High School

I graduated 7th in my class out of 142 students -- the top 6 were girls (ugh).  There ain't a whole lot I can say about the high school years that most of us don't already know.  I was a geek, I wasn't liked a whole lot, my clothes were always out of style, etc., etc. 

I filled my high school days with being in band and chorus, and joining more clubs than I can remember right now.  Heck, one year I even went out for track!  And here is something scary -- I had some of the same teachers that my parents had.... eek! 

A lot of my teen angst and events of my life are documented in my diary (which is not online at this point).  It's interesting to go back and read parts of it now and then.  There are so many things I have forget as time goes on.

There are very few people from high school that I keep in contact with. Most of the friends I had are either in other places, or they just don't care anymore.

I still take a lot of pride in my hometown high school.  My winter hat is from my school, and I have several clothing items with my high school's mascot and/or logo.  I get the reports from my mother as to the status of our teams.  She's a TOTAL sports junkie.  And I've been on a kick to get clothing that's maroon and gold, my school colors.

My 15-year class reunion was in summer of 2003.  As with the 10-year reunion, I had a lot of fun.  I actually felt kind of bad because I didn't get to talk to everyone that I wanted to.  Not to mention a lot of the people I would have liked to have seen didn't show up.  Ah well, there's always the 20-year reunion coming up this year!
 

College

Valparaiso University is located in Valparaiso, IN.  It is about 1 hour west of South Bend, IN, and 1.5 hours SE of Chicago, IL.  It is a mid-sized Lutheran college in the Midwest.  Pictured at the left is the centerpiece of Valparaiso University, the Chapel of the Resurrection. 

The Chapel of the Resurrection at Valparaiso is the largest collegiate chapel in North America.  It holds over 3,000 people and it is over 8 stories tall.  Three of the huge windows you see are pure stained glass.  (The bottom photo was taken by me.)

Why did I go there?  Well, I'm a Lutheran (DUH if you read the Religion page) and my uncle went there.  My mother belongs to the VU Guild, which is a national support organization for the university.  I didn't apply anywhere else.  Not exactly the most "sensible" reasons to go to a university, but it's a decision I never regretted.

Yes... I have two B.A. degrees.  How so?  Well, when I graduated, I had 181 credits, enough for two majors, two minors, and a few other things as well.  I went to VU for five years and took a lot of stuff.  I was shooting for tenure, but decided against it :-)

My years at Valpo were some of my best and one of my worst.  Again, many of my experiences there are chronicled in my diary.  Maybe someday I'll publish parts of it here.  I still keep in touch with some of my friends from Valparaiso, though I haven't been able to visit very many of them.
 

Fraternity

Of the many things I did in college, my involvement in my fraternity, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, took up a lot of my time.  Phi Mu Alpha is a national men's music fraternity.

Our chapter was unique in that we had a house.  Most professional fraternities do not.  I never lived at the house, but I spent plenty of time there.  My fifth year in school my RA was a brother and 13 of us lived on his wing.

I pledged my first semester in college (Fall 1988), and I never regretted it.  I served on the executive board as Alumni Secretary for four of my five years there.  I very much miss the social and musical aspects of my chapter.  I sang in our chorus, and played in the Phi Mu Alpha Jazz band.

In the past year or so, I have gotten involved again with the fraternity by way of a local alumni chapter.  I enjoy getting to the meetings or events when I can (seems like a lot of them conflict with chorus events).  It's definitely interesting to see how things have changed over the years, as well as see how other chapters conduct their business.

There is lots I could say about my college experiences... some of the best and worst times in my life happened there, but I won't bore you with it all.  Let's just say I'm a well-rounded person because of it all!