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Spirit

Posted in Bobby Black '17

 I went to the football game today, and what really caught my attention was the spirit. I know Wabash is a spirited school, but this was new to me. Not because I wasn’t expecting the spirit, but because I have never experienced that kind of spirit before.

A bit of explanation; my high school’s football team is pretty good (although I’ve never been a big fan of sports), however the fans are not. They’re not rowdy and disorderly… in fact, they’re not much of anything. My high school has all the spirit of a moldy stick; most Tualatin High students tend to just stand around and talk to each other instead of cheering on their fellows. They don’t sing the fight song, they don’t participate in the chants, most don’t even applaud when the team scores a touchdown.

Now that I have experienced Wabash, I see that as kind of lame.

Yes, football games are a good chance to meet up with other people, but it’s still a game and it’s still your school. You should show that you support your school and want them to succeed, otherwise why didn’t you call your friend up and go out for dinner or something instead? This is especially true at college, where most of the people around you are going to be your friends for life; you want to build meaningful experiences with them, otherwise you’re going to waste your time at college and be alone in the world.

And that’s bad.

So enjoy the spirit of the school. It will help immensely.


GDI or FIJI

Posted in Audie Kaufman '17

This week has been its own sets and ups and downs, and possibly one of the more stressful situations I’ve had. One of the hardest struggles people can have sometimes is fighting self-doubt and a lack of confidence to try and overcome the unknown and adversity. Sometimes one of the easiest things to do is simply quit and give up. Just try and walk away from your problems and leave them “behind.” Because really, does any person ever truly leave their problems behind them?

This past week, overcome by some issues with certain people, the new stress of classes at Wabash, pledgeship, and cross country I thought the best thing for me to do was de-pledge Phi Gamma Delta. After a week of thought and issues I decided that was what I needed to do, even though I had no solid reason why in my heart or mind. That’s why last night I went to my house president, talked to him, depledged. After, I talked to some close upperclassmen in the home, my parents, and had a late night of studying I didn’t feel fulfilled with my decision. Come morning I had gone to the dean, received my change in housing assignment, and by a certain point, visited my new housing and briefly met my new roommate. After a long talk last night and again today after cross country practices with a senior on the team and in the house, I decided I needed to stay.

What is needed to be said here is that things can stink, you can really hate the “now,” but you can’t let fear blind how you deal with things. I realized how much some people do care about me, and what it does take to accept a brotherhood you are given. It may have only been a day (if that), but I know how I feel now about this house and what I want out of Wabash.

Go Greek.


Personal Gratitude

Posted in Alejandro Reyna '17

This is my first post of the week and it’s not due to poor time management. I simply wanted to post after the 9/11 anniversary. So many remember exactly what they were doing and as much as I try to, I can only remember days afterwards watching the news. As a 6 year old, all I knew was that many people had died. I could not comprehend the emotions of others and the effect that grim day would have on me.

My oldest brother had joined the Marines months before September and I was already missing him dearly. I was probably the last in my house to understand what this meant and how ugly it was going to get.

Oh lord did it get ugly.

I began acting up in school and my grades saw the worst of it. I could see the effect it had on my parents, as much as they tried to make it obscure. My birthday cakes always ended with tears. Not only my tears, but those of family who had been there to celebrate with me. The extremely rare phone calls were the cherished highlights of the month along with the letters I got from my brother. I read those letters over and over, and over again.

When ever I had recess, I vividly remember asking myself  “How the HELL can you be running around playing tag when your beloved brother is risking his life day and night?” Guilt plagued me, and I tried to do anything I could to help my brother. Care packages and prayer were the most I could think of.

By the grace of God he was able to come back alive, but not all mothers and families were fortunate enough to hold their sons, brothers, and sisters one last time.

I promise to not post any more blogs like this one. I just want to remember and thank the fallen Soldiers, the Firefighters, the Police Officers, and the First Responders. Respect and thank all in the service past or present.

I want to thank my big brother,

Dorian Reyna.


Sleep

Posted in Uncategorized

 Sleep.

Let’s talk about sleep. President Hess said in his opening speech that we need sleep (one of his four Gets: Get to Bed). Sleep is probably the most important thing a person can get while in college (except for the education itself, but sleep gets you that).

And for some reason, I don’t think we’re getting this. Sleep, that is.

Now, an excuse could be made for someone working on homework or Pledge Activities (although going back to Hess’ speech, everything bad happens with “it was late at night”). But then there are those that spend their time surfing the internet and playing video and computer games when they should be doing their homework. I’m not saying sacrifice your fun and become one of those homework drones who sits in their room or study hall and does nothing but write essays and answer math problems, and thus has no social life; what I mean to say is that there should be some moderation.

Get some (read: most) of your homework done during the afternoon, and take a break or two in between so you don’t get too ground down by. If you have conflicts, like sports or something, work around that. Whatever you do don’t wait until 12AM to get your 1,000 word paper done (you will have to write a paper like this. Search your feelings, you know it to be true!). Putting everything off to the last minute not only makes your work not as good, but it also deprives you of sleep, thereby making it even harder for you to function both in class and out (remember how I said you could collapse in the middle of Chapel Talk? Yeah, that might happen without sleep. Now imagine collapsing in the middle of Chapel Sing).

In short, get some sleep. You’ll function better, and you’ll be able to get stuff done without overstretching yourself.


WAF

Posted in Audie Kaufman '17, , , , ,

Hey World!

So, I just want to start off with something interesting that happened a couple days ago. I was on my way to my first day of labs, Latin 101 Lab at 8:45 to 9:35 and BIO 111 Lab from 1:10 to 4:00. Also, since today is Chapel Talk my fraternity requires the freshman to dress in suit and tie every Thursday for all classes. Naturally, I got up this morning to go to my scheduled Latin Lab (possibly a few minutes late), just to walk into the room greeted by my professor with a funny look on his face. I had misunderstood that the 3:10 quiz I had taken yesterday with the small lecture after it was considered our lab for the week. So I was THAT ONE freshman that showed up to the wrong class I didn’t have to, an hour earlier in the morning, and in a suit.

For cross country the team had its first 8k of the season at Hanover and IU! “The 8k is a whole new beast,” as in the words of a Mr. Ryan Horner ’15. That “new beast” however did help to show me something that Wabash is all about though, and that is teamwork. For the last few weeks in practice Coach Busch has made it clear to us freshman about trying to run as a pack and working together for over the first half of the race. Coach Morgan helped to remind myself, and I’m sure others, to remember it’s just the first race and we need to relax and not stress out. The race itself was defined as a group run. Doug Baker ’15, Nathan Bode ’16, Josh Waterman ’17, Free Kashon ’17, and I all ran as a group for the beginning miles of the race. Being in a group of your teammates for nearly three miles of a race brought so much confidence and confidence to me that I think it really brings home about what Wabash is all about. Working together and being one entity as a Wabash student or athlete. Most people here are not from the same place, most have a difference in opinions at times, and yet, most see this school as a single power. No one is ever really alone, some other freshman may be feeling homesick (I know I do a little), but there seems to always be someone to talk to about the new responsibilities, life, and sports/hobbies. Especially with Greek life and athletic teams.

Wabash seems to have its greatest strength not only in its small size and extensive alumni, but in its teams, Greek life, and campus involvement. I cannot, at this point, see how any average eighteen-year-old can attend a large school where you become lost in the crowd, and only focus all of one’s time on studies and partying on the weekend. While the Wabash student body in all regards knows how to have fun on the weekends, it still knows how to buckle down and use its relationships among students to make it a truly great college.

Wabash Always Fights.