In the words of Sammy Adams,
"TELL THE BARTENDER MAKE THOSE .... .... STRONGER, I WANNA GO ALL NIGHT LONGER!"
This was the beginning of every Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the beginning of the fall semester. My roommates and I all looked to one another with the same thought, how in the hell were we going to survive an entire semester living next door to these raging alcoholics.
After the first two weeks I came to the realization, my neighbors are frat guys and it's really not that bad. I did think I was going to relive the movie "Neighbors" but there was no Zac Efron on my campus to distract me with painted on abs. Instead, I was greeted with Natty Light, some Marlboro cigarettes and the weirdest yet friendliest group of guys I've ever met.
Yes, they are loud and sometimes have a weird smell about them. (Which btw isn't much of an upgrade from their kindergarten smell of cookies and dirt.) Within my neighbors house holds 11 young men, along with occasional party crashers and frequent visits from their other 30 brothers. They changed my perspective on fraternity greek life and i'm about to tell you why.
They don't only care about parties.
Crazy, right? Now don't get me wrong, it is high on their priority list as it is on any college students weekend to-do-list. I've seen them help each other when it comes to academics, they encourage and push each other to be where they need to be in order to be successful. I've seen service as a key part of who they are. I've seen leadership within them, not only in their fraternity amongst each other but on campus as well.
They take care of every person that walks through their door.
This is huge for me. I've seen plenty of frat houses that just toss people out with borderline alcohol poisoning or after being badly beaten in a fight. My neighbors however, take care of every boy or girl that walks into their door. They treat each individual with respect and have taken care of people they don't even know for sometimes an entire night. The amount of love and selflessness among these gentlemen is something remarkable that I think they don't receive enough credit for.
They are the sweetest neighbors.
In a house of all girls there are a few things that we know very little of or that we need help with. For example, power tools, lifting heavy things when we're too lazy, getting our car stuck in the snow, helping us take our garbage out to the front of the curb, moving furniture and my favorite always inviting us to every one of their parties and family dinners.
They even turn the music down when we say it's getting a little too loud. What more can a girl really ask for?
They value friendship, family and their brotherhood.
They showed me this first hand at one of their family dinners. A few times a week a large portion of their brothers gets together and they cook dinner together. Yes, these boys know how to cook, clean, laugh and get a little rowdy throughout these dinners. They invite guests over all the time and give people like me an insight into how truly valuable the bond of brotherhood is. It isn't always perfect, and unlike girls they're too prideful to talk about when somethings wrong, so like guys they do they one thing they can for each other. They be there for one another. Throughout last semester they weren't just a brotherhood they really are a family.
I've never met a group of such sincere, genuine and honest guys. At first I was skeptical about being next door neighbors to a fraternity, I quickly learned that it was the single best thing that I have been able to experience my senior year.
Thanks guys for an incredible semester and one more to go!
