PKT25: Spring 1997
My family spent ten days of the winter break of my freshman year on St. Thomas, a trip that had been postponed from my senior year of high school due to damage from Hurricane Marilyn. I gained back most of the weight I had lost over the fall semester. I came back to participate in my very first rush from the side of the brothers.
Rush is kind of like dating, in that you are put into contact with people you don't know and asked to make some snap decisions over a relatively short period of time. It can be super awkward when people don't click, and incredibly fun when they do. Do rush well, and the house grows and prospers. Do rush poorly, and the house shrinks. Do it poorly enough times in a row, and the house dies. My pledge class of seven was the largest pledge class that had joined the house in a few years, but we almost matched it in the spring 1997 semester with a pledge class of six.
Adam - an English major from the eastern suburbs of Cleveland. I haven't figured out who his BB was.
Jon - a biomechanical engineering major out of New Jersey. BB: Ron.
Kip - a computer science major, from Columbus, Ohio. Kip lived in the dorm room next to mine and was the first person my age I ever met who had a cell phone. BB: Eli.
Mike - another computer science major from New Jersey, close to Philadelphia. BB: Frank.
Neal - an electrical engineering major from Delphos, Ohio. Neal was the second oldest of six siblings, the younger five of whom often ended up visiting the house at one time or another while we were in college. BB: Zuck.
Ravi - an Indian-American student who lived on the south side. BB: Joe D.
Neal, Mike and Kip all lived in Storrs dormitory, joining myself, K-Rob, Frank and Dolan from the Fall Class. Proximity is a potent factor in who gets rushed.
When I look back at this semester, it feels like I did almost nothing. I was still on the football team, but the off-season time commitment was make sure you hit the gym, which I did through a weight lifting class "taught" by one of the coaches. This wrapped up my physical education requirement at CWRU, so yay.
Beyond that, I was not in any organizations besides Phi Kappa Theta, and I didn't hold a position at the fraternity. I went to class and I worked at my first campus job as a data entry clerk at the Ireland Cancer Center affiliated with University Hospital. It was, at that time, the highest paying job of my life, although granted I'd just worked fast food in high school at minimum wage. I did it well enough that when I ended up going home for the summer they were disappointed. I actually arranged for K-Rob to work that job over the summer, but he apparently never went so they hired someone else and I had to find a new job when I returned in the fall semester. Anyway, I made enough to pay for fast food to supplement the terrible diner hall food. Without football, I didn't lose the crazy amount of weight again.
Mentally, I was not probably all there this semester. I was slow to recover from the situation with my high school girlfriend the prior Thanksgiving. Compounding my distress was my growing conclusion that I didn't really want to play football anymore. At the time, football was a major part of my 19-year-old identify, if not the most important part, and it also one of the major factors that brought me to Cleveland. On the other hand, it had caused a string of concussions, and unlike high school where playing football even decently was enough to impress girls and ensure some level of a social life, nobody at CWRU cared in the slightest. Most students didn't know we even had a team, and while the 5-5 record in that one season was about as many losses as my high school team had incurred in four seasons, it was the best record they'd had in a decade.
The football season resolved itself in large part because I had a really long conversation with Dave. He had also played football in high school and considered playing it in college, and although I no longer remember exactly what he said to me, I remember that it helped crystalize my decision that it was time to stop.
I also remember being surprisingly gratified that the head coach was really upset when I told him I wasn't going to play anymore. He actually sent one of the senior defensive lineman on the team to talk to me, but the senior in question was a guy named Derek who had actually been the DIII heavyweight wrestling champion in the prior year, and he said "listen, there's a ton of fun stuff to do at college besides football, so if football isn't fun, go find something else!" That's probably not what the head coach had in mind, but it sure helped me.
In retrospect 18-year-old me made good choices (going to CWRU) for poor reasons (to play football), and I spent a lot of time worrying about it. So basically, for me this semester was the "deal with mental stuff, mostly from football and a bit from girls." I spent the semester at class, at work or doing things with the Phi Kaps. Fortunately, I shook out of it in time to run for some positions for the Fall 1997 semester. Although I'd have crappy mental health in my sophomore year as well, then it would be much more about academic stress than anything else.
At the end of the semester, the following brothers graduated:
Dave - went to medical school somewhere, OSU maybe? Now a doctor.
Darin - went to medical school at CWRU. He hung out at the house quite a bit while he was in med school. I hear he is now a brain surgeon.
Glick - lived in Cleveland for a couple of years (he figures prominently in my sophomore year), then moved to the west coast to work in the tech industry.
Jeff - got a doctorate in (I think) psychology and is now a professor.
Neal S. - as far as I know, he got a doctorate in physics, but I have no idea what happened after that.
Steve - married his college sweetheart Jen that summer and went to work.
I talk to Glick regularly. I haven't actually seen Dave since he graduated, but am FB friends with him. I saw Jeff a few times, most recently in 2013, but have lost contact. The others disappeared from my life as soon as they left Cleveland, whether that was immediately or a few years later like Darin. Given that they were at least three if not four years older than me, that's not a huge surprise.
In addition to these departures, Dennis dropped out of the fraternity (and possibly out of CWRU). I couldn't pick him out of a lineup today.
As we headed into the summer, our membership stood at 24, which was actually one less than it had been in December.
The Ohio Alpha Beta Chapter of Phi Kappa Theta
The House Tour
Outside,
Main Floor Bedrooms,
Main Floor Public Rooms,
Basement Public Areas,
Basement Private Areas,
2nd Floor Big Bedrooms,
2nd Floor Small Bedrooms,
3rd Floor First Hallway,
3rd Floor Second Hallway,
Attic & Errata,
House Tour Commentary: Joe & Laura & Astrid,
House Tour Commentary: Jackal,
House Tour Commentary: Susan,
House Tour Commentary: Assorted
The Pledge Program
Bid Night, Schedule, Curriculum & Black Books, Big Brothers & Pledge Pins, Paddling, Initiation
Semesters
Fall 1996, Spring 1997
Events
Detour, Blackout, Boo at the Zoo, Chapter Meetings
Other
Full Series, My Rush Experience, Chapter History, Family Trees, National, Greek Life at CWRU, Fraternity Offices, Part 1, Fraternity Offices, Part 2, Fraternity Offices, Part 3, Demographics
Additional Commentary
Black Books, Boo at the Zoo & Blackout
Rush is kind of like dating, in that you are put into contact with people you don't know and asked to make some snap decisions over a relatively short period of time. It can be super awkward when people don't click, and incredibly fun when they do. Do rush well, and the house grows and prospers. Do rush poorly, and the house shrinks. Do it poorly enough times in a row, and the house dies. My pledge class of seven was the largest pledge class that had joined the house in a few years, but we almost matched it in the spring 1997 semester with a pledge class of six.
Adam - an English major from the eastern suburbs of Cleveland. I haven't figured out who his BB was.
Jon - a biomechanical engineering major out of New Jersey. BB: Ron.
Kip - a computer science major, from Columbus, Ohio. Kip lived in the dorm room next to mine and was the first person my age I ever met who had a cell phone. BB: Eli.
Mike - another computer science major from New Jersey, close to Philadelphia. BB: Frank.
Neal - an electrical engineering major from Delphos, Ohio. Neal was the second oldest of six siblings, the younger five of whom often ended up visiting the house at one time or another while we were in college. BB: Zuck.
Ravi - an Indian-American student who lived on the south side. BB: Joe D.
Neal, Mike and Kip all lived in Storrs dormitory, joining myself, K-Rob, Frank and Dolan from the Fall Class. Proximity is a potent factor in who gets rushed.
When I look back at this semester, it feels like I did almost nothing. I was still on the football team, but the off-season time commitment was make sure you hit the gym, which I did through a weight lifting class "taught" by one of the coaches. This wrapped up my physical education requirement at CWRU, so yay.
Beyond that, I was not in any organizations besides Phi Kappa Theta, and I didn't hold a position at the fraternity. I went to class and I worked at my first campus job as a data entry clerk at the Ireland Cancer Center affiliated with University Hospital. It was, at that time, the highest paying job of my life, although granted I'd just worked fast food in high school at minimum wage. I did it well enough that when I ended up going home for the summer they were disappointed. I actually arranged for K-Rob to work that job over the summer, but he apparently never went so they hired someone else and I had to find a new job when I returned in the fall semester. Anyway, I made enough to pay for fast food to supplement the terrible diner hall food. Without football, I didn't lose the crazy amount of weight again.
Mentally, I was not probably all there this semester. I was slow to recover from the situation with my high school girlfriend the prior Thanksgiving. Compounding my distress was my growing conclusion that I didn't really want to play football anymore. At the time, football was a major part of my 19-year-old identify, if not the most important part, and it also one of the major factors that brought me to Cleveland. On the other hand, it had caused a string of concussions, and unlike high school where playing football even decently was enough to impress girls and ensure some level of a social life, nobody at CWRU cared in the slightest. Most students didn't know we even had a team, and while the 5-5 record in that one season was about as many losses as my high school team had incurred in four seasons, it was the best record they'd had in a decade.
The football season resolved itself in large part because I had a really long conversation with Dave. He had also played football in high school and considered playing it in college, and although I no longer remember exactly what he said to me, I remember that it helped crystalize my decision that it was time to stop.
I also remember being surprisingly gratified that the head coach was really upset when I told him I wasn't going to play anymore. He actually sent one of the senior defensive lineman on the team to talk to me, but the senior in question was a guy named Derek who had actually been the DIII heavyweight wrestling champion in the prior year, and he said "listen, there's a ton of fun stuff to do at college besides football, so if football isn't fun, go find something else!" That's probably not what the head coach had in mind, but it sure helped me.
In retrospect 18-year-old me made good choices (going to CWRU) for poor reasons (to play football), and I spent a lot of time worrying about it. So basically, for me this semester was the "deal with mental stuff, mostly from football and a bit from girls." I spent the semester at class, at work or doing things with the Phi Kaps. Fortunately, I shook out of it in time to run for some positions for the Fall 1997 semester. Although I'd have crappy mental health in my sophomore year as well, then it would be much more about academic stress than anything else.
At the end of the semester, the following brothers graduated:
Dave - went to medical school somewhere, OSU maybe? Now a doctor.
Darin - went to medical school at CWRU. He hung out at the house quite a bit while he was in med school. I hear he is now a brain surgeon.
Glick - lived in Cleveland for a couple of years (he figures prominently in my sophomore year), then moved to the west coast to work in the tech industry.
Jeff - got a doctorate in (I think) psychology and is now a professor.
Neal S. - as far as I know, he got a doctorate in physics, but I have no idea what happened after that.
Steve - married his college sweetheart Jen that summer and went to work.
I talk to Glick regularly. I haven't actually seen Dave since he graduated, but am FB friends with him. I saw Jeff a few times, most recently in 2013, but have lost contact. The others disappeared from my life as soon as they left Cleveland, whether that was immediately or a few years later like Darin. Given that they were at least three if not four years older than me, that's not a huge surprise.
In addition to these departures, Dennis dropped out of the fraternity (and possibly out of CWRU). I couldn't pick him out of a lineup today.
As we headed into the summer, our membership stood at 24, which was actually one less than it had been in December.
The Ohio Alpha Beta Chapter of Phi Kappa Theta
The House Tour
Outside,
Main Floor Bedrooms,
Main Floor Public Rooms,
Basement Public Areas,
Basement Private Areas,
2nd Floor Big Bedrooms,
2nd Floor Small Bedrooms,
3rd Floor First Hallway,
3rd Floor Second Hallway,
Attic & Errata,
House Tour Commentary: Joe & Laura & Astrid,
House Tour Commentary: Jackal,
House Tour Commentary: Susan,
House Tour Commentary: Assorted
The Pledge Program
Bid Night, Schedule, Curriculum & Black Books, Big Brothers & Pledge Pins, Paddling, Initiation
Semesters
Fall 1996, Spring 1997
Events
Detour, Blackout, Boo at the Zoo, Chapter Meetings
Other
Full Series, My Rush Experience, Chapter History, Family Trees, National, Greek Life at CWRU, Fraternity Offices, Part 1, Fraternity Offices, Part 2, Fraternity Offices, Part 3, Demographics
Additional Commentary
Black Books, Boo at the Zoo & Blackout