One of the guys in the house has been randomly stalking me for the newspaper, enjoy.

   For some reason this bottom one just cracks me up, its like I'm posing for something - completely unintentional. It was during the football game, I'm sure I'm really intimidating the other team posing like that =).

Posted by Jake Ezell at 09:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

     Friday went well, nothing too crazy happened. The Bio test was a little rough. I don't know it's really just a lot of writing over what I would consider about 15% of the notes. I guess I was a little disappointed in the overall comprehensiveness of the test, but I'm not the one with a Ph.D. either. I ended up tidying up some odds and ends around here before heading home around 2.

     I ended up helping my mom with a cross country dinner at Roncalli and got to talk to some old teachers. I think I may have referenced this once or twice before, but I really do appreciate the job my high school teachers did with my job and hope they know they're doing things right. I really think I was advantaged coming into school here.

     My brother was doing well, it was good to get the whole family together again. We had some fun times and told some old stories. I'm pretty close to my family. Dad's business is going well and everyone seems to be happy.

     Homecoming week is here. Chapel Sing Thursday, Alumni Saturday, Robin Williams Thursday at PU - so jacked. I'll try to update a couple extra times this week seeing as how I'm not near as busy and it's a pretty active week on campus.

Posted by Jake Ezell at 01:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

    It's been a lot more low key of a week so far, maybe thats because I'm not cramming hardcore for the first o-chem test, I don't know. The Bio test is coming but really I'm not too worried about it, it's still sort of introductory so I've put in probably close to 12-14 hours memorizing this week, just writing on our white board and erasing, and am feeling confident about it so far. Not much has happened so far. 

    The first CMFK meeting is tomorrow and I'm pretty excited to get rolling with that again, especially since I'm an activity director this year. Tomorrow is only introductory stuff so nothing too crazy. We also have a little bro/big bro activity at the house in the evening and an IM game at night vs. martindale. All in all, tomorrow will be busy but I'm ready for the weekend because my brother is coming home from Kansas City this weekend.

Posted by Jake Ezell at 02:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

    I had a busy weekend. Seems to be a recurring theme huh? I really enjoyed it though, it was a relaxing, busy weekend. That sounds better.

    Friday night I had a buddy down from PU for the night and it was really pretty low key. The neat part about Friday: some class representatives from '67 were in town for some meeting or the football game or something and ended up hanging out at our house. This is something I genuinely enjoy. It's really pretty cool to sit down and talk about how Wabash was when they were here and what was fun for them and how the traditions were. So I try to touch on what separates Wabash from time to time and I was really thinking about this one and theres no doubt fraternities at other schools will have alums stop by to chat and talk about old days and what not, but I think the frequency and what I would call the maturity of it is completely different. Let me elaborate.

   I've been around these two alums for probably an hour friday night just talking about conservatism and Wabash and the changes being made and yadda yadda, pretty typical alumni stuff. But literally in mid sentence someone drops my name and the one alum, Earl Houck, recognizes me from this blog. Thank god someone reads it =). That was really neat though because I've received several emails from him about the blog and what not and then here I am hanging out with him on a Friday night, Wabash is that small of an environment and part of the reason our alumni support is par none. He and I chatted for about another hour before he left about his family, where he was from, his experiences abroad(I picked his mind about studying abroad options), and really just a conversation like two adults. That is what makes Wabash special, not only does the administration treat us as adults but its the alumni, the coaches, parents, everyone. A Wabash man is truly a Wabash man.

    The party was a fun time. It actually is kind of a bummer having big parties at the house though. It takes a lot of time putting them together and a lot of time cleaning up, but its always good to be hospitable and have some fun from time to time. Anyways, the party went off without a hitch and against all speculations it was not busted this year. I accredit this success to the current leadership of the house and feel we're still moving in a positive direction.

   Today was "formal association" at the house which is basically when we are given our little bros/big bros. I managed to snag a little brother for the house and look forward to watching him grow not only in LCA but also at the college, it brought a certain sense of excitement to the house tonight. We had a formal chapter where all the brothers were in suits, had to stand to talk, no drinks/food/foul language, etc. It's always really powerful is what I would like to say when all the brothers come together and take the house serious like that.

Dan Ryan Wood, pick 6

Posted by Jake Ezell at 01:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

     I'm pretty shocked that it's already Thursday. I've been hitting the books hard this week though, we have a chemistry test on Friday. I think its usually the little things that do the most wear and tear on me during the week. The trips to go make copies at the library, chapel sing practices, and laundry get you. 

     I literally forced myself to go back to bed Tuesday morning for an extra 2 hours and really feel that was a solid decision. I sort of forget what it feels like to operate in a normal state of mind as opposed to a drowsy or tired state.

     Today was a really solid day. Nothing too crazy happened in class, some review in Bio, discussion in C&T, and review in Chemistry. We had a prospect in chemistry class, I always enjoy talking to them and hearing what they think about colleges and stuff. Art class was really productive today. By far the best thing I did. I brought my headphones today, turned on the Radiohead and just did some solid work and really blocked everything out. It was so relaxing and productive to use my creative side, I'll try to get some pictures of my work for next time.

     Chapel sing tonight we did a "mock" practice. They just sang for 45 minutes and we tested them if they messed up. They did a pretty solid job and we're way ahead of the game. 2 weeks from today, 11:15 AM chapel sing 2008 begins.

3 days til our party =)

Posted by Jake Ezell at 02:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

     The weekend turned out to be really a fun time. I stayed in the house Friday and took a nap until about 6:30. The Bio quiz ran me dry Thursday night, I'm pretty sure I did well though. It's a different type of exam though, not the multiple choice definition tests like high school. The whole thing was written. Come to think of it, I've not had a single multiple choice exam to date. Anyways, once I woke up, I had some dinner then sat around until around 8-9ish. Professors Bauer and Blix came over for dinner and sat around having some good conversation until around 8. It's always neat to see them stopping by from time to time to chat.

     Saturday was a long day of studying organic chemistry. I ended up going to Purdue with some guys just to see what was going on. We found a few parties and jumped around to a few different houses. Nothing too exciting happened. I did get to see my cousin and it's always nice to see some women. It was funny because when we decided to get ready all the guys were like, "Shoot, now we have to get ready." As opposed to sticking to the gym shorts and t's like usual.

     Sunday was pretty typical, calculus tutoring was busy. Apparently they had an exam today. All in all, I've got a pretty busy week because of an organic test on Friday but I'll pull through and then we have our huge party this Saturday, I'm pretty excited for that.

Posted by Jake Ezell at 02:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

    Is it Wednesday? I don't even know, it's been too long of a week. I think the thing that really gets me is my afternoons. Tuesdays and Thursdays I have labs in the afternoons then on Mondays and Wednesdays I have art class so I eat lunch, coach chapel sing, then go straight to class for the afternoon. Not that I'm complaining, chemistry lab has been really pretty neat. I've actually been able to look at the organic reactions in books that are used for the synthesis of things like ibuprofen and valium and really understand how they are synthesized, for the most part. 

    Art class has been more challenging than I originally thought. I took 2 years of AP studio art in high school so I can draw, but this class has been pushing me to really expand my creativity. It's enjoyable. We are currently drawing/shading our shoes using non-traditional items(ie. cardboard, cigarrette butts, cans, etc.) It's really hard to shade with things like that but really has helped me to sort of look at things as what they can be, not what they really are.

     So I think you're going to get my first reflection today. I'm riding on 4.5 hours of sleep, been at class all day, have a million things to do, the house is out of toilet paper =), and had art class last the entire time. I make it back to the house and run into one of the freshmen townies in our kitchen who tells me he's about to go to the boy's and girl's club. I literally stop as I'm walking through the kitchen and tell him I'll go with him. 

     Tired and worn out, we're welcomed by the front desk at the Boy's and Girl's Club, don't even have to sign in - sort of like they just are used to Wabash men showing up as they please to help out. It's a little slow at first but eventually we get to go outside and I sort of just regress for a little while. I chase some kids around on the playground, give some piggy-back rides, swing for a bit, play some tic-tac-toe, really just become a kid for a while.

     I convince like 5 kids to do bat races. You know put your nose on the bat and spin like 10 times then try to run? I think the kids all thought I was really goofy. But it was great to let loose for a while, actually do something service oriented, and give back to the community. 

     It seems we get so focused on our studies and set on getting where we want to go, that we lose track of things that truly make us happy or things that are important for humanity as a whole. And I guess it just takes someone like a freshmen to give a brief invite in passing conversation to pull you away from the list of 10,000 things I've to do, the incredible lack of sleep, 3 pots of coffee, and general lack of morale. I had fun today.

Posted by Jake Ezell at 08:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

     Wednesday on was pretty anti-climatic. A lot of studying and not so much sleeping. My roommate and I are trying to start a healthcare mission trip to a third world country and had a bad call-out on Thursday, probably due to not giving the students enough time to plan for it. We're trying again though for this Thursday. We're going to make this happen, I'm sure of it.

     Friday I ended up heading down to Bradford Woods for a college mentors for kids national retreat. We got there about 6:30, just in time to eat and do chapter introductions. Apparently in the name of tradition, Wabash always sings the fight song, it always amazes people how long it is. I love it. And I was impressed by Bradford Woods. Its also always different for me to see how interested people are in Wabash. Maybe I'm crazy but it always seems like people are almost fascinated by Wabash men. People kept asking us like how we ran it having only male mentors and yadda yadda. I don't really know what to make of it, but its pretty cool to me, having something that sets me apart like that, sort of gives me an edge. Friday night, we invited some girls back to our cabin to hang out for a while before calling it a night.

     Saturday I just stopped in Indy on the way back to Wabash and ended up staying the night. It was good to be able to chill at home, I haven't been back in almost a solid month now. Its almost like if I were a battery and going home is a charger. I made it back Sunday night in time for Chapter and was elected to Co-Delta, which means Co-Rush Chair. So I'll be assisting the rush chair for our next rush class. Prospects take note. 

     I had calculus tutoring after that and it was really a pretty neat night. I was really stressed after it because we were busy all night, but I've always said if I were to be anything but a doctor it would be a teacher so while it was a drag to be behind like 3 hours, it was refreshing to help out some peers.

Posted by Jake Ezell at 03:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

     Monday started the first chapel sing practice with the freshmen. I am Chapel Sing coach. It's really been fun to be on the other end. I cannot reveal my strategy for fear that our game plan may be learned, but most of the freshmen have just about memorized words. It's always fun when they learn the words because then we get to start doing fun stuff. 

     It's really been a pretty busy week. I'm back into the sleeping from 2-8 every morning and working every second of every day after that. Haha it's not been that bad though. I really enjoy my art class. Monday I have a pretty busy morning then go to art and its really just very relaxing and enjoyable for me to sit on a stool with a huge drawing desk in front of me, oldies radio playing, and just be creative and artistic. Not that I dislike my sciences, but its such a nice contrast. I definitely get to utilize different aspects of my thinking.(Only at Wabash)

     I may have to cut back on some of my plans for this semester. My schedules filling up very fast and I may have to drop a few things I had hoped to accomplish this semester. It's no big deal though, I'll get my stuff done -  it just may take something like a 2-7 sleep schedule and an extra pot of coffee a day. =) I do enjoy it though and am glad to be back on campus -  it feels good to know I'm working hard to accomplish things in my life. That is one thing Wabash instills on me on a weekly basis, a sense of accomplish.

Posted by Jake Ezell at 05:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

     Classes started for me on Friday. It's really nice to be back into a schedule. I actually ended up studying for about 2.5 hours on Friday(7-9:30) because organic chemistry (O-chem) started with a bit of a bang. It was kind of nice to sit down and get back into it though - I know, I'm a huge nerd. =)

     Saturday I woke up early for a home association meeting that we didn't have. I ended up studying for a bit in the afternoon then got a pick up football game going on the baseball field. We actually had quite a few freshmen come out to play and it was good to get a chance to hang out with some of the new guys. We've got some talent this year for IM's, that's all I'm saying is that we've got some talent. 

     Saturday night was our first party and brothers only... girls. Just for clarification. It really turned out to be a lot of fun. We had what we call an "around the world" party where like 5-6 of our upstairs rooms have a different theme in them and people kind of run around and dance and all. It turned out to be a lot of fun and nothing too crazy happened.

     I woke up this morning, cleaned up the room a bit, then went with some guys over to the pool to play around for a bit. I'm a terrible diver. So were all but one of the guys that went with us. It was hilarious. We actually ended up playing on those big ropes that hang from the middle of the ceiling for quite a while, you know, one person swings out then the next person tries to jump above them when they come back and see how many people we could get on the rope at once... real safe stuff like that. We actually ended up playing about 20 minutes of water polo. The game ended when every player was holding onto the side of the pool, minus Duffy who just stayed in the middle holding onto the rope, and the ball in the middle and no one wanting to get it. We're out of shape. One of the brothers sisters came to play with us too, shes a swimmer though so I just didn't mention the fact that she was still ready to play. I spent the rest of the afternoon studying, went to tutor in Goodrich from 7-11, we had one student show up. Woo Hoo! and now I'm tying up some odds and ends with my homework and packing my bags up for tomorrow.

Posted by Jake Ezell at 01:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)