In today's society and especially in today's media, there is constant talk about the stereotypical Fraternities and Sororities. In fact, i was hard pressed to find a story in the news that did not have to do with Greek life in a negative light but eventually, I did. I found a story in the New York Times about a group of 475 college students who have a foothold in over 60 Greek communities around the country. The goal of this group? To promote Christian ideals in Greek life. Essentially, this group which is united by a common goal, tries to destroy the stereotype that the Greek community has.
After reading this article i felt uplifted and motivated in the idea that we at OSU are not the only ones trying to fight this stereotype. That there are people at other universities that care more about their Fraternities and Sororities to the point where they want to improve their organization as a whole and not just their chapter.
Read more at: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/07/us/07greek.html?ref=fraternitiesandsororities
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
All is not Fair and Exception to the Rule
We have all heard of the classic example of Kitty Genovese, where Kitty's murder was seen buy dozens of people and no one did anything. Last week i did the same thing. No, completely kidding. But seriously i have been a bystandard before (though in not nearly as dramatic of a way). One of the most significant ways I was a bystandard was in my high school history class.
I will not lie to you and say that I went to some average school, no I went to a private Catholic school in Michigan whose name I will leave out because i did love the school. Why mention that i went to a private school? Well because at my school (and i am sure at others) the popular thing to do was to cheat and the only way i can justify it is that the kids who clearly have successful parents are placed under a lot of stress to be just as successful. One of the easiest classes to cheat in was our AP U.S history class. Aside from the fact that this class, being AP was on a 5.0 scale instead of a typical 4.0 scale, people in the class are supposed to be smart. While i dont doubt that there were a lot of smart kids in that class who are doing very well where ever it is they are, there were also a lot of dumb-asses kids (i do not use that term lightly) who did just as well. How you might ask did a bunch of "dumb-asses" do just as well as the legitimately intelligent? The answer is simple. My teacher used the EXACT same tests every year. As a result people who had older brothers who took the same class would get the answers from them and then ace the tests. For myself, I do not cheat. Period. End of story. I would rather study my ass off and get a B+ or A- than cheat for that A. So why might you ask did I not say anything to my teacher? Did I not care about getting a lower GPA than my peers and thus having a lower rank in the class? Oh believe me i did, in fact it infuriated me to no ends. However you will remember when i said cheating was the "popular" thing to do? Yea. Anyways it went on the entire year (until about the second to last test where my teacher FINALLY caught on) and as a result, my rank in high school does not necessarily reflet my performance.
Although that was a way in which I did participate as a bystander, relating it to Greek life I would like to explain a rule that we have in my Fraternity. This rule is NEVER hit a brother out of anger. NEVER, even if he is pissing you off to no end, doesn't matter. However, like every other rule, there is an exception. The exception to that is that if said brother is being a danger to himself or others or is breaking the law or planning on breaking the law, we may use whatever means (within reason) necessary to stop him. By having this rule we show that we are not supportive of bystander effect.
I will not lie to you and say that I went to some average school, no I went to a private Catholic school in Michigan whose name I will leave out because i did love the school. Why mention that i went to a private school? Well because at my school (and i am sure at others) the popular thing to do was to cheat and the only way i can justify it is that the kids who clearly have successful parents are placed under a lot of stress to be just as successful. One of the easiest classes to cheat in was our AP U.S history class. Aside from the fact that this class, being AP was on a 5.0 scale instead of a typical 4.0 scale, people in the class are supposed to be smart. While i dont doubt that there were a lot of smart kids in that class who are doing very well where ever it is they are, there were also a lot of dumb-asses kids (i do not use that term lightly) who did just as well. How you might ask did a bunch of "dumb-asses" do just as well as the legitimately intelligent? The answer is simple. My teacher used the EXACT same tests every year. As a result people who had older brothers who took the same class would get the answers from them and then ace the tests. For myself, I do not cheat. Period. End of story. I would rather study my ass off and get a B+ or A- than cheat for that A. So why might you ask did I not say anything to my teacher? Did I not care about getting a lower GPA than my peers and thus having a lower rank in the class? Oh believe me i did, in fact it infuriated me to no ends. However you will remember when i said cheating was the "popular" thing to do? Yea. Anyways it went on the entire year (until about the second to last test where my teacher FINALLY caught on) and as a result, my rank in high school does not necessarily reflet my performance.
Although that was a way in which I did participate as a bystander, relating it to Greek life I would like to explain a rule that we have in my Fraternity. This rule is NEVER hit a brother out of anger. NEVER, even if he is pissing you off to no end, doesn't matter. However, like every other rule, there is an exception. The exception to that is that if said brother is being a danger to himself or others or is breaking the law or planning on breaking the law, we may use whatever means (within reason) necessary to stop him. By having this rule we show that we are not supportive of bystander effect.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Oaths
Many people take an oath in their life time. Few take two oaths in their lifetime, and even fewer take more than two. I personally plan on taking three oaths by the time my life is complete. The first two, I have already taken.
My first oath, was to the Roman Catholic Church saying that I affirmed all its teachings and was willing to take responsibility for my own faith. The next oath I just took last Friday, was an oath to Lambda Chi Alpha. The last oath I plan on taking, is that of fidelity to my wife.
Although I have already taken more oaths than a lot of people will take in their life time, that does not make any oath more or less significance than the other. By definition, an oath is is either a statement of fact or a promise calling upon something or someone that the oath maker considers sacred, usually God, as a witness to the binding nature of the promise or the truth of the statement of fact. To swear is to take an oath, to make a solemn vow. Because of this, both oaths i have taken, I took them very seriously and carefully considered what it I was doing before I took them. Unfortunately, in my opinion, i feel as if it is not possible to grasp the full significance of the oath you took until you actually take it. The reason for this I believe is because when most people go to swear an oath, they are generally with people who have already done it and are often times not fully aware of what is being said simply because it can be difficult to grasp everything. However, i feel that only after you take an oath and reflect on what exactly you have done your reaction is eiher OMG what have I done! or wow, I am really glad i did that. Fortunately for me i fall into the latter category. No matter what reaction you have, one thing is for certain. The oath that you take, whether it be to the Catholic church, to your fraternity or sorority, and even to your future spouse, binds you permanently before God (or whatever else you consider sacred) to that thing and should not be taken lightly.
My first oath, was to the Roman Catholic Church saying that I affirmed all its teachings and was willing to take responsibility for my own faith. The next oath I just took last Friday, was an oath to Lambda Chi Alpha. The last oath I plan on taking, is that of fidelity to my wife.
Although I have already taken more oaths than a lot of people will take in their life time, that does not make any oath more or less significance than the other. By definition, an oath is is either a statement of fact or a promise calling upon something or someone that the oath maker considers sacred, usually God, as a witness to the binding nature of the promise or the truth of the statement of fact. To swear is to take an oath, to make a solemn vow. Because of this, both oaths i have taken, I took them very seriously and carefully considered what it I was doing before I took them. Unfortunately, in my opinion, i feel as if it is not possible to grasp the full significance of the oath you took until you actually take it. The reason for this I believe is because when most people go to swear an oath, they are generally with people who have already done it and are often times not fully aware of what is being said simply because it can be difficult to grasp everything. However, i feel that only after you take an oath and reflect on what exactly you have done your reaction is eiher OMG what have I done! or wow, I am really glad i did that. Fortunately for me i fall into the latter category. No matter what reaction you have, one thing is for certain. The oath that you take, whether it be to the Catholic church, to your fraternity or sorority, and even to your future spouse, binds you permanently before God (or whatever else you consider sacred) to that thing and should not be taken lightly.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Citizenship
The book defines citizenship as active engagement of the individual and the leadership group in an effort to serve that community. Because I missed a lot of last week's class i was quite perplexed as to what to write about. However, after skimming over some of the responses of my peers, I am confident that I have my own unique response.
For me, the question about how I personally show good citizenship within a fraternity community is definitely the easiest. As everyone knows, each fraternity and sorority has their own minimum service hours that they must complete each quarter. For some, these few required hours are the only ones that will be completed and after that, out of sight, out of mind. In my case, I was already regularly volunteering on a regular basis at OSU med center. Ill admit that the initial reasoning for volunteering was because it would look good on my medical school application. However, after the first day of volunteering, I feel in love with it (which is probably a good thing because that will be my career). Since then, I have since picked up a volunteer position at Nationwide Children's hospital and I am proud to say that by the time my freshman year is over, I will have accumulated well over 100 hours.
This next question of how my chapter expresses citizenship within the Greek community, is a little more depressing for me to answer. When I first was interested in Lambda Chi, ill be honest that we could have definitely been more active in other chapter's philanthropy events. However, for me being a good citizen is more than just putting on your own philanthropy or attending fellow greek's philanthropy events. For me, these thing should be done because they are the right thing to do and therefore should not be rewarded but expected. For me, being a good citizen is about being involved past what is expected. Because of my view I am a little disappointed in some members of my chapter unwillingness to be involved. Remember when I said how some people get their bare minimum hours done then out of sight, out of mind? Well that is the attitude of several brothers. Dont get me wrong, there are some who are very involved or have too many credits to be actively involved but there are also several who are just lazy.
How does the fraternity/sorority community display citizenship within the greater university community?
Overall, I am disappointed in the overall impact of the Greek community on the greater university community. After all, besides move-in day, rock the block, and the involvement fair all of which are set up by the university and we just have to sign up for them, what exactly do we do? We all as chapters have service hours that are required, but how many of us go beyond those? Based on the way the question is presented I could count move-in day, rock the block, and the involvement fair and say that we as a Greek community have a large impact on the university. However, I pose a question that perhaps is a little more helpful. How do we as a Greek community go above the convient citizenship and do things that perhaps aren't the most convient? After all, citizenship is something that should be well praised and I have always been taught that I should not expect or accept praise for something that is expected.
For me, the question about how I personally show good citizenship within a fraternity community is definitely the easiest. As everyone knows, each fraternity and sorority has their own minimum service hours that they must complete each quarter. For some, these few required hours are the only ones that will be completed and after that, out of sight, out of mind. In my case, I was already regularly volunteering on a regular basis at OSU med center. Ill admit that the initial reasoning for volunteering was because it would look good on my medical school application. However, after the first day of volunteering, I feel in love with it (which is probably a good thing because that will be my career). Since then, I have since picked up a volunteer position at Nationwide Children's hospital and I am proud to say that by the time my freshman year is over, I will have accumulated well over 100 hours.
This next question of how my chapter expresses citizenship within the Greek community, is a little more depressing for me to answer. When I first was interested in Lambda Chi, ill be honest that we could have definitely been more active in other chapter's philanthropy events. However, for me being a good citizen is more than just putting on your own philanthropy or attending fellow greek's philanthropy events. For me, these thing should be done because they are the right thing to do and therefore should not be rewarded but expected. For me, being a good citizen is about being involved past what is expected. Because of my view I am a little disappointed in some members of my chapter unwillingness to be involved. Remember when I said how some people get their bare minimum hours done then out of sight, out of mind? Well that is the attitude of several brothers. Dont get me wrong, there are some who are very involved or have too many credits to be actively involved but there are also several who are just lazy.
How does the fraternity/sorority community display citizenship within the greater university community?
Overall, I am disappointed in the overall impact of the Greek community on the greater university community. After all, besides move-in day, rock the block, and the involvement fair all of which are set up by the university and we just have to sign up for them, what exactly do we do? We all as chapters have service hours that are required, but how many of us go beyond those? Based on the way the question is presented I could count move-in day, rock the block, and the involvement fair and say that we as a Greek community have a large impact on the university. However, I pose a question that perhaps is a little more helpful. How do we as a Greek community go above the convient citizenship and do things that perhaps aren't the most convient? After all, citizenship is something that should be well praised and I have always been taught that I should not expect or accept praise for something that is expected.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
It's A Secret
Although I had to leave early from the last class due to a chem midterm, I was still able to ask several people questions. Most people had pretty basic responses for the first few, they listed their philanthropy events and their values etc. However, by far the most diversity of answers came when i started asking people about ritual. Even my own brothers, because I am technically an AM still (I-week is next week woot woot!!) they were very vague and sometimes non responsive. Although I can somewhat understand where they are coming from, I was greatly disappointed. I at least expected to hear some mention of brotherhood, unity, or mission but I was let down.e Don't get me wrong, some people did a great job of answering all the questions asked but as I said, some didn't. I dont know, after all what do I know, I am just an AM.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Catholic Central Values
Values? yea i know we all have them, but why does an organization or corporation need them? As i pondered this question, it occurred to me that no entity, no matter how small, exists without values. For without values, whats the point? One example is my high school: Detroit Catholic Central. The motto of Catholic Central is "Teach me goodness discipline and knowledge". On the surface this seems like a pretty basic idea, however it was demonstrated constantly. From the Alma Matter we sing that goes:
Mary, Alma Mater, Your sons of Central honor, And trusting in your goodness, We hopefully implore, That by your grace we may every day, Prove that we are men, Of Mary, Alma Mater, Inspire us evermore.Mary, Alma Mater, Your sons of Central honor, And proudly wear your colors, The royal Blue and White, May valiant Blue and peerless White, Teach us to be men, Of Mary, Alma Mater, Inspire us evermore.
This particular song has been sung by the graduating class of every graduate ceremony of Catholic Central for over fifty years.
To keeping with the Catholic Values by saying prayer everyday at the start of the school day along with a school-wide mass every month.
Lastly we have almost a fraternal sense of brotherhood that is evident in everything we do including the Drive!
The Traditions and values at Catholic Central are to miss.
This particular song has been sung by the graduating class of every graduate ceremony of Catholic Central for over fifty years.
To keeping with the Catholic Values by saying prayer everyday at the start of the school day along with a school-wide mass every month.
Lastly we have almost a fraternal sense of brotherhood that is evident in everything we do including the Drive!
The Traditions and values at Catholic Central are to miss.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Who Am I?
Who am I?
To start out with, my full name is Mark Francis Gardner Jr. Most people who know me well, which compared to how many people I know is those people are few in numbered, know me as the kid who never misses a fun moment. This personality may be a result of my health issues, I have had 25 surgeries in my life due to something called clyidocranialsynostosis (look it up) or it may just be my personality. In reality the distinction is insignificant. However, because of these various health problems, I was always had some sort of "handicap" growing up. Thankfully however I have a big ego and and drive to overcome these "handicaps". This drive and ego motivated me to prove just how good I really was. So, at about the age of 10, I decided that I wanted to graduate from The United States Naval Academy as a second lieutenant in the Marine Core. Because in my opinion Maries are the baddest and the best, and the best place to become the baddest and the best was at the Naval Academy I felt that if i succeeded, that i would prove to everyone that I can do whatever I wanted. Well, clearly I am not at the Naval Academy so what changed? Well, after going to Naval Academy's Summer seminar, training my ass off to tak the CFA (candiate fitness assessment) and passing it, passing academically, receiving the required letter of recommendation from my congressman, AND receiving a letter from the Naval Academy essentially saying as long as I pass my physical, I am in, I receive a letter from DOMERB (Department of Defense Medical Examination Review Board) saying that because of my hearing loss (the one thing that was completely out of my control) I cannot be accepted. The reason why I harp on this so much, is because that letter from DOMERB pretty much chose who I am today for me. (for those of you wondering, the Medical standards are the same for the academy as ROTC). I am now currently studying pre-med health sciences with the ambition to become a pediatric surgeon. Lastly I am in Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity.
Why I joined a Fraternity?
After reading about whom I am, it should be clear that in high school, ,y thoughts were far from Greek life. What changed? After coming to OSU (from Michigan) and not getting along with my roommate (who seemed to get along perfectly well with the rest of the floor) I found myself for the first time, lacking a social life. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t all bad, my grades were great and I was actively volunteering. But none of that stuff was… well fun. Despite the impression you may have gotten from me as a bitter kid who wants pity from everyone because I got screwed, this is not the case. My about me point was to merely demonstrate that no, this is not my first choice, but I am the kind of guy who will make the best of it. This is where my Fraternity comes in. One Friday night my buddy and I were walking around trying to find some party to get into (as almost all freshman do) when we came across my fraternity house. We went in, had a great time and continued to go back every week. At the time, I had no idea that it was a fraternity house or that I even was going to join a fraternity. However, my best friend from back home told me that he had joined a fraternity called Lambda Chi Alpha. Because I obviously trust my best friend’s judgment, I decided to look into Greek life. I really had no idea where to start, so I decided to start with what my friend had joined, Lambda Chi. When I realized that it was the same fraternity that I had been to several times, it was a no-brainer. After to getting to know the men of Lambda Chi more and more, I felt like I had relationships of equal quality and comfort as my high school buddies. Since then, I hang out all the time with them and I am proud to call myself a Chopper
How do I feel after reading blogabus?
Before actually creating the blog, I was kind of skeptical thinking man, this is just one more thing that I have to learn how to do. However, now that i have actually completed my first blog. I am excited to keep blogging!!!
Other Random Facts:
More info on craniosynostosis (for those premed people out there) can be found on my Facebook notes.
My Favorite vehicle is the Ford SVT Raptor
I have the Best Black Lab puppy in the world
FEEL FREE TO COMMENT IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE!!!
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