Online assignment

            With the rise of the internet and other ways that information flows immediately, people have become more in tune with what is happening and when it’s happening through things like social networking sites, blogs and even on comment options on news sites. Many people perceive this information flow to do nothing but help and keep everyone informed, maybe even keep media sources more honest because it is so easy for a common person to share their opinion so the power is being taken out of the media owners hands and spread to everyone. This perception that the power of the news is being moved from those who were in control to the common man is true in the sense that companies do not have as much say in what people read and see but the thought that this brings integrity to the information that is being circulated is not true. This is because even though there is more information out there the quality of it has dropped tremendously because with everyone putting what they think out there actual expert opinions are forgotten and disregarded for some random person’s blog. This can become an issue because if people do not know how to verify sources and they take these random opinions that may not even be fact-based seriously and a group of people do, then an movement can start based on lies. Like when an article originated by The Onion, a comedy website, about Congress threatening to leave Washington D.C if a new building wasn’t made. This was on a comedy news site and still someone read it, thought it was real and helped it spread until someone seeing the story had no idea where it came from but it was so wide spread it was assumed true.
            Another major downfall of this information flow is its effects on social movements. It is often looked at in a way that would show that it’s easier for anyone to get their ideas out and cause a movement but the ease not only often over simplifies movements but makes a strong leader unnecessary and yet these movements gain popularity. However, in order for movements to cause real change a leader or organizer aside from a Facebook group or email list is necessary. 

Best friends are an important thing to have.  Tonight I realized just how integral a part of my life my best friend is.  There are many things to be said about a best friend.  A best friend is someone who can listen to your every concern, but be open enough with you to let you know when you’re wrong.  A best friend is someone real enough to let you know your best traits and your worst faults.  Best friends are hard to find and impossible to replace. 

This evening, I know for a fact I had a conversation with my best friend.  He and I had the most prevalent conversation I’ve ever had with a human being in my life.  We literally spoke about everything.  If it wasn’t for this kid, I swear I would have no idea who I am.  We covered everything from our lives in comparison to movies to our innermost fears and concerns.  If it wasn’t for this conversation, I don’t think I would be able to survive the rest of this semester, let alone the rest of my college career.  

Tonight, I realized how imperative a best friend is.  I realized how lucky I am to have someone who I can tell everything to, while at the same time being able listen the same way.  

To my best friend,
Thank you for being the coolest guy I’ve ever met.  Thank you for trusting me to know what is best for you and for letting me help you make your most important decisions.  I know you won’t see this, but I am glad you’re there and I hope you know I will always be there for you too.  Enjoy life, man.  Enjoy every minute of it. You’re going to do incredible things.
Sincerely,
Your best friend. 

It has once again been a while and I have been neglecting you, but recent events coerce me to once again take up arms and pen my thoughts.  Or in this case type.  Lately, Greek Life at St. John’s has been a roller-coaster of friends and foes.  People have taken this Greek Week nonsense far too seriously and they are acting like it actually matters, because at the end of Greek Week, people are actually gonna remember what happened. 

They’re missing the point if you ask me.  Greek Week is designed for friendly competition, not for cutthroat, vicious, border-line combat.  I have never seen such animalistic behavior in “adults” in my life.  It is honestly pathetic.  This week should celebrate the camaraderie we share as a community of Greeks.  We are a group of individuals who our University hold to a higher standard and we should act like it by treating each other with respect and dignity, not by trash talking and acting like children.  There is a reason that in order to be a Greek at St. John’s one is called to be a student leader.  We do more service, raise more money, and do more in student affairs than all of the non-Greek students at our school combined.  That is absurd in relation to the proportion of Greek to non-Greek students. 

There are only 34 Greek Organizations, and we are dwindling fast.  We need to stick together, not fight amongst ourselves and expedite the process of eliminating something so crucial to our campus.  If we continue on this path, we will have even fewer and we will all lose something that we care about more than a lot of things.  I for one will not stand for it.  I am extending an olive branch to every fraternity and sorority on campus and urging each of you to do the same for each other.  As President of Sigma Chi Beta Fraternity for the 2012-2013 Academic Year, I can assure you that my voice will be heard on this matter more and more often.  I know I am not the only one who feels this way, and I’m calling on everyone from APD to TKE and D Phi E to Theta to step up and think about this logically.  We need each other to co-exist and to co-exist we need to put our differences and past aside.  I know it’s a lot to ask for and it may seem like a pipe dream to some, but would you rather put some nonsensical trash talking aside or put your letters aside?  The letters each of you cried, bled and worked so hard for. 

I don’t know about you, but I bleed my colors and I’ll be damned if I give up the letters that I earned and love.  Are you willing to put differences aside for your brothers or sisters?  I know I am.

Thanks for reading this.

I just got back from participating in the Hope survey project.  For those of you who do not know what Hope is, it is a 6 hour survey of all the homeless in New York’s 5 boroughs that provides each with a place to stay, eat and bathe for the night, as well as give the state a better idea of just how many homeless there are in the city.  I was supposed to participate in this event with a few of my brothers, but unfortunately I was drafted to be on a team with some people that I did not know.  I tried to make the best of it, and overall it was an interesting experience; however, I saw something that truly chilled me to my core.

As we were surveying the Kew Gardens subway terminal, we saw a man jump onto the tracks in front of an oncoming train.  Luckily, it was a construction car and was able to stop relatively quickly.  The man was then quickly removed from the tracks and placed onto the platform safely.  He then began to scream and moan in the most horrific fashion I have ever heard.  He was pleading with the construction workers to let him die and leave him alone.  That no one cared at all and his life was meaningless. 

When I heard this I felt my heart drop, and all I could think was, “this poor man has sunk so low that he was literally begging for his life to be cut short.”  He was absolutely desperate for an end to whatever it may have been that he was going through and it was painful to even watch, so God only knows what the poor man was going through in his mind.  Within 5 minutes a medical crew had come down and placed him in a straight-jacket as to prevent him from attacking anyone or potentially attempting to hurt himself again.  The whole time that he was within earshot the only comprehensible muttering that could be heard was “Please just let me die.” 

I understand, now, why they call it Hope.  Because our offering of a place to say and the promise of treatment with dignity prevents things like that from happening. If we had only been there five minutes earlier, who knows?  The man might have never jumped.  If he had been given the satisfaction of a listening ear or an open hand maybe he would not have felt so alone. 

Who knows?

It’s been a while since my last little tumblr post.  I figured I might as well write something now while I have things on my mind.  Death was never something that scared me.  Don’t get me wrong, it was never something that I was exactly on great terms with, nor was it a frequent topic in my inner-conversations.  Nonetheless, it was never something that I found frightening. 

Contrary to what you may be thinking after having read that little introduction, I am still not afraid of death.  Actually, I am more comfortable with it than I have ever been before.  This past week, a lot happened.  One of my closest friends turned twenty on Monday, I turned twenty on Thursday, and I found out that my father was literally minutes away from a heart attack which in his present state would have killed him.  Now is when the confusion comes in.  What do you and Trevor’s birthdays have to do with the fact that your fact that your father almost died.  Well, to quell your unending curiosity I will start at the beginning. 

Monday started out alright.  Trevor and I got to Micro-Bio Lab late because neither of us were in good enough shape to wake up on time.  After lab, we split up for a little bit due to things that he and I needed to take care of and classes that we didn’t have in common.  Later in the day, after classes were over, I called Trevor in order to make sure that our festivities would begin on time.  As soon as I got off the phone with him, I received a phone call from my dad.  He sounded tired.  Not long day at work tired, but hit by a bus tired.  So naturally I inquired as to why this was.  He told me that he had just gotten out of surgery and I immediately began to panic.  I knew he had been having some issues with his heart, I had set up appointments for him in effort to keep my mother and sisters out of the loop and make sure that they wouldn’t have to worry about it.  Little did I know, he did the same thing to me.  He has this irrational idea in his head that I’m a person with a lot of stress.  Granted, I am.  I understood completely and decided the best choice of action was to just make sure that he was doing alright and not feeling uncomfortable at all.  To make matters worse, I received a text message from my sisters while on the phone with my father saying that my dog has cancer.  This completely fucked up my day.  After I got off the phone with him, I met up with Trevor, told him what had happened and tried to get it off my mind. 

After our meeting, Trevor and I went back to Chelset with some of the brothers and he and I proceeded to get absurdly intoxicated.  Trevor, because it was his birthday, myself because that is how I cope.  Healthy, right?  Right.  Well, the next day was significantly better; my dad sounded fine on the phone and assured me that our dog was healthy enough for the surgery that he needs in order to remove the tumor.  Then, after my staff meeting and rush event, I came back to the dorm where I am an RA and spoke with a girl who I have had an unyielding crush on since I met Her in August.  After a conversation over some clothes that I was folding, we kissed and it was possibly the thing that got me through my week.  She is incredible.  But, I’m not going to write too much about Her because it seems when I do, things get messed up and this is the last girl I want that to happen with.

Wednesday came, dumped another load of stress on me from Battle of the Bands and Relay For Life and Organic Chemistry Lab.  It was okay though, it was just another Wednesday.

Then came Thursday.  Thursday was my birthday, and let me tell you I was not excited.  I had an entire day of classes, I was still thinking about the condition of my father, Trevor was exceedingly sick, and while all of this was going on the company who was supposed to rent me a PA system for my Battle of the Bands canceled on me.  Needless to say, I have been in stressed out, crazed-Wayne mode since.  Then I found out that it was F&S night at school and I needed to go.  After all of that was over, I went back to my building, saw Her, and asked Her if She wanted to come out that night.  She did, and we walked to Chelset together.  It was nice.  When we got there, I saw only DJ sitting in the living room and I was kind of embarrassed because I was expecting more people to be there and they were not.  It was okay though, because DJ is one of the best guys I know.  He noticed that I was a little frazzled by the lack of people, so without hesitation, he called up two of the brothers who said they were coming.  Dylan showed up a little while later and Trevor soon came out of his twenty hour coma with a half bottle of Georgi.  He, DJ and I began to drink a little bit and then we partook in Jesus’ favorite pastime and had one of the greatest conversations I’ve ever had with anyone.  I don’t know why, but DJ and Trevor have an ability of opening me up and within a few minutes I told them about how worried I was about my dad and all of my innermost thoughts and feelings that I never really brought up to myself.  They are two of my favorite people in the world.  If it weren’t for them, I would be beside myself in stress and fear right now.

Then came Friday.  Friday was not a bad day, as a matter of fact it was a pretty good day all things considered.  After a long day of classes and two separate meetings with Fraternal Alumni, I headed over to Chelset with my brothers and had a successful rush event.  Hands down our biggest turnout thus far in the semester.  That wasn’t the highlight of my day though.  The icing on the cake was when I headed back to the dorm and got to see Her again.  She is becoming more and more a fixture in my life and I love every minute of it.  I am beginning to feel semblances of happiness again.  I’m not jumping the gun on this one though.  I’m taking it slow and steady, because She is the prize at the end of this race.  However, I will say that I have diarrhea of the mouth around Her.  I tell Her exactly what I’m thinking and I made the mistake of telling Her about my overwhelming fears and the causes behind them.  She didn’t judge me and only responded with kind words and a kiss.  It was exactly what I needed. 

What does all of this have to do with death?  More than you might think.  Every twist and turn and curve ball that life throws at me or you, or anyone for that matter.  They are just tests.  Life is one big assignment and there are no right or wrong answers to any of the biggest questions on it.  Over the course of this week, which had all the makings of a normal week with all the seasonings of a week that I will never forget, I realized that I am not afraid of death at all.  There is nothing in my life that, if I or anyone that I loved were to leave now, would make me feel a sense of regret or longing.  I have been more honest and open this week than I have ever been.  I have seen the things that I fear, and I am bolstering my own internal army.  There is nothing that will bring me to my knees and admit defeat anymore.  I have started my personal conquest over desperation.  It will be a long, treacherous war, but I will not be defeated and I will support all those who are in congruence with my cause. 

So if you are ready to lay everything out on the line, be honest and open, and most importantly, be strong for yourself,  I will be behind you.  If I know you, if I don’t know you, if I love you, if I hate you, it does not matter.  I will stand behind you because the enemy of my enemy is my friend.  Let’s conquer death together.  Let’s live life the way it is supposed to be lived.  Fearlessly, Freely, and most importantly United.  United against whatever it is that threatens us as individuals and as a human race. 

If you read this whole thing, I am thoroughly impressed and I hope you weren’t bored to tears.  Good night tumblr.