I went to Syracuse University nestled in the scenic yet bitterly cold area of central New York. The city itself is actually considered to be the center of New York State. This being the case, Syracuse was an interesting focal point in the lives of many in the area.Obligatory website: Syracuse University.
And so it goes, Syracuse was a liberation from the ignorance of high school. Where as high school offered me little in terms of intellectual, physical, or emotional enlightenment; undergrad presented me options that I did not have growing up through the high school years.
What changed? In my opinion, upon having the chance to look back at my first year of college, I believe it was both the psychological and physical escape from an area of ignorance and intolerance. For the first time in my life, I was free. Free from the stupidity that high school promoted. Free from the stereotyping, from the indifference, from the superficiality of it all. College afforded me the opportunity to escape into a world where differences were actually looked favorably upon. I didn't have to fit in (though I wanted to, and did) in any respect. I didn't have to conform to values predetermined. I could hang with anyone I felt like hanging with. All the notions about being on your own were somewhat true. Of course most of us had the realization that we weren't truly independent, but what undergrad allowed us to accept was that soon we would be altogether independent. Many of the lessons that I reflect back on today were based on those grand four years.
So what did I do during those four years...?
I spent most of my time the first year emphasizing the social aspect of my life. I partied like there was no tomorrow. Surprisingly enough, my grades didn't suffer as much as my detractors would have liked them to. With that, I would say that I utilized my first year to catch up on all the things that I think I would have liked to have done during my high school existence. What those were I won't elaborate on, though I'll describe a few of my activities, the others are a bit personal, and if my mom ever found out about them, I wouldn't hear the end of it.
The first of the activities that I engaged in was joining the Syracuse University Marching Band (SUMB). Normally, I would not mention such a group as this for fear of being branded a "band geek". I have no such qualms anymore. I had a fantastic time in marching band. I would go so far as to say that if it weren't for my experiences within this organization, I don't believe that my college experience would have been as fulfilling. The places that I've been to and the people that I've met more than made my "stay" a pleasant ne.
Obligatory website: The Syracuse University Marching Band.
The people who designed the page weren't thinking about a look so much as they were trying to make it fairly informative. That part was successful, however the overal "loud" and "obnoxious" tone of the page is distracting. It's an adequate attempt, to say the least.
I also ended up doing an organization known as "The Sour Sitrus Society", a student run basketball pep band. Yet another great way to get pretty decent seats for baskteball games. The only unfortunate drawback was that you had to wear these rather annoying rugby. These were stylistically, also, "loud" and "obnoxious" (a recurring theme). Such was the price to get in free to a basketball game and to travel with the team during post-season excursions.
Obligatory website: The Sour Sitrus Society.
Then there was my affiliation with a fraternity. Kappa Kappa Psi, The National Honorary Band Fraternity, founded locally in 1982 (nationally in 1919) was established to provide a system of service for bands. Service has always been in my nature (and continues to this day). Coupling this with my love for music, Kappa Kappa Psi seemed like a logical decision on my part to attain membership. That was my PC answer as to why I decided to attempt membership. The truth of the matter was that I didn't learn not to be a conformist until after I got in, thus I joined because most of my friends were doing it. The fact that most of the people that I knew and liked were in it as well, made the decision that much easier.
I learned alot from the four years that I was a member of all three of these organizations. I learned a lot about myself as a person and a lot of my abilities and of my limitations. I thank these organizations for providing me an outlet to explore the person that I am today. I don't think I would have discovered as much without this participation as I did with.
Now before you go ahead and think of me as a socially motivated college student (for which you would be right), I will say that I did my share of work. In fact I did graduate with Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the Art Media Studies Department of the School of Visual and Performing Arts.
Obligatory website: Computer Graphics Department.
Which brings us to the what I'm involved with nowadays.
