September 14, 2011
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My pants vibrated/now I remember why…
Fraternity camping trip last semester with the guys.
Last night, my pants vibrated unexpectedly. I found my phone vibrating away in my pocket.
C, one of my pledge brothers, was calling, asking if he could come over. I responded as I always do whenever possible, “I’m here. Head on over.”
C arrived with one of my other pledge brothers, looking visibly distressed. He grinned a manic grin, with a desperation that told the weight of his burdens threatening to challenge his civility. Over some imbibing, C shared his problems with me, and they were quite similar to my circumstances earlier this year; he had been lied to and manipulated by someone he put a lot of trust in. C eventually fell asleep for a few hours while I wrote up a couple of labs and read up for my Ethics in Healthcare course. At three o’clock in the morning, he woke up and mumbled his thanks on his way out.
Now I remember why I joined my fraternity: for the guys. Choosing to pledge was not about gaining letters or status for me as much as it was about being able to spend time and effort making good memories with a great bunch of guys.
The idea that the brothers are always going to be around in some way to help me out in my time of need was a hypothetical given that I had never explored until I was involved in an instance of it (albeit unexpectedly) last night. It was interesting to find my first role in the support network of the brotherhood to be that of a caretaker.
-b.
PS: Life is… currently manageable. Not necessarily a consistent degree of easy or hard, but manageable enough.
Comments (3)
That nice of you
. Always good to have people like that in your life.
How many times I could have written an almost identical post. They’re your brothers, friend. They’ll stick with you, even after college is over. It’s worth it.
That’s good
Friends are really important, especially when you find yourself down. I wish I knew that back when I was younger. :/