life at eiu

Hello again, everyone! It's been a while since I last made a post so let me fill you all in to what I have been up to. These last few weeks have been really intense. We just got done with our Homecoming and it was great! For me there is no better feeling than seeing a whole bunch of alumni come back to show their school spirit with the undergrads.
Our football team pulled together one heck of a win and seeing the stands packed to the brim with students, faculty, family and friends put it over the top. With everything that was going on these last few weeks, I almost forgot that I’m graduating in the Spring.

It didn't sink in until about the third day of Homecoming that it would be the last time I would be doing it with my fraternity brothers. They say that you don't know what you have until its gone, so right now I am trying to enjoy every last minute of this year. This semester's end
will be a bittersweet occasion. After this semester, I will be the most tenured member of my fraternity and the last member of the Omega class from 2004. It reminds me of high school where all the people I looked up to and loved being around left for college. It is a cool feeling
being the one that people look to for guidance and advice, but then it makes the prospect of graduation and starting my life after college all the more real.

My speech at graduation this year will more than likely be accompanied by some tears, and hopefully a host of laughs.

This past week was probably one of the most important occasions on campus in quite a while. We had the re-dedication of the Dounda Fine Arts Building. Ten years and millions of dollars later, EIU finally has a fine arts center that we can truly be proud of. I was honored
with the duty of speaking on behalf of the students of EIU at the re-dedication ceremony this past Friday afternoon, and while I was preparing for the ceremony I noticed the list of other speakers. At that very moment, I felt so honored and humbled by the opportunity. It isn't every day that you get to be in the company of such important and amazing people.

The day went along just as I hoped and then that evening we were greeted with the Mavis Staples concert in the new venue. It was amazing! My date and me were dancing in our seats, along with the band and just about everyone else in the concert hall. It was a treat to see a Gospel Great perform for us. It’s something that I will not soon forget. I have to admit that some of the songs were so emotional and powerfully moving that I, along with many others, could not help but shed a tear.

These next few weeks look to be filled with meetings, classes, tests and quizzes as we get closer to Thanksgiving and the end of the semester. It all seems to go by so fast. Before I know it, I will be speaking at the December graduation and then attending my own in May. For all those of you who are just entering college life, heed my advice: "Cherish every moment of your college career, for these moments are fleeting, but the memories last forever."

Thanks again for keeping up with my blog. Hope to be speaking to you again sometime soon.