Someone Like You

Today's stellar blog post is brought to you by the letter N, for New Orleans!  This past weekend I went to New Orleans, Louisiana and I got more out of it than I thought I would, that's for sure.  Before the trip, I went in thinking that this trip was gonna be all about the free time for me.  That I'd have a blast with friends on Bourbon St. (which believe me, is not something you see, it's something you experience #sleazefactory), do some mandatory community service, and visit a few tourist attractions.  Little did I know I'd end up meeting two men from an organization that would inspire me and motivate me like I haven't been before.

For the community service, we went to the Lower 9th Ward and helped out a community center.  That is where I met Mac and Steve, two of the strongest men I've ever met.  Mac was a large man who, by the looks of him, you wouldn't have guessed would run a community center.  And up until Hurricane Katrina, he didn't.  Mac spoke for about half an hour, totally freehand, about his experiences and the things that this awful tragedy taught him.  "Enjoy things.  But don't let them become your life!" he told us.  Before the hurricane, Mac owned 14, yes 14, antique cars.  They were his life.  And when Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans, it wiped out every last one of them.  Mac explained to us that the first few months after Katrina were the hardest time in his life and that at the end of those few months, he realized that you can either lie down and complain about your suffering, or do something about it.

Mac explained that the damage Katrina did is still no where near being fixed.  The death toll is still rising from those who are dying of stress.  Large amounts of people either can't move back or don't want to, and that means this community has been uprooted.  Mac got the community center together with a few other people to start saving this community and bring it back together.  Seeing this community come together before my eyes and become a "we" and not a bunch of "I"s was amazing.  Their community value was inspiring to say the least.  Mac went on to explain that just donating $10 to the Red Cross when a disaster like this occurs is not enough.  Less than 10% of that even reaches the people it needs to.  "Get out there, and do something!  Go to these places and experience it.  If you don't feel nothin', you're not gonna do nothin'" he explained.  And it made sense.  I'm by no means saying Katrina was a good thing, but I believe certain things happen for a reason, and seeing Mac turn from a selfish man into a selfless one, and seeing this community realize what's really important, like family and helping one another, is pretty amazing.

Onto Steve.  Pictured above, you wouldn't exactly say Steve looks like the strongest man in the world.  Boy, would you be wrong.  Listening to Steve's stories was easily one of the best parts of the trip.  With New Orleans being below sea level, Steve had about 12 minutes to get himself and his paralyzed wife to the attic and then the roof, once the water started entering the house.  Luckily, he did.  A boat came and rescued them both, when the medic noticed Steve was bleeding perfusely.  It turns out a long piece of wood had stuck deep into his leg.  Steve was so focused and so determined to save the love of his life, that he had no time to think about himself or feel pain.  THAT is truly selfless.  Upon arriving to the hospital, when asked if he wanted a shot to help the pain, Steve explained that they should save it for someone who needs it.  In a later teary-eyed story of Steve's, he revealed that his wife of 42 years died soon after this.  That pain is unimaginable to me.  From the day after his wife's funeral on, Steve has not gone a day without doing community service.  Literally every single day, he has been outside in the beating sun to help his community get back on its feet.  Steve and Mac taught me that, although I am not weak, I am not strong.  If I grow up to be half the man either of them are, I will have done a pretty damn good job with myself.  Thank you for taking the time to hear their stories, and believe me, it's not the same coming from me.  But I hope you are as inspired to do something for your community as I am.

Orange You Glad I Didn't Say Banana?

Alas, we meet again, fellow bloggers!  The topic of the week? Values.  The core beliefs we have that help shape our actions and decisions every day.  What are mine, you ask?  Well, let's start off with a nice little acronym known as SLAG.  SLAG stands for Scholars, Leaders, Athletes and Gentlemen.  These are the men of Pi Kappa Alpha, the men I'm lucky enough to call brothers.  While these are just a few of what I consider to be my values, I figured this would be a good starting point.

Scholars.  Scholarship, academia, furthering your education, whatever you want to call it, is important to me.  As a student who's got at least 6 more years of school ahead of him, this just makes sense.  Furthering your knowledge is key to becoming a successful, functioning, contributing member of society and cannot be achieved without great ambition.  In today's world, a college degree is the equivalent of what a high school diploma used to be.  It's a must.  My Fraternity realizes this, and I admire them for it.  Something notable about Pike, is that instead of focusing on the punishment of not getting good grades (a 2.7 is the minimum), we also have academic incentives.  If you get a 3.5 or better, you get $20 off dues and a fancy scholarship dinner.  Pretty cool, eh?

Leaders.  Ahh, leadership.  The main topic of the class, right?  Making positive change in the world one thing at a time, right?  Ever since I modeled myself after Tommy, the white Power Ranger as a child, I've always been considered a natural born leader.  However, in my 18 (Almost 19. Aww yeah.) years on this planet, I'm still learning what the definition of that word means.  Leadership, to me, entails good decision making skills, listening to your peers, being a good role model that others can look up to, and making a difference.  Sometimes, this is easier said than done, and I know I have a lot to learn about perfecting the art.

Athletes.  Athletics, hmm, a topic I'm personally not very familiar with.  I'll be the first to admit that I have the hand-eye coordination of a blind ladybug, which probably explains why I did theater all four years of high school instead of being quarterback for my (albeit awful) football team.  When I first started rushing Pike, and I knew that the A of SLAG was for Athletes, I figured I wouldn't necessarily fit in with that and just be the best damn SLG I could be.  But soon into the process, a man by the name of Nevin Folino changed my outlook on that.  He explained to me that Athletics are not about shooting a ball through a hoop or a puck into a net, but about something much greater. Competition.  Competition in everything you do. Constantly striving to be better.  Now that's something I could get behind.  Sure, being an athlete could mean winning the Fraternity Cup (which we definitely did last year, and are set to win again this year), but it also means improving yourself and realizing your full potential.  This is why I have recently started to eat healthier (i.e. more fruits, hence the title of my blog :D ), work out more often, make sure I go to class more, etc.  So, now I encourage you to be the best athlete you can be, without going out and joining a sports team.

Gentlemen.  Lastly, we end up with gentlemen.  This is a subject that I think every Fraternity, even my own, could use a reminder or two about.  It's easy to speak in freeform and just let whatever comes into your mind come out your mouth, especially after a few drinks.  It takes a true man (or woman) to filter yourself first, take a step back, and think, "Could what I'm about to say hurt someone?"  Once again, this is sometimes easier said than done.  I, for one, have definitely said things out loud that I should've just left in my head, but the key is to learn from these mistakes.  It just takes a conscious effort and is something that can be worked on little by little.  None of us are perfect, but we are all humans.  And all humans have the opportunities and resources to better themselves.

So, I hope this gives you all some insight to my personal values, beliefs, and a better understanding of who I am as a person.  Thanks for reading.

I @m who I @m

Who am I?

I am a straight, white, protestant, moderate male living in Columbus, Ohio. What's unique about me, you ask?  I am a Pike. I am a Buckeye. I am a Milford Eagle. I am a diehard Green Lantern fan. I am a future zombie apocalypse survivor. I am a leader. I am a son, a brother, and an uncle. I am a little ashamed I made my blog post title a parody of a Ke$ha song. I am an avid hater of the Subway commercials with adults with baby voices. I am a gamer, and a damn good one at that. I am a procrastinator, but a hard worker. I am balanced. I am a little cold at the moment. Simply put, I am me.

Why did I join a Fraternity, specifically Pi Kappa Alpha?  Well, to be honest with you, I had no interest in joining a Fraternity coming into college.  I had been biased by the media to assume that all "frats" were just about kegstands and drunken hookups. Granted, not necessarily to that extent, the social aspect of college is something a social butterfly like myself definitely planned on indulging myself in once I arrived to college, I didn't feel that I needed to pay $375 a quarter to do so.  Well, I have a couple friends in Fraternities at other schools that explained to me that Fraternities, not "frats" are about a lot more than just the social aspect, and that I should go in with an open mind.  So I did. I checked out a few different Fraternities at the involvement fair, and actually, Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) was my first choice.  But I met a man by the name of Phil Billow, albeit at a party, who soon opened my eyes to the world of Pi Kappa Alpha.  After a lovely man date, we discovered that my beliefs matched those of Pike, and that there would be a glorious symbiotic relationship between the Fraternity and I.  Our motto about recruitment is, "We don't create Pikes, we find them," and I believe that was the case with myself.

How do I feel after reading this adorably named "blogabus"?  I feel it was rather long. I feel that this class is different than I expected, but not in a bad way.  I expect this class to inspire me to do something good for this world that I live in.  I feel that this class will be good for me, that I will build friendships with other Fraternity and Sorority students, and that it may even help my GPA along the way.  I look forward to the day I write my final blog post for this class, and then read through my previous blog posts seeing how I have changed as a leader from the beginning of this quarter to the end of it.

Signing off for now,

THE Matt Keaton