Youthful Life: X

Truth - Faith is often articulated to be a belief in things beyond belief. Faith however can also be explained to be a certainty in something or someone that you know to be true. Faith surpasses doubt and pushes you further just hope and wishes. Faith is a confirmation of strength and fortitude in something bigger than you. Faith fundamentally about trust not only in yourself but in others, and the world around you. When you act in good faith it is the implication of sincerity of intention.   " Different people, in good faith, can look at the same fact and interpret it differently. But that's where an interesting conversation begins." Eric Schlosser   Trust issues are common for good reason. There have been so many times where I have found myself questioning the authenticity of who people present themselves to me as or their intent in befriending me. Mistrust is a learned behavior. It manifests itself after repeated instances of having your trust being taken for g...

The 20s are all about knowing your personal truths. College is definitively a time for self-exploration. It's the place where you get to be whoever you want and define what it is that makes you ... well you. What is most profound about the freedom to demarcate yourself as whomever you'd like is that in doing so that is who you are. We really cannot choose to be someone else, all the versions of ourselves that we portray are still us. It's kind of a circular argument but a necessary one nonetheless. You can only ever be yourself - yeah everyone else is taken, but that's fundamentally what it means to be you. Now more than ever I finding out things about myself that I never knew before. I am the boy who loved.     As someone who has spent nearly the entirety of their life trying to be perfect - knowing with complete certainty that it is an irrational and unrealistic goal -  I have always felt that there were certain truths about me that I had to subscribed to. In hi...

The 20s are all about learning how to be part of a community. College is about figuring out how to exist in the world and live with other people. More than just getting a degree, college is the place where we are tasked with finding the best ways to interact with other people. Community building can be tough sometimes. Some barriers have to come down before a foundation can even be laid. When you've constructed your communal place, it can became your safe zone. Take a big ole gulp because a spoonful of brotherhood is all you need.  Whenever I tell people or they find out that I'm in a fraternity people are always shocked. They ask me if I'm kidding or follow up with which one. Fundamentally their stereotypes and the stigmas they associate with being in the fraternity/sorority life community do not line up with who they perceive me to be. It's a testament to what the community I get to be part of actually is about if they somehow got me of all people to join. Appare...

The 20s are about breaking boundaries, and knocking down barriers to progress. There are so many questions to be asked on college campuses and of us as young people. What is stopping us? What prevents us from talking about the tough things, the things that aren't so picturesque, but the things that are most real . Why is socially unacceptable to have problems, to acknowledge their existence and most of all to talk about them? Why does it make us uncomfortable? This is what happens when there's a man down. Fraternity /sorority life is an absolutely amazing community to be apart of. It's not for everyone, but if you find your fit - it can/will change your life forever. While it does foster camaraderie to certain extent, it is also problematic in the attitudes, ideals, and behaviors its members sometimes perpetuate. This past week was my college's "Greek Week" - a time for all chapters to get involved, celebrate together in the spirit of competition. Never hav...

The 20s are all about getting out there. It honestly takes a whole lot inside of you to talk to someone you've never spoken to before. There's a huge difference between actually knowing someone and knowing of them, the latter is problematic and while it's fine to look from afar, what stops us from taking that next step and striking up a conversation? All it takes is literally one spark. Saying hey, hello, or hi with a person's name is so powerful. It still freaks me out when certain people even address that I actually exist. Like you know my name? No more chasing silhouettes. * First and foremost, check out my Greek Sync performance! It's kind of the reason for the this post. Apparently all it takes is a few pelvic thrusts, a killer smile, and one hell of a raspy voice to become a legend ... I may never know why. This past week has been an out there one to say the least. Once you've watched the dance performance right there, this post makes a ridiculousl...