Yesterday was the Glee Club Campus Concert and in my opinion, we did great. More than my opinion, it matters what the audience thought of the performance. We received such rapturous applause and compliments  from professors, family, friends and others from the community. I am truly grateful to have that much support from and I thank all those who came out and enjoyed our concert.

On a not so positive note, it was not easy singing the Alma Mater as we dedicated it to the late Dr. Keith Baird ’56. I did not personally know Dr. Baird, but I have had the pleasure to meet his son who lived with his family in Dr. Baird’s home here on campus. When someone with great significance to an organization dies, it is easy to overlook and forget that they also had a family. Dr. Baird’s passing is a loss to Wabash but an even greater loss to his children and grandchildren. That is what made dedicating the Alma Mater to Dr. Baird hard.

Dr. Baird was a physician for all of the Apollo missions except the first and last ones. This Little Giant was there when the Apollo 13 Capsule was recovered in the South Pacific and he gave a chapel talk about it. Dr. Baird was also the campus doctor for nearly three decades and always lived on campus. As a student, Dr. Baird was a four year member of the Glee Club and enjoyed attending the concerts.

This Saturday the Glee Club is suppose to sing the Alma Mater and Ave Maria at a memorial service here on campus. It will be even harder to sing in that environment and for the sole purpose of expressing his love and life-long commitment to Wabash. Wabash lost a true Little Giant this weekend. The Baird family lost a great Father and Grandfather. May he rest in peace and may God be with him.

 It is a bit ironic that I have so many decisions to make this time of the year. A year ago this same time I was trying to choose what College I was going to attend. Now that I have already made that great decision I know have a decision to make that is just as life altering as choosing Wabash was. This year’s decision is whether I go Greek or not.

To help make my mind up and just think about what this decision entails if I either go Greek or not I decided to just stroll around the campus late at night. Starring down the road that leads to Center Hall I thought about what I want the rest of my experience at Wabash to be like. I will barely be a sophomore next year and that still gives me time to alter how my experience will be. Being an independent I learned a lot about the campus and I think sitting out  a year from fraternity life has allowed me to mature and make a more educated and informed decision. Walking around the mall I thought about how I want to remember my time at Wabash and how I want to be remembered.  It is a lot to take into consideration should not be any easy decision, but for those of you who have been already thinking about it, Rush all of the Fraternities.

Being independent is always an option from the moment you make Wabash an option. You will never have the option of being part of a Fraternity if you don’t put yourself out there and visit all of the houses. The more of them that you visit the more options you have to choose from and making a decision will be easier for you. If you have been told about a specific house, do not blind yourself to only rushing that house. Keep your options open and think about what your decision will entail. From experience, it is better to choose from a shirt size like, small, medium, large, or extra-large,  then only having the option of a small or extra- large. You can’t pick from what you do not know exist so keep looking around.

First day back from Spring Break and Glee Club tour and boy did I need that, I didn’t actually even know I needed it that much. Had a music intervals test today and it was as easy as can be, took a long time though. I also got a message from my admissions counselor about hosting a buddy from my high school this weekend.

I remember this time last year like the back of my hand. I was on my spring break and was seriously looking forward to flying to Indy and visiting Wabash. Little did I know how much of an impact this visit would have on my decision to come to Wabash. I had my bass guitar with me for a music audition and was ready to take all of my tests for scholarships. Arriving at campus, meeting some great professors and students was the best thing that could have happened. I instantly fell in love and I could not pin point what the reason was because there were too many things that came into play. I was taken by surprise how much I fell in love. The only thing that I regret just a little now was not rushing more fraternities.

Now that it is hitting the second half of my second semester of college and the fact that Rush is this weekend, I am definitely looking forward to looking for a bid. Some may say that it was indoctrination on behalf of some fraternity members but I see it as nothing more of a statement of experiences that I either take into consideration or not. Most of the things that I consider part of myself and define who I am have become part of me due to a curiosity that ties to a mission. For example, I had a curiosity to learn a new instrument so I bought a bass and it ended up turning a profit for me in music scholarships. I applied to Wabash because it was different and had great history, and now I am here blogging about how great Wabash is. In retrospect, decisions I have made in the past always seem to help me more than harm me.

None of this is to say I did not enjoy my time as an Independent, I mean I didn’t become the Independent Men’s Association Treasure for poops and giggles. I just believe that I should make this decision now before I regret not ever making one. Being as indecisive as I am, I have made it my goal to either accept or decline a bid this Friday. If I were to hold I would probably leave it at that and ask around others to make the decision for me, which I will not turn to.

That’s enough about me, this weekend is about you. It isn’t that I am rushing this weekend that I am telling you to rush if you are visiting this weekend, but it is because I was told to rush and did not listen to many people. I was day dreaming too much about seeing myself  just at Wabash that I never though about a what a fraternity actually means. Do not let your uninformed self not think about fraternity living as an option like I did. Tour not only all the houses but talk to those who live their, actually get to know them and ask all the questions you can. If you can’t think of questions right now, you should actually start thinking of some for when you arrive on campus, it will make your visit that much more enriching.

Wrapping up Day 1 of Spring Glee Club Tour and so far so good. Got up at 6:00 and travelled to a nearby catholic church where we performed 3 pieces during mass and then afterwords performed about 5 or 6.

Felt pretty good being received that well at that church. After the church we headed to River Oaks Mall. Let’s just say it was, how do you say it, hmmm a ratchet mall. Pretty fun walking into a clothing store with exorbitantly lavish clothes that I would not buy if I was Bill Gates. I don’t think anyone would buy a silk maroon paisley vest with matching coat and paisley pants and if you would, more power to ya.

Tomorrow is also suppose to be a great day, maybe going to head to the indoor pool in this hotel.
Check in tomorrow.

I was one of the lucky few who had literally no tests this week. Well besides a paper that was turned in monday and another that I am finishing for tomorrow. Yeah thats lucky, and I enjoy and respect that. A bunch of upperclassmen I know had even two tests today and one guy had three on top of a paper. They have been studying all week for that and I am sure they did great on those exams.

Tomorrow sparks the beginning of my first Glee Club Spring Tour. Going to Lansing and Springfield, Illinios and St. Louis to sing at churches, high schools, theatres, most likely a McDonalds or two. From what I have heard from returning members, tours are really fun and a great break from school.

I need to go do my laundry for the trip, I will most likely be blogging once a day during the trip so stay connected.