Once in a Lifetime
And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack
And you may find yourself in another part of the world
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house…with a beautiful wife
And you may ask yourself – Well…How did I get here?!?
~Once in a Lifetime, Talking Heads
Sometimes, I’ll be walking around, minding my own business, maybe doing some shopping, when all of a sudden it hits me…I’m in Arlington, Texas! I start thinking, “Wow, this is surely a far cry from where I was just two years ago, living in San Diego, CA.” Sometimes, I really wonder what events transpired to bring me here to UTA. I honestly had no clue that this was where I would settle until a quarter of the way through my first semester at this school.
It’s been said that the only force that controls a man’s fate is himself. Well, I partly disagree. You see, there are few to no things I could have done to control whether or not I was thrown across three states from California to Texas right before my senior year. Believe me, if there was any practical way I could have stayed in San Diego at that time, I would have. But there wasn’t, so that goes to show how much control I had over my own fate. No, a man does not always control his own fate, he can only control the manner in which he navigates life and its given obstacles. You see, I never let myself be defeated, because once you defeat yourself, there is no hope for a happy ending. So I made the best of life, was active my senior year even though I knew I would only be interacting with these people for a lonely year. I can honestly say it was my best year of high school, because I matured so much through those experiences leading into my first year at UTA.
Here, I knew I needed to find my niche on campus, and I didn’t have to look far. Within my first week, I met the men I would soon come to call brothers. I started to hang out with a few of them, went to rush events, and one Wednesday night after marching rehearsal, I got my bid. Clearly I accepted, and the most…interesting eight weeks of my life began. In these eight weeks leading up to initiation, I met and bonded closely with my five initiate brothers, and still we are all a closely knit group, and probably will be for years. Through the process and through the spring, I became close to all of my brothers, and can honestly say I call this town, this school, this fraternity, my home. Heck, I live with two of my initiate brothers now, why not call it all home?
So, now that I have recounted my life story, time to bring it all back: How did I get here? By making the best of a less than ideal situation…By Striving for the Highest. Interesting how that works sometimes, isn’t it?
AEA,
Powers “Reptile” Bilodeau
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