When I came to Simpson as a first-year, I had absolutely no interest in joining a fraternity. I attended a couple of recruitment events just as something to do but never really took any of it too seriously. I always had in my head that fraternity life was full of nothing but insane parties and, frankly, stuff that doesn’t really line up with my lifestyle.

It took very little time for me to realize that Greek life at Simpson was nothing like that, which was a breath of fresh air, but I still wasn’t very interested. After a house tour, I decided that I was going to join Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Looking back on it, it’s one of the best decisions of my life. 

In my time in SAE, I’ve gotten the normal cliche experience that you will hear anytime anyone talks about SAE. I’ve eaten great food, made some awesome friends, stepped into leadership positions and have had some awesome experiences.

As recruitment chair, I have to say that stuff, but it is legitimately true. All of that is true, and it’s a great reason to join SAE (or any form of Greek life.)

But I think that the biggest lesson that I’ve learned while being in SAE is the embodiment of how to be a true gentleman. A quote from John Walter Wayland that our fraternity and chapter’s history is based on.

“The True Gentleman is the man whose conduct proceeds from goodwill and an acute sense of propriety, and whose self-control is equal to all emergencies; who does not make the poor man conscious of his poverty, the obscure man of his obscurity, or any man of his inferiority or deformity; who is himself humbled if necessity compels him to humble another; who does not flatter wealth, cringe before power, or boast of his own possessions or achievements; who speaks with frankness but always with sincerity and sympathy; whose deed follows his word; who thinks of the rights and feelings of others, rather than his own; and who appears well in any company, a man with whom honor is sacred and virtue safe.” 

I can say with 100% certainty that I do not resemble everything that a true gentleman is supposed to be because that would be impossible. But I can say with 100% certainty that no matter what, I try every day. I can say with 100% certainty that every member of SAE tries their hardest too.

It’s been a hard week for our chapter, to say the least. As seen on social media, our house basement flooded on Feb. 15 because of a frozen pipe. In an effort to save 50-year old composite pictures and 150-year old documents, we put shorts and slides on and walked through the freezing cold basement creating an assembly line to save our beloved artifacts. 

All in all, for such an annoying event, it ended up probably being one of the most memorable nights I’ve ever had in SAE. Even though we were all upset, we were still hanging out together and laughing together. It was a great time. 

Even though we were upset with how some situations were handled, at the end of the day, it is still our job to embody what it meant to be a true gentleman. 

There is literally so much that we could complain and whine about, but isn’t that true for everyone? Pick any person, any day, any moment, and they could probably find something to complain about. But that makes life so much worse.

My goal for myself and my fraternity is that going forward; we can focus on the positives. I trust that the Simpson administration will make the choices that they think are right because I believe that everyone who works for Simpson is a good person.

I’m excited for the last two and a half years of my experience at Simpson and in SAE. I hope that every single day I can continue to embody what it looks like to be a true gentleman. Because at the end of the day, I would be wasting my time if I wasn’t.