This weekend has been action packed.  Friday, after my pledge-brother Donavan finished his paper, we left for Indianapolis, IN.  I had a feeling of relief leaving Wabash and knowing I had 3 weeks of doing nothing ahead of me.  Once we reached Indianapolis, I went out Christmas shopping with Donavan.  His mother asked us if we would like to go to the Pacers game that night.  I knew I would have a great time so I said yes.  The game was in the Conseco Field House in downtown Indianapolis.  During the game a rude Clippers fan decided to get in front of the camera and steal the spotlight from a little kid’s birthday celebration.  Let’s just say he was quickly ejected from watching the game.  That night I spent some time talking to Donavan’s mom and dad (Mr. & Mrs. White) about my Wabash experience so far.

The next day was time to fly back to Rhode Island.  Mrs. White and Donavan decided to go into the new Indianapolis International airport to make sure I got all checked in.  The airport looked very nice and some parts of the airport reminded me of the Charles De Gaul International airport in France which I visited over the summer.  The only problem I had with the airport was the title of International.  The airports size just didn’t seem like it deserved that distinction.  After entering the airport, I waited in the queue until it was my turn to check in my bags.  I did not know that Continental Airlines charged luggage bags.  I was charged an extra forty dollars just for two luggage bags.  In addition to that, since both of my bags were over fifty pounds, the airline wanted to charge me and extra 100 per bag!  This was outrageous.  I would have paid more in fees for my bags than the ticket itself.  A simple solution for this was to have Ms. White take a few things I thought I could do without back home so my bags could make it through. With my bags under fifty pounds, I proceeded to check in and head toward security. After security (which was a lot quicker than I expected) I saw not only another Wabash freshman, but also a fellow blogger, Galib Shishir, heading to Houston, TX to visit a friend. After talking to him for a while, it was time to board my flight and I was off to Cleveland, OH then off to RI. My plane in Cleveland was delayed a few minutes because of the weather but I got home right on time.  That night I sat down with the family and showed them pictures and told them stories of my fraternity and college experiences in general.  I also told them about all of my pledge-brothers and the kindness everyone’s families have shown me during my last five months at Wabash. I finally got to watch T.V where I actually knew what the channel numbers were!

Sunday started off weird because church was canceled due to the weather.  We (my family and I) ended up going up to Massachusetts to visit some of my cousins and my uncle who came from Nigeria to spend the Holidays with us.  I haven’t seen my uncle since August when I went to Nigeria so it was good for him to see me without my braces on.  I bought my little cousin a Wabash Baseball t-shirt because I know how much he is a fan of the Red Sox’s and I thought it would be cool if I could get him a little something to let him know his big cousin is proud of him.  After hanging out with family my father and sister wanted to go to a big coat store to find something to keep my sister warmer during these harsh conditions.  I ended up seeing some old people I knew from high school.  One of the guys I met is a Beta Theta Pi alum from the University of Rhode Island.  So it was cool to talk to him about my struggles with pledge-ship and everything else that comes with it.  I also met another friend of mine who I graduated with and we made plans to hang out during the week.  Tonight hopefully I am going to Providence Place Mall (downtown Providence) to hang out with a very cool friend who I ran track with my senior year.

I cannot wait for the up incoming week. I plan to hit the gym, go out with a few friends and read a good book. Well, maybe not the book.

Donavan White

One word to describe Donavan is competitive. He strives for the best in everything he does, even if that means stressing out. He is from Indianapolis and went to the athletic powerhouse, Ben Davis High School. He currently runs on the track team and ran for Wabash during the cross country season. He is most known for telling everyone to shut up when we decide to stay up all night and talk about non-sense in the cold dorm.  What I like about Donavan is that he never complained when we were given tasks to complete as a pledge-class.  Everyone could count on him when it came to doing well on Lore every week. As much as I love Donavan as my pledge-brother, I can tell it is his family who has completed him and made him into who he is.