day, took a small break to go to the football game, and then partied all night. Pretty much one of the best days I’ve had at college.
Being a brother is such a wonderful thing that pledging almost seems like it was too easy to get something as great as brotherhood. I can come to the house whenever I want, leave the house whenever I want, and, best of all, not take orders from anyone. I can just hang out and enjoy the company of the only brothers I know (I’m an only child). Everything I do just seems better. Going to eat with everyone seems like more fun (because we don’t have to get anyone anything). Going to the football games is a lot more fun (I get to actually watch the game instead of going to get Cokes and food). Everything is just better.
My advice for anyone who did not rush or even think about joining a fraternity (I can’t really speak for sororities): do it. It is all worth it in the end. Yes I will admit, pledging sucked. It really did. You don’t have to do anything ridiculous or embarrassing, it’s just tremendously time-consuming. But I can speak from experience – it was a time that was necessary for my initiation into the fraternity. I know it sounds like I am talking up this whole frat thing, but I’m serious. It is awesome. I am so close to all of the guys there and it is so great to know that I have 50 some guys who will always have my back and be there for me. Fraternities aren’t all about partying (though it is a fun part); the brotherhood that comes with it is much more valuable.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
UNC Basketball
I’m continuing off my last blog post because, well, I love basketball plain and simple. If you are unfortunate enough to not know much about our UNC basketball team, then think of this as a quick guide that can make you sound somewhat informed if you want to impress your friends. Note: as stated in my previous post, I use the words ‘we’ and ‘our’ when referring to the UNC Men’s Basketball team simply because it is easier and requires less typing.
I’m going to start with our frontcourt (forwards and centers). Not only do we return seniors Marcus Ginyard and Deon Thompson and (English classmate) sophomore Ed Davis, but we’ve added: the skinny but dangerous John Henson, the can’t-really-tell-them-apart Wear twins David and Travis, and have 7-footer Tyler Zeller coming back from an injury last year. Now I might be biased, but I honestly believe we have the best frontcourt in the nation and I don’t think anyone can match up to us, not even Kansas.
In the backcourt (guards), we might have some struggles because of our youth. We have sophomore Larry Drew II returning to start at point, Will Graves return from a suspension last year to play the two, walk on Justin Watts who provides solid minutes off the bench when needed, and then we have brought in Dexter Strickland and Leslie McDonald, both of whom have loads of potential. Graves is the oldest guard being a redshirted junior so it will be interesting to see if our young guys can play ahead of their years.
So it is clear that we have a ton of depth, even if much of that is inexperienced talent. The biggest thing that I think will lead to us winning the national championship is our size. We have six guys who are 6’9” or taller. Some NBA teams don’t even have that so it is a huge advantage in college. If Coach Williams wanted to go with a big lineup, he has the option of putting 6’10” John Henson at the small forward position with 6’9” Thompson and 6’10” Davis in the low post. Henson, who just recently in high school sprouted 6 inches in 18 months, has guard-like skills in a big man’s body. Oh and his wingspan measures at 7’4”. This makes him a matchup problem for anyone, especially smaller forwards.
Trust me, Carolina basketball I going to be sick.
I’m going to start with our frontcourt (forwards and centers). Not only do we return seniors Marcus Ginyard and Deon Thompson and (English classmate) sophomore Ed Davis, but we’ve added: the skinny but dangerous John Henson, the can’t-really-tell-them-apart Wear twins David and Travis, and have 7-footer Tyler Zeller coming back from an injury last year. Now I might be biased, but I honestly believe we have the best frontcourt in the nation and I don’t think anyone can match up to us, not even Kansas.
In the backcourt (guards), we might have some struggles because of our youth. We have sophomore Larry Drew II returning to start at point, Will Graves return from a suspension last year to play the two, walk on Justin Watts who provides solid minutes off the bench when needed, and then we have brought in Dexter Strickland and Leslie McDonald, both of whom have loads of potential. Graves is the oldest guard being a redshirted junior so it will be interesting to see if our young guys can play ahead of their years.
So it is clear that we have a ton of depth, even if much of that is inexperienced talent. The biggest thing that I think will lead to us winning the national championship is our size. We have six guys who are 6’9” or taller. Some NBA teams don’t even have that so it is a huge advantage in college. If Coach Williams wanted to go with a big lineup, he has the option of putting 6’10” John Henson at the small forward position with 6’9” Thompson and 6’10” Davis in the low post. Henson, who just recently in high school sprouted 6 inches in 18 months, has guard-like skills in a big man’s body. Oh and his wingspan measures at 7’4”. This makes him a matchup problem for anyone, especially smaller forwards.
Trust me, Carolina basketball I going to be sick.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Finally
I love sports and football is one of my favorite sports. It is so much fun to watch and every play is exciting. I had an awesome time cheering for Carolina football, even if they weren’t as good as everyone thought they might be this year. Hell, TJ Yates is one of the brothers in my frat, so I have mad loyalty to the team. But it’s finally the best time of the year because the real season is starting: Basketball Season.
Basketball is and always has been my favorite sport. I’ve played it for as long as I can remember and was even a part of the North Carolina High School Men’s Basketball State Championship Team last year. The championship game was held in none other than the Dean Dome. Biggest thrill of my life. Playing on the court that has so much history and that so many great players have played on. Pretty f-ing unbelievable.
So, clearly, I love basketball and was pumped when UNC won the national championship last year, not long after I got to win states. But I’m going to tell you why our team is going to win it all again this year:
Yes, we (I use the word ‘we’ because it is easier that saying the UNC Men’s Basketball team, I myself am not on the team, obviously) did lose four of our five starters and leading scorers. Yes, all of them are extremely hard to replace. And yes, we aren’t ranked number one this year like we were last year. But none of that matters. All that matters is that we have a hell of a lot of talent and, once all the pieces come together, which they will, UNC is national championship bound.
Many “experts” are saying that our team is too young to be considered in the running for the national championship because the lack of experience will lead to critical mistakes at critical times. But I think we will overcome this and, despite maybe having a few roadblocks during the season, will be a mature, dangerous team come March.
Basketball is and always has been my favorite sport. I’ve played it for as long as I can remember and was even a part of the North Carolina High School Men’s Basketball State Championship Team last year. The championship game was held in none other than the Dean Dome. Biggest thrill of my life. Playing on the court that has so much history and that so many great players have played on. Pretty f-ing unbelievable.
So, clearly, I love basketball and was pumped when UNC won the national championship last year, not long after I got to win states. But I’m going to tell you why our team is going to win it all again this year:
Yes, we (I use the word ‘we’ because it is easier that saying the UNC Men’s Basketball team, I myself am not on the team, obviously) did lose four of our five starters and leading scorers. Yes, all of them are extremely hard to replace. And yes, we aren’t ranked number one this year like we were last year. But none of that matters. All that matters is that we have a hell of a lot of talent and, once all the pieces come together, which they will, UNC is national championship bound.
Many “experts” are saying that our team is too young to be considered in the running for the national championship because the lack of experience will lead to critical mistakes at critical times. But I think we will overcome this and, despite maybe having a few roadblocks during the season, will be a mature, dangerous team come March.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Pledging
When I came to Carolina, I wasn’t planning on becoming a part of the Greek system. I was just going to go to my classes, meet some new people, chill with friends a lot, and just be a normal college kid. But that all changed when I decided to pledge a fraternity. I’m not saying that I can’t do any of the things I just listed but pledging definitely takes a toll on you and is very time-consuming.
When fall rush started, I figured I would just visit some of my friends at some of the frats to just hang out and party for free. But one of my friends who I played basketball with in high school convinced me that pledging was the way to go. I really liked his frat so I decided to make the commitment to pledging. I didn’t know what I was getting into.
Quick note: many of the things that take place during our pledging period are extremely confidential and are secret to the Sigma Chi Fraternity. I am not allowed to discuss some of these events or occurrences but I can talk about some of the more broad things.
During pledging, we are encouraged (so you pretty much have to) to be at the house when you don’t have class or another school function. This gives you a chance to get to know all of the brothers better because each one of them must approve of you becoming a brother before you can be initiated. This takes up a lot of time and really makes trying to do anything else very hard. If a brother asks you to do something like get them a drink or give them a ride, it is pretty much required that you do it. All in all, nothing was really that bad, it just takes up a lot of time. Until…
We took our pledge retreat trip to the University of Alabama. This sounded like a lot of fun until we realized that it was it a ten-hour drive to get there and that Alabama is essentially the frat capital of the south. Not so good when you are a pledge. We stayed there for two nights; one of them was kind of fun, the other not so much. Obviously, I was happy when we left that place.
So up to this point pledging hasn’t been that bad and I would recommend pledging a fraternity or sorority because the Greek system really is great. Then again, I haven’t been through I Period yet (also called “Hell Week” by some fraternities, not ours). It won’t be that bad. I hope.
When fall rush started, I figured I would just visit some of my friends at some of the frats to just hang out and party for free. But one of my friends who I played basketball with in high school convinced me that pledging was the way to go. I really liked his frat so I decided to make the commitment to pledging. I didn’t know what I was getting into.
Quick note: many of the things that take place during our pledging period are extremely confidential and are secret to the Sigma Chi Fraternity. I am not allowed to discuss some of these events or occurrences but I can talk about some of the more broad things.
During pledging, we are encouraged (so you pretty much have to) to be at the house when you don’t have class or another school function. This gives you a chance to get to know all of the brothers better because each one of them must approve of you becoming a brother before you can be initiated. This takes up a lot of time and really makes trying to do anything else very hard. If a brother asks you to do something like get them a drink or give them a ride, it is pretty much required that you do it. All in all, nothing was really that bad, it just takes up a lot of time. Until…
We took our pledge retreat trip to the University of Alabama. This sounded like a lot of fun until we realized that it was it a ten-hour drive to get there and that Alabama is essentially the frat capital of the south. Not so good when you are a pledge. We stayed there for two nights; one of them was kind of fun, the other not so much. Obviously, I was happy when we left that place.
So up to this point pledging hasn’t been that bad and I would recommend pledging a fraternity or sorority because the Greek system really is great. Then again, I haven’t been through I Period yet (also called “Hell Week” by some fraternities, not ours). It won’t be that bad. I hope.
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