Such a lively performance by the theatre department last night. I am just astonished by the talent on that stage and even more amazed that they were mostly Wabash guys. Such a wonderful performance by the theatre department. They packed the house and rocked it too. I don’t remember specific lines on of the many sexual innuendos, but the joy and laughter I haven’t forgotten. Saturday night is the last showing, so if your free at 8 pm head over to Salter.

Before I made my decision to come to Wabash, I had a personal experience with the theatre department here. I was on campus for Honors Scholarship Weekend and I met, now alumn, Ryan Lutz. He encouraged me to go to the theatre department to check it out. I had never been in a theatre or acting class before and I thought watching wouldn’t hurt.

Well I was right, watching wouldn’t hurt, but they didn’t have me just watching. The class was having their daily rehearsal and decided to have us warm up with them. One warm up consisted of tongue twisters I still can’t untwist . Another was every person makes a physical movement with an accompanied sound and the rest of the class copies them. It was ways out of my comfort zone and different from anything I had ever done before.

I think that in every one of my classes now, I have felt out of my comfort zone, and as awkward as it feels to be uncomfortable I have learned to appreciate it. I have learned to appreciate stepping out of my small cozy area. When I am in my comfort zone, I don’t interact with my professors in discussions or debates and I am not growing as an individual.

Part of being Seriously Confident, is being comfortable with being uncomfortable. Get out of your own shoes and try new things. Try Glee Club even though you have never sung outside of the shower. Try the Radio Station, even though you have never been in a studio. You’ll find you have more interest you thought you did not have. Who knows, you could even make a college career out of one of those interest.

Homecoming weekend, and all the hard work and time we independents put in, left me dead tired. I was literally up for 50 hours since Thursday morning till Saturday night with about 4 hours of napping and “sleep.”

This is how it went.

Thursday morning was chapel sing out on the mall. Independents didn’t place for top five, but we didn’t come last. That same night we guarded and painted the bench.

Me, Pat, Andrew, Kyle on Friday

Professors, upperclass men, deans, and even some fraternities had great things to say about the bench.

Keep in mind that  the guys painting the bench had sat least some homework for the friday morning. As Wabash men know, our priorities came first, then the festivities and leisure.

Friday afternoon we started our float and banner in the basement of Martindale hall . . . we still need to finish cleaning up down there. At one point there had have to been 40 people in there while The Who’s Baba O’Riley was blasting. When it hit 8:30, we still had nothing ready for fireside chant. Pat and Andrew took ten minutes and wrote it. That left the rest of us about 15 minutes to learn it. Long story short we won 5th place. Pretty good for a 45 second chant that took ten minutes to write. At 5:30, the remaining 8 or 9 of us historically took turns and drilled the last screw on the float.

Kyle, Andrew, Me and Pat Saturday morning

Saturday morning, I finally hit the hay at 6:00 am and woke up 3 hours later to perform with the Glee Club at Chapel for Alumni. IMA grilled some hotdogs, brots, and burgers behind Martindale again for Independents. By the half time of the game we were ready with our banner flying high and Queen dressed in drag. The independent procession was my friend Kyle carrying the Stars and Stripes. Then Andrew and I carried the banner while the wind was literally lifting and trying to blow us over.

independent Queen, “Patty” being paraded down the track during halftime.

Finally Pat, or should I say Patty, wore her fish nets, wig, skirt, corset, boots and purse. Patty sat in her chair and was carried in front of the stands. The banner won 4th place and the Queen 3rd. Feels great to be have been part of that aspect of homecoming.

Can’t forget to thank all those Independents across campus who donated their money or time for the materials and building. Those who gave some money helped supply the wood, paint, brushes, sheets and PVC pipes for the banner, bench and float.

It hit me why President Hess based his speech on Freshman Saturday on “The 4 Gets in college. I now understand one of the most important “Gets”, “Get Sleep.” I think I’m going to get that now.

Good night Wabash.

Great game Little Giants.

Chapel Sing today was something to remember. I never took my eyes off that American flag. Though we independents did not make it into the chapel, we fought to the end. I am really proud of all the independents that participated in Chapel Sing. We put in the work and made the decision to represent all freshman independents. And we did a damn good job. 

I was third from the front of the line so I could not see how many Sphinx were on us. But I definitely could feel it. My buddy behind me had at least one or two Sphinx on him the entire time. He never stopped nor did he crack. He pushed through and made it.

We lost this battle, but that was just the beginning of homecoming weekend.  We still have our Queen to show off, our float, banner, and fire side chant. It has been a crazy week and we are going to finish strong.

Don’t forget to check out the bench. We had a ton of independents go out and help all day to guard and paint. The design is actually nice thanks to Martindale’s Kolby. Enjoy it for the rest of homecoming.

I find it very amusing that all freshman in fraternities had to wear their pledge pins.  Funny not because I just want to laugh at my friends in pledge-ship, but because we independents ironically wore American-Flag pins. Resprsenting the freedom and the victors. 

I’ll leave it at that.

Good Morning !

Little Giants opened the football season and just obliterated Hanover. Six interceptions by Wabash and the only three passes one of the offensive quarterbacks took were all picked. Sphinx Club led us in our singing of “Old Wabash” and then were obliged to do their push-ups.

The ambiance of the game was something else. When I first came into the stadium I hadn’t noticed that my Religion Professor, Dr.Baer, was literally two seats next to me. I still can’t stop thinking about how awesome that is. I’m sure if I were at a school like University of Houston or even that school just south of here, I would rarely see my professors outside of classes let alone a football game.

Dr.Baer enjoying the season opening game

The spirit and unity from independents was more than I expected. It’s not high school in anyway: cohesion of freshman and upperclassman is very much alive. The “You’re a freshman and your crap” creed is more of a myth now. Upperclassmen are very keen to help you out with homework and more importantly personal problems.

But this is a push and pull system because if you are not willing to be social and get out there no one is going to seek you out. I’m not saying that there aren’t at least of couple of guys that think their crap doesn’t smell, but those guys find out quick that they are not getting the attention they are looking for. It is always obvious when someone is just trying to seek attention or want to be a “popular kid.”

Being yourself is always the way to go. The pivotal difference of high school and college. The superficiality of high school is polar opposite of collegiate reality. Life is finally among you and the decisions you make are actually Your decisions. No none is going to dog down your time or say what your potential is.

You are you and you make you.