During the course of this week, we got to hear from our industrious residence life staff (mostly made up of grad students looking to get their tuition and board paid while going through school) on the importance of maintaining an image of leadership and responsibility at all times. I was among these people. I was one of the resident advisers of the freshmen dorm Nelligan Hall.

Nelligan was a fascinating place. It was the only residence hall that employed 2 resident advisers per floor (as opposed to the usual 1). These RAs were highly skilled in the necessary competencies: playing Halo, ordering pizza, and busting up parties. The busting up parties varied from RA to RA, but in general the system worked.

Think back to my earlier point about leadership and responsibility. As RAs, the higher ups expected us to set the example for others (read: don’t be drunk in public, morons).

Then came Matt. Matt was younger (I think a sophomore), and thus underage. He was co-RA of the 3rd floor with my former roommate (and co-RA from the previous year), Jordan Patch. Jordan would be best described as our campus’ Tony Soprano. You want to do anything, you better talk to the boss.

So back to Matt. Matt must have read the phrase “don’t ever change” in his yearbook one too many times, because when he got the job as RA – he didn’t. You see, Matt was a really thirsty guy. But the kind of beverage he drank always made him do really stupid things – and worse, in front of his residents. But not to worry, the system has steps and a recovery program for this kind of behavior (read: he was fired).

At any rate, here we are 7 years later and I genuinely do believe the statute of limitations on the Department of Residence Life being mad at him has passed. It’s college, and this is what college life is like. But that alone is not the punchline of this story.

Matt was let go about 6-7 weeks into the year, and the residents were still learning who we were. In the lobby of the dorm, you could find a “Meet Your RAs” board. It was a corkboard with photos of the RAs, taken in pairs. Natrually, the 3rd floor RAs photo showcased Jordan and Matt, standing outside our school’s pristine chapel.

And there was the problem. The seasons started changing, and we didn’t want to go out and shoot new photos. Besides, we were in shirts/ties which was an annual event for most of us. So I was tasked with “removing Matt from existence”. Yeah, you heard that right, just like Marty McFly’s family photograph at the end of Back to the Future.

What better time to learn Photoshop? And this is where the funny came in. Imagine Matt’s surprise (and others), when he tried to comprehend how all traces of his being on staff were carefully (and with swift precision) eliminated.

Within 24 hours of his termination, the new picture was up in the lobby. Like I said, something that was serious ultimately became funny. At least I think it is.

Guy B is so not into it.

Awkward. Very awkward. I should tell Guy A to leave right now and enjoy what’s left of college before the real world comes.

Back in 2002, college was just getting rolling for me. At the beginning of that year, I was living it up in the second half of my freshmen year. My rooommate Josh was a one of the most interesting guys I had met at that time. He brought a lot of variety to our dorm room. His day consisted of 4 basic elements:

1. Class
2. Workout and protein shakes
3. Drinking your face off
4. Watching Fight Club

Every day. Rinse, wash, repeat. Occassionally a Taco Bell run would make it’s way between step 3 and 4, and you can guess who was Designated Derek. I actually was fine with it, though. Josh had a PS3 so by my count, our living arrangement was very synergistic- especially when Grand Theft Auto III came out that spring.

I don’t think we even played a single mission in the game, it’s just as much fun (arguably more) just running over women and children, chopping cars, and shooting rockets at helicopters.

Anyway, Josh was a fun guy – and rooming with him was a heck of a way to start peeling away my extreme type A behaviors. As I found out throughout the course of the year, maintaining one pile of clothes and conducting the “sniff test” can be just as efficient as using a closet or dresser.

Here’s a shot of us getting ready for one of our dances. Yeah, our college had dances… just like high school.

And for the record, I refuse to confirm or deny any rumors that suggest we had our tips frosted together.

In an effort to prove our existence with the ladies of Cicero-North Syracuse High School, six guys from the likes of the math league, glee club, and (d)orchestra joined forces to create an unstoppable musical force. That’s right people, 2001 marked the year of The Businessmen.

The best part of it all was that I had no business playing with these guys. As Kristen (Sciaruto) Embry would be quick to point out, I could barely use a sustain pedal. How was it that I found myself part of the group that would rise to the top of the local high school radio charts?

Simple. I had a performance spot at our high school’s Prevention Night, that’s code for ‘ambiguously themed talent show’.

I was going to form a band to perform a cover of the Tom Jones song, It’s Not Unusual. It was a brilliant plan, which worked basically like this:

1. Find trombone and trumpet player
2. Create band and play It’s Not Unusual at high school talent show
3. Take my pick of any girl in the school (like on The Bachelor)

Instead, my good friend at the time (and future lead singer) convinced me to do otherwise. He said that I should join their band and surrender my spot at the show. He would just hand me a guitar, saying all that mattered is that we would all be in a band together and that the “business would come”. Luckily I weaseled my way in as the piano player once their original member didn’t show up for a practice. Or at least that’s how I like to remember it.

It’s business time people, and my senior year of high school was never to be the same.

In the last 10 years I’ve graduated from high school and college, got my first car, first kiss (because of the car), first girlfriend (because of the kiss), first job (because girls are expensive), and first home (because being homeless isn’t really popular right now). I thought it’d be fun to recap the highlights from each year in the last decade, in a new series called Ten Years in Ten Days. Buckle up, time for a quick trip down memory lane.

In the Year 2000…

The year 2000 was possibly the most over-hyped year ever to exist. People were busy buying powdered milk and canned food, all the while significant technology spending and the likes of e-commerce fueled the economy (sock puppets anyone?). Tw0-thousand was also when I started my senior year in high school.

I remember the first week of school it was all about the vests. Old Navy had been brainwashing us all summer with their Tech Vest commercials. Ah yes, the Old Navy Tech Vest. Truly technology at its finest. Remember kids, it was hip to zip.

Favorite memory? Zipping my way up and down the hallways of Cicero-North Syracuse High School, fresh with frosted tips and and some sort of beaded necklace from my cousin. Oh, and a Messenger bag too. Sounds about right.

Here’s a shot with my future r-blading partner and Summer 2002-03 BFF, Bridget Frio (Fredenburg) sporting said style.

Gosh, was I ever a sucker for those Lisa Loeb glasses.