At 5:50AM MST I am departing via Delta to New Jersey for the remainder of the week. I will mostly be in Avalon, NJ with many of my best college friends enjoying one last hurrah before we all begin the next chapter in our lives. What that means for you is that I will effectively be MIA until next week.
Therefore, I am posting a piece I wrote reflecting on my time as a brother in the Eta Sigma Chapter of AEPi at Georgetown University. I held the titles of: Lt. Master (Vice President), Brother at Large, Master (President), and Pledge Master over the last three years of my involvement. I am the only remaining Eta Sigma brother for the Class of 2011 and I am proud to be an AEPi. Please read this as if it were Monday, May 25, 2011 when it was originally penned:
Two days ago I graduated from Georgetown and a sense of relief swept over me as I crossed the stage and shook President DeGioia’s hand. This relief was not because the university could no longer impact my social experience or because my family and friends were watching, but because I was fully prepared for this moment. I could point to my studies, internship, and friends as the reason, but that was not it. Rather, I felt prepared because of how I have matured at Georgetown and developed the skills to succeed in the world. No experience prepared me for that moment like the Eta Sigma chapter of the Alpha Epsilon Pi International Fraternity.
When I entered Georgetown I was an arrogant freshman who vehemently believed that they could conquer anything and would one day be a renowned business leader. Nothing is preventing me from accomplishing that goal, but that is not the person AEPi helped me become.
One of my earliest memories of Georgetown is meeting the brotherhood and instantly realizing that they were like me, only a few years wiser. They had similar interests and the wisdom that it would not be an easy road, but the best way to travel it would be with friends, learning along the way. I did not expect to join a fraternity in college; in fact I resisted the idea of it in high school and was even elated at the fact that Georgetown did not have any fraternities. Little did I know that that would change very quickly.
I vividly remember being initiated as a pledge and then inducted into the chapter five hectic weeks later. I survived the pledge process and by the end of my sophomore year was the only AEPi brother left from both my pledge class and the succeeding one. I had a burden on my shoulders. As fortune had it, the chapter was at a crossroads. At the end of the 2008-2009 academic year more than 15 brothers graduated, cutting the chapter’s size in half. There were maybe six seniors, soon to be two, and me as the veteran brothers. I was elected as Master and I knew I had a lot of work ahead of me.
I spent the summer preparing for the Fall and how I would lead the chapter. I attended the national convention and learned as much as possible from previous masters. What I realized is that no matter how much preparation I did, I would not be able to fully adjust to my position until the semester started. As a leader, I had to rely on my brothers to accomplish a fantastic rush and pledge process during both semesters and help the fraternity grow. Recently a current brother told me that without my work as Master, the chapter wouldn’t exist today, or at least would not be what it is. I respect him for the remark, but I disagree. Yes, I had an influence on the chapter’s proliferation at a time where it had only three upperclassmen. However, AEPi is more than one young man taking charge and pushing through his ideas. That simply fails. Instead, it is a brotherhood about working together, learning from one another, and maturing to a stage where you are able to truly lead your brothers by example from any position and one day make a difference in the world.
Whenever I am asked about what made my Georgetown experience special, I pontificate on the people that I met, studied with, and have become lifelong friends with. They are what made college such a valuable and unique opportunity. The brothers and people I met through AEPi were extraordinary in some ways compared to everyone else. They challenged me at exactly the right times to mature and grow as a person and a leader. Without them I would not be the graduate I am today. I saw with my fullest confidence that the Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity elevated my college experience because it forced me to challenge my views, strengths, and weaknesses to develop the skills I will need to succeed. The Eta Sigma transformed me and other brothers from ordinary students into extraordinary young men of character and repute who can stand strong and know that they will make a difference and understand what it will take to accomplish that.
Life is about connections and relationships and the ones I forged through my participation in AEPi were critical to their development. I recommend that every brother, current and former, take a minute to reflect on their AEPi experience: what it has meant to them today and how they can make it more meaningful in the future. We should always strive to be better and that can only be done by leveraging the people around us. AEPi provides that opportunity and without it I would not have the support and alumni network that I depend on.
I hope you enjoyed that because AEPi meant a lot to me and I cannot understate the importance of brotherhood and community in my and many collegiate experiences.
In the coming weeks I plan to write about my continued preparations for moving to Miami and beginning law school, my planned road trip across America, and the Republican Presidential candidates.
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