Matt’s Blog

This Thanksgiving I traveled all the way from Seattle to Atlanta (again) to, among other things, attend the best college football rivalry game in the country; the Georgia Tech vs. U(sic)GA game. This year the game was the first and only GT game that I attended at Bobby Dodd stadium (readers will recall that I also saw the team play in person at Vanderbilt) and unless you have had your head under a rock for the past few days you probably also know that the game did not go well for us.

Now I don’t really know what qualifies a game as “rough” but here’s what made the game last Saturday rough for the GT faithful. First, we hate UGA. Good, clean hate mind you but hate none the less. Perhaps it’s because most of their fans didn’t even go to the school, and cheer for them because they win a lot and make an easy team to root for. Perhaps it’s because they usually beat us in football. Perhaps it’s because their football players and mascot tear up our field in front of our fans when they win. Whatever. We just don’t like them at all and losing to them only makes that worse. Second, we were actually good this year. Although I’ll admit that I thought the ranking in the top 10 was a bit optimistic, I really do think that we’ve done a good job this year. And in years past when the roles were reversed and U(sic)GA was on top we got trounced. Any of those years we would have loved to play the spoiler to U(sic)GA’s otherwise great season. Why then on the one rare occasion where the roles are reversed are we the ones who provide redemption for our rival’s otherwise mediocre season? Third, the game was so close. Although we were trailing pretty much the entire time, we were always within striking distance. And except for a brief period in the second quarter we had plenty of offensive momentum. This means that for pretty much the entire game we were all on the edge of our seats screaming our heads off hoping that we would take the lead. Right up to the very end. Let me tell you how much fun it was to wake up the next day, unable to speak in anything above a raspy whisper and remember: “oh yeah, we lost to Georgia last night, sweet.” And finally, on the topic of that period in the second quarter, it wouldn’t be a game against the dawgs without a little “coincidence.” How fortuitous that the first play immediately following our recovery of a U(sic)GA fumble for the go-ahead touchdown our star quarterback goes down with a twisted ankle…

Phew, now that’s out of my system.

The rest of the trip was great. I had a great time with friends and like every time I go back I left wondering why I moved so far away. Also, this might sound dumb, but this was the first trip where I realized that I’m really not in college anymore. For the game I was standing with my fraternity just like the old days, except that it wasn’t. Most of my close friends have graduated and in their places are all these new guys who I don’t know. Even those guys that I do know are getting ready to move on to grad school and other things. So the limited connection that I do have there will soon be gone. Even just being around the house or on campus was interesting. For the first time ever I felt more at home at the alumni tailgate then I did anywhere else.

But then, what are my alternatives? I don’t really feel old enough to move to the alumni sections for the games. I mean who really wants to sit through a football game? If I wanted to sit then I’d just stay home where I can camp out on the couch and drink beer that didn’t cost eight dollars a bottle. This might not have been all that bad of an idea given the outcome of the game… Anyways the trip was great and the times were good. So I can’t really complain all that much, even if I’m becoming one of the “old guys.” I’m just not there yet.

Sunday I met with the small group leaders at Buckhead Church for the last time. Typically we have these lunch meetings once a month throughout the course of the semester. The objective is to get together to discuss everything that is going on in our groups, and share methods and ideas with each other. Last Sunday was the last meeting of this semester and, for me, the last one I will attend.

As this is the last week of class, and next week is finals week, it’s inevitable that there are going to be a lot of these “lasts”.

It’s difficult for me to write about this because I really don’t know how to feel. There’s definitely excitement, but there’s also a great deal of fear and uncertainty. Imagine looking around at everything you can see or experience and being afraid to like it because it will be a 7-hour airplane ride away in a couple months. Not that Seattle is a bad place, quite the opposite in fact. The quick glimpses that I’ve gotten through my visits there and by listening to Mark’s podcasts are promising. It’s just that I’ve done this whole move-across-the-county thing before when I came to Georgia from Colorado, so now I’m burdened with the knowledge of what that move will do.

I’ve had a really good time here. That’s what is clearly apparent in the “lasts”. If I hadn’t had a good time, then there wouldn’t be any “lasts” worth experiencing. As I reflect back on the time I’ve spent here I’m amazed at all the great things I have to remember. But as I began writing about them I realized that if I put them all in one post it would be close to a mile long. So instead, I’m going to parcel them out over the course of a few days/weeks starting with this one:

Small Group

I started my small group experience at Theta Xi before I was even a brother. Charlie Wright, who would eventually become my big brother, invited me to join a group my sophomore year at Tech. As I was really struggling for Christian guy community at the time; I joined. Eventually my involvement in the group led to my pledging at Theta Xi, but that’s another story. The next couple years I led groups of various size and effectiveness through the house. When I entered graduate school, however, things really took off. I decided that I wanted to join a group (not lead) through Buckhead Church to branch out beyond the fraternity. I didn’t want to lead, because I didn’t feel that I had the proper experience or knowledge to adequately lead. Apparently God thought differently. He brought a group of young guys to me, and for the next two years they asked me to lead them as we all “did life” together.

The last two years have been some of the most exciting years of my life in small group. I’m so amazed at the growth and maturity that each of the members of our group has experienced, myself included. It’s hard to remember all the things that we have done together outside of the regular meetings; going to Kenya, mini-golfing, feeding the homeless, and generally just hanging out. When we first all met I think there was a significant doubt that we would even work together, but now I can safely say that if I get married I know a couple guys who will be standing with me at the altar.

Today I was killing time while babysitting a contractor at Theta Xi and came across the following picture in a fire extinguisher cabinet:

The house pictured is the old 777 Techwood Drive house which has since been demolished and replaced with the building that I presently live in. Apparently as a prank some brother’s bed was put on the roof and now the photographic evidence is something that we keep in the cabinet to make life interesting for our associates when they try to get signatures.

It’s a good prank, but duplicating it now would be difficult as the present structure is three stories.

And so starts my last semester as a student at Tech, and most-likely as a student anywhere.

One of the consequences of being so near the end is that you get all reminiscent and spend down time thinking over the time you spent in whatever place it is you are about to leave. Perhaps too my own personal reflection is intensified by my decision to move cross-country in addition to the imminent end of my schooling. I guess there is a keen understanding now of all that I will be leaving behind, and a real motivation to enjoy all that I may have taken for granted in the past.

That said, as I think back on the time I’ve spent in Georgia I realize Spring has always been one of the most interesting seasons for me. I’ve always seen Spring as a beginning of sorts. For the first three years of my GT experience the spring marked the return to Colorado and the start of work. Nearly every relationship I’ve had started in the spring. I started at Kimley-Horn as an intern during or shortly after spring semester both years I worked for them. In spring the weather changes and things start growing, which in Georgia is no small event. Thinking back, I can pinpoint all sorts of fun events throughout my time in GA most of which happened in the spring. The malibu mixer, various formals, playing frisbee in the park, hiking stone mountain, road trips…

I guess it’s traditional to set all kinds of goals at the new year. And even though I think that’s crap because you should meet and set goals all year long, I guess this once I’ll participate. This spring/summer I have only one goal:

Fully enjoy the remainder of my time in GA by re-living past fun times and creating new ones.

I’m a big fan of lists and organization, and so in the interests of supporting my main goal I’ve come up with a non-exhaustive, prone to expansion, likely to change, list of supporting goals:

• Finish my thesis.
• Finally deliver the Cobb Parkway report.
• Hang out at Piedmont Park.
• Go to Malibu Grand Prix.
• Bike/Hike around and up Stone Mountain.
• Mellow Mushroom Mondays (MMM)
• Starbuckheads
• Finish my website.
• Catch fireflies.
• Visit Dustin in Nashville.
• More CS Lewis dates at Jason’s Deli.
• Read The Fountainhead.

While I love football season, and have plenty of positive memories of time spent in the classroom and stadium in the fall I must admit that my fondest memories were formed in the spring; and this one is no different. Many months from now I hope to look back on this time in my life and remark that it was the end of something great and the start of something even better.

I’m not sure if there’s a picture in existence that better celebrates all things America:

This is my Theta Xi little brother Devin. We all went out for his Bachelor party this past Thanksgiving Break. It was a blast. Even though the power was out in the bar we ended up in, we still got this awesome picture.

I’m sure going to miss these guys.

This is my roommate Dustin. He’s graduating in one week and going to med school at Vanderbilt. We’ve been living together for three years which I believe qualifies us for common law marriage. This is oddly ironic because living with this guy has given me every confidence that someday, if I get married, I will be able to survive it.

Dustin and I starting rooming almost by accident. It’s funny how most life-changing things start that way. When I look back at all the people that have influenced who I’ve become in college, I would say that Dustin is one of the top 5. He’s inspired me, challenged me, annoyed me (which I’m sure was reciporcal), made me laugh, and made me proud. He’s also drastically improved the way I dress.

I was working in the room the other day when I realized…

I only have one more week before he moves out.

I’ve always seen my life as a series of stages (or chapters, or whatever tired analogy you want to use), and this is the close of a major one for both of us. I’ve got that feeling you get when you reach the end of a good book and sit there for a minute and just let it all soak in. It’s not that I want to go back and re-read anything, but I just don’t want to forget the (many) good parts.

Farewell Dustin, and good luck. I’ve really enjoyed our time together, and as you move on to better things I hope you take as many fond memories as I have.

I love my fraternity brothers.

These two were within 9 items of each other on my news feed:

Stroll: Theta Xi 1st

Greek Sing: Theta Xi 3rd (or 4th considering there was a tie for 1st)

Trust me, anyone there (including the judges) will testify that we did not put on a 3rd place performance. Before the funniness we had close to a perfect score, video will verify this whenever it gets on YouTube.

Apparently there were come complications with the time of the show. The official limit is 10 min, we went 13.something and got penalized. When I headed this up last year I told groups to cater to the audience and not worry about the run-time of their show. As long as they didn’t do anything stupid or add a whole bunch of crap between prelims and finals we’d have no problem. I thought (and Katie agreed) that this was a) a good way to make sure groups could allow the audience to cheer for them and b) a precedent set by my predecessors…

Apparently the leadership this year thought differently.

Which wouldn’t be all that big of a deal if there weren’t some other issues.

The upside-down, inside-out programs…

What happened with AXO…

From what I hear one judge gave them all zeros because their show “had nothing to do with Georgia Tech.” Now maybe the judging rubric has changed significantly from last year, but I don’t recall that having ANYTHING to do with the score. This means that either the judges weren’t properly instructed on what’s supposed to matter or AXO was not told what the shows were going to be judged on… The fact that ADPi won first (a whole other bag of worms) with a show that also “had nothing to do with Georgia Tech” makes this whole thing even more frustrating.

Bottom line, we’ve got to figure out how to make leadership think more clearly about aspects of the show that aren’t inherently obvious. Things like the run-time issue and the awful judging that AXO (allegedly) suffered make the competition less about putting on a good show and more about technicalities, changing the whole tone of the show and making it, in my mind, far less enjoyable.