So the wedding was this past weekend which was incredible. It was my first wedding and being a groomsman definitely made the experience better. It was so great seeing all the alumni on both fraternity and sorority side.



The wedding party


I had a rough day coming back because of all the work that I had to catch up on. However, that completely changed when I got the news. Apparently, my best friend Karim who I have been talking about in the blogs since last semester has been trying to study abroad in the United States. Not only did I find out that he got accepted to a school here but it is also in Florida. The best part about it is that the school is in Saint Pete so I am only going to be an hour away from him. Words cannot explain the emotions I am feeling right now. To know that my best friend is coming to the US puts me at ease because I was getting worried about next year. It is going to be hard, but I know what I want and that is to graduate in the Honors Program with Magna Cum Laude. I feel that I have worked this hard all my time here for a reason and I cannot stop now. Finals are coming up and that will be where the challenge is, but after that it is a smooth ride. I will be heading off to Texas specifically to Austin to spend my summer with my brother whom I haven’t spent time with in so long. I know a lot of people are scared about the future but I am all about it. I have nothing to be scared of and everything else to fall back on. Therefore, let the good times roll. Thank you for reading my blog and catching up with me about my adventures in Switzerland and back at home. Who knows… maybe you’ll be tuning in next year. :D

I cannot believe that there are only a couple weeks to go. The semester has gone by incredibly fast and I’ll be a senior in no time. Life has been pretty relaxed though. There hasn’t been anything that has stood out because I am heading to the final stretch. Finals are a few weeks away and after that it is smooth sailing. I already have housing next year with my fraternity brothers Trey, James, and Dave. Besides that, I have a wedding coming up and am so stoked. There is going to be alumni from my fraternity coming who I cannot wait to see because it involves my fraternity brother and his girlfriend who is in Theta Phi Alpha. I honestly didn’t think I would have much to talk about in this post but just talking about the wedding brought back some old feelings. Besides Switzerland, I feel that I miss freshman year so much because it had some of the best times of my life. I was so carefree and innocent that the new experiences of college opened me up so much. I was able to grow and develop as a person which I thank the fraternity. Well, specifically I thank one person by the name of Tyrell Johnson. Coming into Saint Leo, I was like every other person. I was scared and nervous about what was to come. I had no idea what was to come and looking back, I never would’ve guessed that I would be where I am today. I am able to work twenty hours a week, maintain my position of being a vice president of Tau Kappa Epsilons, and finally maintain a 3.87 GPA while having a social life. The more I think about it, I have such high expectations for myself that nothing will hold me back from what I want. I tell everyone here that I am ready to graduate sooner rather than later which is so true because I am ready for what is next. However, for now, I am content with going to bowling on Fridays with new people. The reason I say that is because these are the only pictures I have for this post because my camera is broke from Spring Break. :) Take care and only a couple weeks left.




Me with Choda





Me with Emilio





Me with Nolan

Well, this past weekend was Spring Fling and what a blast it was. We went bowling on Thursday night which was a lot of fun because that is where I get to see all my friends together. After bowling, we went to Waffle House which is pretty typical of college students because it is open 24 hours. Yesterday, Saint Leo had a concert featuring Florenze and Everclear. For only knowing one of Everclear’s songs, I still managed to have an amazing time. It was an extremely hot day, but Saint Leo had free popcorn, ice cones, cotton candy, etc so it was pretty much just a day to relax as I threw football for five straight hours. Right now, I am currently packing up for next week because it is Spring Break which means that I will be on a cruise to Mexico, Honduras, Belize, etc.

Everclear concert, Spring Fling 09

Enjoying the concert

At the bowling alley with friends

Friends

Well, midterms grade are out and all the hard work has paid off. I have four A’s and an A-. It feels good to know that I am back on my rhythm considering that the semester started out a bit rocky. I am amazed though at the fact that I have chosen the right major. Classes are finally something I like because it pertains to my interests. For example, for both my advertising and marketing research classes, I had to do a networking interview where it was our job to contact a person in a particular field that we see ourselves in and ask them how they got to where they are today. While everyone complained about how hard it is to contact a person considering that they are extremely busy, I took up the challenge and found out so much about what it is like to be a salesperson especially during the economic crisis. The advice that he gave was also interesting for the person I interviewed focused that it is about who you know that gets you the job and what you know that gets you to keep it. Besides this, I also felt that I needed to get off campus as well because I am getting so bored of staying around campus during the weekends. Therefore, Ray, Trey, and I decided to go rock climbing to do some physical activity and have fun in the process as well. We went to a local place in Tampa called Vertical Ventures and went rock climbing for a good three hours. We were pretty sore after that but still decided to hang out in the apartment after that because the night was still young. Spring Fling is coming soon and with that, Spring Break is only a couple weeks away. Stay tuned for more.

Trey

Ray

Me

Me hanging on after making it to the top of the rock!

Trey and Ray putting on their rock climbing gear

The three of us after rock climbing

The three of us back in the room

Since my last post, I can officially say that I have been less stressed. Compared to last semester in Switzerland, this semester has been a rough transition as far as classes go because of the fact that I have class, work, or group projects all day. However, it does feel good to be back in the habit of using time management because I feel like I am getting so much done in such a short time.

This past Monday was my little bro in the fraternity, Emilio’s, birthday. I wanted to make his birthday amazing so I surprised him along with other brothers by taking him to Applebee’s when I told him we were going out just the two of us. He was surprised to find out where he was which felt good cause I never saw the look on his face like the one he had on that night. I feel that it is always good to have your friends or in this case your brothers there to pick you up when you’re down. Friends make life a lot easier because you are not alone in this big world.

Today is Focus the Nation which is a program on global warming. Therefore, I am headed to an early class because there will be events later in the day. Stay tuned because next month should be interesting with Spring Break. Take care.

Emilio blindfolded outside Applebees

Emilio and I

Me, Ray, and Brian

Chris and I hanging out after Applebees

So now I am back at Saint Leo for my second semester as a Junior and I’m definitely getting some mixed emotions. On the one hand, I miss looking outside and seeing the Swiss Alps from my window and on the other, I feel happy to see those people who missed me while I was gone. I guess I can compare this experience to a book. When one chapter closes, another one opens. This couldn’t be any more true. I have gone from class two days a week to class and work five days a week. I am taking classes in my major which is Marketing which is already proving to be harder than ever before. However, I am thinking long term which means that I am already looking into graduate schools both in the US and abroad because I’m looking forward to the next big chapter in my life.

I guess the best part about being back is that I am refreshed. I am no longer bored but am now motivated more than ever to succeed and move on in life. I guess the biggest problem is that most people settle after college and thus aren’t happy with the lives they live. Just like the past semester, I do not live with regrets so not being happy is not an option for me in whatever I do. I guess my biggest fear is falling into the slump but with my friends and family, I doubt that will happen. Going back to fraternity life has been making my adjustment so much easier. I never thought in my life that I would have so many people here that looked forward to seeing me back on campus. There have even been people I haven’t seen in over a year who are waiting to see me which I still can’t believe. I guess it proves the fact about Saint Leo to be true. Even though small, we’re all a family… take it or leave it. This also reaffirms the fact that I made the best decision of my life going to Saint Leo. If I went to my number one choice which was University of Miami, I would probably stay in my room all day playing video games or be the shy guy from high school. Besides academics, I can now say that I am a social butterfly looking forward to the next person I meet. Saint Leo University also made it ridiculously easy for me to study abroad and not have to worry about the transfer of credits because I went to a partnered school so in that aspect, I got to see the world knowing that everything was taken care of back home. Therefore, I strongly recommend that anyone take the opportunity to apply for studying abroad because it really is a life changing experience. I have to go though now because I am helping my rush chair in my fraternity plan the events for next week’s Greek events which will lead to our new member class of Spring 2009. Stay tuned for yet another blurb in the story of my life.

Card night with the guys.

My fraternity brothers and sisters

Posing at Gasparilla

Partying with friends at Gasperilla

Rock Band night!

A few great friends.

Today is December 21, 2008. I just got back from Switzerland yesterday after the most horrible flight of my life. I got on my flight after saying a pretty hard goodbye to my best friend Karim. I landed at London on time but was delayed to Philadelphia from that point forward and missed my flight from Philly to Fort Myers by a mere two minutes. After a good three hours on line and complaining to customer service, I received a ten dollar meal voucher, a suite for the night, and first class tickets to Fort Myers so it really did pay off in the end. However, I found out that my luggage was lost when I got to Fort Myers but that is another story all in itself.

London Heathrow Airport

My suite for the night

First Class :D

I must say though that it is so weird to go from twenty degree weather to ninety degree weather. It felt good to see the palm trees and better yet, my brother and sister. I didn’t know but apparently they came down for Christmas and to see me which made it a first time in ten years that we were all together. Right now, the feeling of being with my family is taking my mind away from leaving Switzerland. I miss it so much right now and didn’t expect the past four months to change me the way it did. I can honestly say now that the past four months were definitely the best months in my life. I have made friends that I will always keep in touch with and experiences that I will never lose. I also now feel in control of my life for the first time and cannot wait to see what lies ahead of me. I only have a year left to spend and hopefully I will be going back to Saint Leo with friends who still remember who I am and hope they are ready for the new ME.

The family

At Naples Beach

Got my Audi back

As I am writing this blog entry, I am a week away from going back to the United States and honestly, I’m pretty scared. I wonder how long it will take me to readjust back to a twenty four hour Walmart and fast food. Just like everyone else here, I feel the same which is iffy about leaving this gorgeous place. I mean I am happy to happy to see my parents after four months, but am sad to leave all the amazing friends I have made here. It hurts to know that the best times of a person’s life go by so fast. I am just excited about the fact that I have no regrets about studying here because I have learned to branch out and be more comfortable with myself. I feel like everything happens for a reason so I am just going to take everything in stride as I work towards the next chapter in my life.

Moving on towards what has happened since the last blog post, the American College of Switzerland has just had both their annual Thanksgiving party and Christmas party. I was able to meet people from the village who basically had the same goal of working and traveling abroad.

Karim and I at the Thanksgiving party

Mary, Mimi, and Myself

Charla-Maye and I

The group of us at the Christmas Party

Oh, I forgot to mention that I also went snowboarding. It was crazy to be on a board again considering the last time I snowboarded was over ten years ago. We left at dawn and left right at dusk so it was extremely tiring but well worth it. I guess it was our last bonding experience because next week is exams. I will post my next blog entry when I get home so stay tuned til then. Au’voir

The incredible view

Chris, Karim, and I

Me with the Swiss Alps in the background