To say the very least, this has been a long, tiring week. If I am to be completely honest, I am riding on about 15 hours of sleep the past 4 nights, have been up until 3-4 every night and sense the worst is yet to come. 

  Monday served as the starting point for our float when we drew it all out. Also, Monday was a mock chapel sing that made it appear as though we would end up with about 14 W's. However Tuesday's practice went more smooth and we cut the boards for the float. Then yesterday we did half the assembly along with finalizing the chant. This morning we had Chapel Sing and managed to make it the 3rd year in a row without a W. I can honestly say we were subjected to far worse by the brothers of the house than the Sphinx Club members. It was neat to take part in such a rich tradition and I can honestly say I will miss gathering at 12:30 and 7:30 with my associates to practice singing the song. This afternoon, I had class, College Mentors for Kids, and the Interview Training Program. My little buddy for CMFK is named Austin, he's into skateboarding, video games, and soccer. It should make for many enjoyable Thursday afternoons. 

  Tonight will probably be a late night of painting, memorizing, and designing - man do I look forward to it! Classes have been fine, the profs seem to understand its Homecoming week and haven't tried to kill us. I look forward to Friday and then beating the heck out of Earlham on Saturday. Check back late Sunday for a post about how the weekend went.

Posted by Jake Ezell at 07:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

   Friday turned out to be a pretty solid day in the house involving class, sleep, and hanging out with the guys. On Saturday, I woke up and did a bit of homework over in the basement of Lilly Library which was completely abandoned then ended up going to a party at Phi Psi. Sunday was a day of homework and setting up homecoming week. It should be a hectic week. We've got chapel sing practices that are intensifying, a chant yet to be made up or memorized, a float to build, and a banner to both design and build, on top of classes, service hours, and cleaning the house for the alumni. Needless to say this should be a long week. Classes are still going well, I actually got let out of 2 classes early today -  I don't think that will happen very many more times. A lot to do tomorrow on account of only having one class so I'll have to force myself to wake up early and get moving on things. I am excited for the festivities and will give a post either wednesday or thursday and then sunday to talk about the homecoming week. It should be long, hard, but nonetheless a blast which seems to be the reoccurring theme at Wabash. On a side note, I moved into a new room Sunday as part of being an Associate at the house.

Posted by Jake Ezell at 06:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

    This week hasn't been too bad. The chemistry and calculus tests didn't seem too hard. I'm still waiting on grades though so I'll tell you how they really were when I find out about my grade. I just found out I picked up another course on Tuesdays and Thursdays but it shouldn't be too bad. It's the Interview Training Program in which I'll be trained to conduct interviews with students on campus; it sounds more like fun than work. College Mentors for kids got cancelled today so I cannot inform you about how that went, you'll have to wait until next Thursday. We won against Beta in IM football on Tuesday night; it was pretty fun watching all the guys in the house on the football field. After those two tests this week, I haven't been all that busy and actually got to watch a movie in the basement with the guys last night. It was very enjoyable to say the least and feels good to be in such a welcoming house. The LCD screen on my camera broke but it still takes pictures so I'll try to get as good of shots as I can but will go through a period without so many pictures since I'll be sending it in to get fixed - somehow its under warranty. =) And with that, I'm going to PHI 110 and then finishing up some studies for the day. Check back Sunday night/ Monday morning for an update about the weekend and my new room.

Posted by Jake Ezell at 02:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

   The latter half of the week ended up both very busy and very meaningful. On Wednesday, Eva Kor, German native and holocaust survivor, told her story to a packed hall in Baxter 115. I can honestly say she was the single most entertaining, well-spoken speakers I have ever witnessed. Mrs. Kor was 11 years old when she was shipped to Auswichtz, separated from her mother, older sister, and father, all of whom she never saw again, and forced to have experiments conducted on her since she was a twin. Hearing the cruel nature of the Nazi's first-hand made be a bit embarrassed to be a human being. How is it we are capable of such brutality? A couple key points Mrs. Kor concluded with were to never give up -  you can't possibly have it as bad as she did and to give your parents an extra hug and a kiss at night. She told us the one regret she had was if she had known the last time she was to see her parents was in the few brief seconds after she got off the rail car she would have at least run back to give them one last hug and a kiss.

   Thursday was a 3 hour meeting/training for College Mentors for Kids. I was quite amazed at this organization. I signed up not fully knowing what it was and expected to be sort of a tutor for the kids. However, the program targets low-income families with parents that may not have gone to college. The Little Buddies are brought to campus every Thursday for 2 hours and it is our job to be a positive male role model and also to teach them about higher education in an attempt to encourage them to take school seriously and try to make the best of their education. I will start with a 1st grader and then over the next four years stay a college mentor for him. I am pretty excited to be given such a great opportunity like this, to know I'll be a sort of big brother for a kid; I hope I do as good of a job as my big brother did.

   Finally, I went to IU this weekend to hang out with my older brother and had a good break from Wabash. It really was crazy to see a Campus probably 10x the size of Wabash and about 40x the students. It seems like it would be easy to get lost there. I was thinking about how it takes me a maximum of 5 minutes to get across campus and some of the students there may have to walk a mile to class - crazy. It was also interesting at how many freshman had over 100 people in most of their classes. It's a completely different world than Wabash, a great school, but not Wabash. Check back Thursday for some updates about CMFK.

Big thanks to Ben North - my sophomore chemistry class is all making sense now. High School students, pay attention in your classes, they really will come back.

Posted by Jake Ezell at 11:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

   This week hasn't been too terrible to this point. At the house today, it's "no pants tuesday" which basically means exactly that.(invented by Kyle Rush) Lunch involved about three of us enjoying a meal pants-less. On Sunday, the Sphinx club inducted their new Rhine class. This has come with air raids - when Rhines are walking across the mall, if a Sphinx Club member yells air raid, they have to throw whatever they have in their hands into the air, do a somersault, and pump their feet as if we were being air raided and they are an anti-aircraft gun. This of course has provided a bit of comedy when going to and from class. Two of the guys in the house are current Rhines and have to wear around a grey sweatshirt and sweat pants, an orange construction vest, and a disgusting pot on their head. I'll try to snag a picture for later in the week. The festivities involved with the Sphinx Club look like a good time.

   We start IM football on Thursday and I am very excited for that along with the College Mentors for kids meeting. I have a couple of clubs that have started up too such as College Republicans and the Ultimate Frisbee Club team. This week should bring some interesting meetings with those.

Posted by Jake Ezell at 05:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

  It has been a week since I updated. Translation: I have been very busy. Sunday through Thursday night/Friday early morning, involved a lot(6 hours a day) of studying. I had my first few tests and quizzes along with my first unofficial track practice. The tests went well, but track practice was a bit rough. I feel that I may be out of shape for the first time in 4 years. This is partly due to the fact that its hard to find time to run when you're up until 3 every night then have class and study until 3:00 the next night. However, I am still alive and still loving Wabash.

  This weekend was a blast to say the least. We had a party at the house which probably hit close to 800 people inside at one point. Needless to say, mopping this morning was very joyous. I love the work hard, play hard attitude here. It always gives me something to look forward to on the weekend. The football team did an awesome job Saturday with the defeat of Franklin College and thoroughly enjoyed the game. The freshman fraternity members had to run up and down the sidelines following the line of scrimmage the whole game, just another one of those fun Wabash traditions.

 I went to mass and reconciliation tonight at the Chapel, I think we're having a priest come in twice a month to due a Sunday evening liturgy. It was relaxing to be able to take a break for a while. And as for now, my HungryMan TV dinner with a "pound of food" is getting cold.

Posted by Jake Ezell at 06:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

 I realize I already posted about 2 hours ago but went to mass this evening and felt like recording a bit of what the guest speaker had to say/his impact.

  Upon first glance, I suppose you could mistake Lucious for a homeless man. With his overalls that have spots worn in the knees and slightly frayed ends that he likes to keep rolled, lack of front teeth greased and worn white undershirt, and worn down shoes, it would be easy to come to such a conjecture. However, Lucious Newsome is widely known around here. A former Protestant minister, Lucious converted the Catholic faith a few years back and has taken a vow of poverty to helps the poor - although he is neither a priest nor a brother. He has started several organizations around the city to help the poor. His mere accomplishments make him a hero. However, he brought a new message to me tonight.

   As he stood at the ambo, he began to speak about how he has been sick. Lucius has recently been diagnosed with lung cancer; he will have surgery on the 27th in an attempt to correct this. At his age, 90 years old(I kid you not), this is a risky surgery. However, he stood before us and proclaimed he did not want us to feel sorry for him. He says, "I have lived a full life, I ask for your prayers not your sympathy." He goes on to tell a stories how he was feeling sick and found refuge in God. The mere thought of the faith that this man has simply blows my mind. So there he stood before us professing he has no fear as to what will happen because 1. he has prayers and 2. he has lived a good life. The latter is what struck me.

   It seems in our journey to live a complete life we think of things such as wealth, friends, family, an attractive wife - but so often times lose sight of purpose. Lucious stood before me looking back on his life knowing he had purpose in his life. He was able to stand knowing he has done good, he has made a difference, he has made a change in the world. It seems this so often gets lost. As we chase our Wabash degrees hoping to excel in our professions, in the medical world, business market, etc., we never stop to think, "what will my purpose in life be." All too often we live selfishly thinking only of how we can better our own personal situation.

   As Lucious preached in front of me, I could not help but muse what I would do with my life. What will it be that I can do that would enable me 60 years from now to stand in front of a group of people and profess, "I am not afraid of dying - for I have lived." Before departing, the man that is to have LUNG surgery in 3 weeks time, sang, nay I say belted, out the words to "Amazing Grace" with such power, such beauty, that it sent chills down my spine. I hope one day, I will have the strength that this man, who speaks in slow, broken sentences to catch his breath, bears no front teeth, has no home or car, who spends his life as a servant to humanity, who takes small, soft steps and sometimes possesses a cain, has, I hope when all is said and done I can look back at my life and no it was lived with purpose, not wealth. Lucious should be an inspiration to us all...

More about Lucious

Posted by Jake Ezell at 06:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

 I blog today having completed my first full week at Wabash College. It was a quick week but did not come without its share of hard work and fun. I have not yet gotten too overwhelmed with everything at the college but am sure it will come in due time. My old principal left me a comment reminded me to work hard and stay faithful and it will all work itself out. It's always nice to have little reminders like that here and there. I also need to put a plug in to my old AP English teacher who saved me in a PHI 110 discussion over Plato when I was able to use my knowledge in logical fallacies(Thanks!). Academically it has been rough and while I am still waiting on my Calculus book from Amazon, I've still managed to put in between 6-8 hours a day studying - it's been a blast. 

 Yesterday, was the first TGIF by the Sphinx Club. After getting some burgers and being social with the school, we crossed the street to watch the opening home game of the year. While things did not go as well as hoped against the less-educated, more flamboyant school from Greencastle, the game was still a good time and I look forward to the bell game. This was my first encounter with the rivalry and honestly look forward to the many more to come. 

 I write today from my home, I came home to catch up with a few friends coming into town and attend a family reunion, Camp Buchanan. Who knows what the festivities will bring. I look forward to catching up with my buddies and seeing what college has been for them. I know one has been getting owned by the Navy ROTC at Notre Dame but other than that have been fairly out of touch with the rest of the guys. Tonight should be a good night but I have to head back about 8:00 tomorrow morning because the house is going tubing down a river at 9:00 - I look forward to it.

Posted by Jake Ezell at 01:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)