Dan

Last but certainly not least is my roommate Dan. Dan was the guy I knew best before we moved into the new apartment. We were in the same degree plan and had a lot of classes. When he pledged we actually had a class together without planning it out. From then on we always planned our schedules to have at least one class together. Dan is a great friend and a great roommate. He is the quietest of the bunch but that's okay because I am the loudest. I talk enough for the both of us. I think Dan grounds us all a little bit. Dan is seriously obsessed with studying. He gets in these moods where he will study for hours on end. On Thursday nights when we go out Dan likes to stay in and study. He kind of reminds us that we are students and not just college kids.

Me and Dan do not agree on everything. We have very different views on some things. But the great thing about Dan is that we can discuss it and still be cool. If we fight, both of us feel awful and never stay mad long. I enjoy disagreeing with him because it challenges my simple views. It can be something as serious as politics or as simple as movie preference or literature. We always have a good discussion no matter what the topic.

My favorite thing about Dan is that he is a good running partner. I normally do not like to run with people, I usually avoid it. However, we started running together a couple of years ago and it really helps. We push each other when we need it and we know when the other needs to take it easy. We can run and talk at the same time and we always have good runs. This past summer we got pretty fast. We ran nearly every day. By the end of the summer we were cruising. Dan is just a good guy to hang out with. I have gone down to Florida with him for Spring Break. And I have visited his house for New Years. We can absolutely anything or absolutely nothing and still have fun. Having a guy like Dan as a roommate is great because we can talk about stuff I can't talk about with other people. He knows me pretty well and he knows how to not piss me off. He's a great guy and an even better friend.

Alex

What can I say about Alex? He has the most nicknames in the apartment. He pays our bills on time. He is equally as addicted to Scrubs as I am. And he is a great guy. Genuine would be the word I use to describe him. What you see is what you get. To quote the great, green philosopher Shrek, Alex is like an onion. "Onions have layers. Ogres have layers." Alex is not an ogre, most of the time, but he does have layers. The more you get to know him the more you like him.



We spent winter break in Madison together. We both had to work and since no one else was around we spent most of our time hanging out together. I had known him pretty well beforehand, but in the cold winter weather of Wisconsin there isn't a lot to do beside drink a few beers and shoot the bull for a while. We got to know each other pretty well. There are few people that I respect more than Alex. People give him a lot of crap but he is pretty kickass.

My favorite thing about Alex is that he is down to Earth. He knows whats going on. He enjoys simple things like Scrubs. Alex can easily watch four hours a day of Scrubs (more if it were on more). And I can watch it with him. It's a great show. It really is the simple things in life that mean the most. Sure Alex can get worked up about things from time to time, but who doesn't. You put a Wii-mote in his hand or turn on his favorite show and he is as happy as a clam.

Roommates - Adam

Adam is the good-looking guy in our apartment. I chuckle to myself even writing that because I know my other roommates will give me crap for it. I only mean that he is the only of us that looks like a movie star. If you have seen the new James Bond movies or just know who Daniel Craig is, then you have seen my roommate Adam. He, no kidding, looks just like him. He has people come up to him all the time at the bars saying, "You know who look like? That James Bond guy!" It's pretty funny to watch. On top of looking like a movie star, Adam would also be considered the fashionable guy in our apartment. He likes to sport his designer T's or a nice sweater. I am not by any means saying that he is a Diva or anything. In fact he is quite the opposite - very humble. But he knows how to dress.

Adam is also one of the better cooks in our apartment. Everyone in our apartment (besides me) is a pretty decent cook, but Adam has surprised a couple of times with the meals he makes. Whereas I generally make a ham, turkey and cheese sandwich, Adam's favorite meal is a stuffed chicken breast with potatos and some sort of vegetable. The only vegetables I eat are Doritos. Adam is also very clean. He doesn't like to do the dishes that often (Just kidding Adam) but he is very neat. For the most part Adam and I have very similar views. We can discuss politics, religion, or social issues without getting into any heated debates. Obviously we do not agree on everything, but we still enjoy a nice discussion about the others' view.

I think my favorite thing about Adam is going out to the bars with him. When we go out to the bars and such Adam is always the first one on the dance floor. The guy loves to dance, and the thing is - he's pretty good at it too. This opens up the floor for me to dance because I also love dancing at the bars. I am nowhere close to his skill level. I am pretty sure he took classes somewhere. But his skill takesk the focus off of me so I can just have a good time. That's what he does. He sets the stage for others to have a good time. He has pretty corny jokes and a dry sense of humor buts its great. Adam adds a little bit of spice to our apartment mix.

Roommates - Joe

It is the beginning of another semester. All of my roommates are back in town now and over the break I realized that I had missed living with them. I know a lot of people are crazy about their roommates and while it is true that my roommates are great we are not all "best friends" like some apartments. We all knew each other coming into this year and we generally liked everybody else, but we were not an inseperable clique. I have heard that it is a really bad idea to roommate with a best friend, and I have heard stories to back it up.

However, the situation with my roommates and I is ideal. We knew each other well enough to be comfortable living with each other right off the back, but we were not so close that we got sick of each other either. That is the biggest danger of having roommates. There is nothing worse than living with someone for a year and finding out 2 months in that you absolutely hate their guts (at least living with them).

So I guess this post is an Ode to My Roomies. It will be in four installments, describing each of my roommates and why they are awesome to live with. Some of you think is trite and juvenille but the truth of the matter is that good roommates, really good roommates are hard to come by.

I will start with Joe. Every apartment needs a guy like Joe. Joe is the most honest, forthright person I have ever met. He is direct and to the point. There has not been a situation in the apartment that Joe has had a problem addressing. If we have a problem with rent or we need something fixed, Joe is the guy to go over and talk to somebody. He does not worry about stepping on people's toes because he knows that if needs to get done, it is someone's job to get it done. He is the same with in the apartment. If someone doesn't clean up their crap or doesn't pay their rent on time. He has no problem saying "Hey clean up your crap". And the thing of it is, I don't of one time that anyone has gotten mad at him for doing so. It needs to get done and the guy responsible knows it. It isn't offensive because Joe is sweet like that.

We do not spend all our time together. We don't share secrets. And we don't borrow each others' clothes. But there has never been any question about our friendship. We hang out whenever, and when we are in the living room or cooking we all always have extremely pleasant conversation. Joe is a no-nonsense kind of guy. He doesn't let stupid things get in the way of him living his life. That's the best thing about him. He is realistic, down to earth, and therefore just a great guy to hang out with. Every apartment should have a Joe. If you need the landlord to stop stalling and fix something, if you need to yell at a roommate for never throwing out his sour milk, or if you just need to shoot the shit on a Friday after class - everybody needs a Joe.

Day 2

So the plan was for me to be in Florida by now. I was actually scheduled to be on a plane right now to move. Unfortunately, my face is broken, my jaw really, and now I am wired shut for a while. These circumstances keep me in Madison. I do not know for how long I will be around but it is nice to have more time with my friends at the UW.

As I am stuck with my mouth shut, it has forced me to do some thinking. Thinking about life, relationships, and those things that matter most. As I was preparing for graduation and commissioning I tried not to do the "this is my last..." conversation with myself. I avoided it like the plague in fact because I had seen too many people do it for everything. "This is my last Tuesday before a test", "this is my last Thursday night where I'm gonna eat T-Bell". I hated it. I determined that I would not be one of those sappy, crying-face seniors that would get all worked up over nothing.

Then the weirdest thing happened. I missed it. My senior (and a half) semester flew by. Before I knew it, it was over. It hit me hardest when I had my last fraternity chapter meeting. The friendships that I had cultivated over 4 years, the men that I had met, and the experiences that I had there literally changed my life. That first year at school, the fraternity is what kept me from quitting. And standing there before my Brothers saying goodbye, I realized that I was going to miss it. I was going to miss the stupid fights, the drunken beer pong matches, and the sense of family that comes with living with a group of guys for four years.

Many people look down on fraternities because they think that its a group of drunken college boys being jackasses together. And for some fraternities that may be the case. But as with all stereotypes, there may be some extreme true examples but for the most part the stereotype is proven wrong over and over again by the vast majority. This is the case with my fraternity, the Sigma Pi chapter at UW Madison. From the very beginning, what drew me to it was the sense of family and brotherhood that I experienced there. I have cried and laughed and done absolutely nothing with these men. The truest expression of friendship is to spend a day doing absolutely nothing with someone and being completely comfortable.

The men in my fraternity are the best and truest that I know. Their character is the best I've seen. When I joined, 9 of the original 40 Founding Fathers (including me) were members of the military. It is often said that the bond that is forged in battle creates an esprit de corps that forms those men into a band of brothers. This relationship is hard to find anywhere else, but I think that I have found something similar. The guys I have met will be in my wedding, they will be there when my kids are born, and they will be at my funeral. I love these guys. They are my truest brothers.

IF you are looking for a stereotype to break look no further than fraternities. The next time you meet someone who says "Yeah, I'm in a frat", take the time to get to know them. Chances are they may surprise you. The friendships they cultivate, the leadership they possess, and the sincerity of character are sure to turn the most cynical skeptic.

Hello

Hey everybody,

As this is my first post on my first blog I think introductions are in order. My name is Andrew Marsh, I am a new ensign in the United States Navy, and I created this site to stay connected to the people in my life who may not be able to otherwise keep in touch. I hope to post at least once a week but there will undoubtedly be times when I won't be able to post for a long time. I will try to keep you all updated on whats going on in my life. I will also be using this post as a means of getting my writing out to people to see it and critique it (Dan). So feel free to comment, be critical but not mean. Besides that, I hope this will keep you interested and in the loop. Talk to you later.

Andrew