In today's culture, social fraternities get a pretty bad rap. In movies and television, they are portrayed as a group of college dudes held together by their love of pretty pastel pants and boat shoes, sex, and binge drinking. I find that those ideas of being that type of "frat bro" could not be further from the truth. Being a member of such an honorable organization is one of the greatest decisions I could have made at this point in my life.

There is a time in a man's life where he must decide which path, among many, he will walk down. For me, this time came as I found myself in a strange environment and relatively on my own to discern just what person I wanted to become. I am only one person and this is quite the difficult task. There are so many decisions that I have to make that will profoundly impact my life. Luckily for me, I was able to find a group of men who inspire me to not only make good decisions but to also better myself in every aspect of my life.

This is brotherhood. It is like the old adage, "All for one and one for all." The fraternity looks out for each brother and instills in him a sense of responsibility for his personal betterment and integrity, and each brother then contributes to the betterment of the whole group through their individual gifts and talents. We support each other and look out for each other in all that we do.

Your fraternity shapes you. It has already shaped me and will continue to do so for years to come. It shapes me into a better person. One could say that my fraternity is leading me to be the best version of myself that I can be. From developing me to be more confident through my experiences as a brother to challenging me to be a leader within my community, I am a better person because of my fraternity.

Andrei, Chris, Constantine, Cullen, Dylan, Durrant, Eric, John, Geron, Luke, Mike, Nicolas, P.J., Scott. You are my brothers. Bonded briefly in brotherhood, yet I trust you implicitly. Together, we are one outstanding Alpha Alpha class and I consider you my family. Over the course of just a few months, I have had the honor of standing by your side through everything we have been through. From dining hours to study hours and sweating our way through Greek Week, we made it through as a team that I could not be more proud of.

So yes, I am a "frat boy". But to me that means so much more than you think. It means a greater sense of duty toward my integrity, honesty, confidence, and most importantly, service to others. I have learned to strive for an attitude of selfless service to others. I have learned to "Give, expecting nothing thereof." That is a virtue that I will carry for the rest of my life. And I owe that, and all good that may come of that, to my fraternity.