In my previous post, I talked about my Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity experience, and how becoming a "teke" added so much value to my life. This post is the biggest example of one of those valuable moments. One day I was lying on my hotel bed in Bangkok, browsing Facebook on my laptop, when suddenly a light-bulb flashed in my head: "I wonder if there are any other 'teke's' in Thailand?" I while back I joined a Tau Kappa Epsilon Facebook group which was reserved for members living in New York.  ...

This is the first part of a blog feature that details my fraternity experience. Not sure how many parts there will be, but my best guess is two or three. I was spurred to write about my experience because of the recent news regarding fraternities within the past 12 months, most of it negative. I'm specifically speaking of the racist chant video taken of Oklahoma fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon. After being in Tau Kappa Epsilon for nearly two years, I have to say I enjoyed my experience. It was ...

In my previous blog post, I go into the idea of how being a college student is like running your own business. I examined the parallels of being a business owner with being a college student, and found many similarities. Now I'd like to go into another topic that I only brushed on in my previous blog post: Where do you see yourself in five years? Will you be working at your dream job? Will you be studying in grad school? A little bit of both? You don't have to be a Freshman to ask yourself th...

It was a balmy Saturday morning. Typical northern Thailand weather. At around 9:00 A.M. I met up with my climbing assistant at the base of the mountain, suited up, and together we walked a few yards towards the jagged rock wall. My coach stayed on the ground, holding a rope attached to me. As I went up, he shouted instructions and tips. The climb wasn't too difficult, but it wasn't hard either. I was in the beginner section, so while struggling a bit, I climbed the wall sections all the way to ...

Becoming a freelance writer is a fairly recent decision for me. When I was in my junior I considered freelance writing a little bit, but I thought that I would have to be fairly experienced before considering it. When I jumped into creating a business, I was pleasantly surprised to realize that I have a healthy amount of experience already. 1. You Do Your Own Accounting When I found my first paying client, I got the chance to create my own invoice, meaning I finally had to keep track of my ear...

It has been often said that the nearest five people you are closest with are the people that you become most like. One place where this is most true is in college. Human beings are “social amoebas” that can't help but absorb personality traits from the people we interact with the most. I have seen this pattern in other people I know, and have also seen it in myself. One of the first people I met at Farmingdale was a girl named “Evelyn” (names changed for privacy), a sophomore student. We got al...

“A goal without a plan is just a wish." -Antoine de Saint-Exupery, French writer (1900 - 1944) For those who aren't in the know, a "gap year" is where you take a break from college for a while, traditionally for a year. It's a popular term in Europe, where students postpone their studies in order to travel and find themselves. Some college students still don't know what they want to study. As their gen-ed requirements run out, they suddenly feel the increasing pressure to finally choose a dire...

I am sitting down at a table with people I just met. Even though they don't know me, and I don't know them, it feels like we've been friends forever. That's the way they act towards me. Their smiles are warm, and the food they offer me is even warmer, or should I say spicier. I take a bite of my pad-gra-pow (ground pork with rice). I try to act cool, but it doesn't take long before my eyes water, my tongue burns, and I inhale sharply, giving away my discomfort. Hurts so bad, but tastes sooooo...