Hey guys, my name is Robert Robson, but my friends call me Rob. This will be my eleventh year of competitive swimming, but my first year at Wabash. So far I have had an unforgettable experience at Wabash. My classes are going pretty well, I have a nice dorm on campus and all the guys I have met so far are really nice. I’ve found that being here, the Gentlemen’s Rule isn’t just the rule we all follow on campus, it’s a way of life that we all adapt to, and fairly quickly I might add.
As I said, I have been swimming for eleven seasons and in no way, shape or form has it been easy. I swam the butterfly and distance events at Whiteland High School along with a relay here or there. Those practices were tough, but I hear that they don’t compare to the practices here at Wabash and I can’t wait to find out if that’s true or not. I really like to push myself in the water and coming here, I think that I will be able to do that. If you want easy, you need to try another sport because swimmers here work their butts off and play just as hard as they work. Through talking to some of the older swimmers already, I think they are going to be the people I need while I’m here to watch out for me. They know when it’s time to work, but they also know that if you only work, you won’t get the full Wabash experience most others have gotten because you stuck your nose in a book all the time.
I came to Wabash for a number of reasons. The class size is probably my biggest reason. I am a person that likes smaller classes so I can get more personalized help if I need it. Big classes, like at most state schools, are a really scary thing for me, so coming to a school of about a thousand was almost a no brainer. One thing that did make me think twice a little was that it was an all male campus, but before I came to Wabash, I found a girl that goes to Purdue, so the all male thing doesn’t really have any effect on me.
Another reason why I wanted to come here is the fact that almost every person that you meet is a nice guy and wouldn’t think twice about helping you out if you needed it. I remember that it was pretty rough on me the first few days moving here, but the friends I had made on day one were right next to me, making sure that I was alright and helping out in any way that they could. It seems that Wabash really does bring out the best in every student that comes here; it shows them the true nature of what it means to be a gentleman.
My tale here at Wabash is just beginning and I can already tell that it isn’t going to be an easy one, but who ever thought that college was easy? If you did, you learn real quick why that isn’t true. School was very easy for me up until this point. Everything just seemed to come to me in high school, but now I have to work at everything and I need to be working harder than I have already. It’s tough being here at Wabash, but the things you will get out of it will be worth more than the hardships that you went through to get them.