Alpha Sigma Phi - University of Washington

7 FINDING SOLACE IN MUSIC With John's mind constantly visiting new possibilities to explore, he finds rest and solace in music. "Music has been a big part of my life, says John. "It allows me to not stress out about things. It helps me counter my focused absolute side with a more philosophical side that has more extended boundaries. With music I get a more emo- tional in-depth look at myself and I can reflect on what is going on around me. It is a great release. It lets me slowly let stuff out. It is not so much that the music affects my emotions, but rather how my emotions affect how I perceive the music." When asked what kind of music he likes John commented that it depends on his mood. He quickly adds, "I love rock, electronic music and stuff that electrifies my soul." John thanks his Grandmother Strait who emphasized the impor- tance of music in his life. "She wanted my creative side to shine," commented John." John plays the trumpet and was in Jazz Band in middle school. THE IMPORTANCE OF PEOPLE Caring about people and their needs is at the core of who John is. "Father Heric," begins John, "at Eastside Catholic, inspired me to embrace the human and more personal side of who I want to be. I don't want to see people just passing by. I want to be able to connect and stay connected with people I meet. This is important particularly with new technologies. It is often said that technol- ogy connects people, but, it also disconnects people. I go to dinner and every- one is on their phone. I think it is important to disengage yourself more and not worry about what someone thinks 30 miles away. You should focus on who is in front of you which is tangible and not a little screen. I would like to change this existing paradigm and build an overall better sense of community." "Connecting with people hasn't always been my thing. Being an only child I wasn't the most social. It was just me. I was really the quiet kind. Teachers remarked that I was the most introverted person in the class. It began changing at the end of high school when I started to open my mouth and not worry about what people thought. I joined a fraternity to immerse myself in the opportunity to be in a constant social environment. THE IMPORTANCE OF ALPHA SIGMA PHI Alpha Sig was the first to Rush me. It was a good fit for me. I immediately saw a great sense of brotherhood. Everyone was super friendly and made sure I was included. It seemed like a strong broth- erhood. Being an only child it was definitely something different and I liked it. What really appealed to me at recurring events was that everyone knew my name, although many of the brothers had met me only once. They were genuine. It wasn't a show. A lot of time genuineness can be lost at parties and brotherhood can be overlooked. Alpha Sig is a fraternity where that definitely is not true. "Good impressions and being social is important to our fraternity, huge! It is important to members and important to how people look on us from the outside. It's imperative to always behave like a gentleman and leave a good impression with everyone you converse with. This is something the fraternity is teaching me that I will use throughout the rest of my life, personally and professionally. Alpha Sig is helping me immensely because the brotherhood nurtures me. It builds me up because I am surrounded by people who become friends. It is always there for me. "I want to be more involved in the fraternity now that I'm a sopho- more. I would like to contribute in some way. Being in a fraternity is more than just living in a room. You should be doing something to make it better. That's the same way in life. You shouldn't be stand- ing by idle. You should be doing something to make things better for those around you. ON PHILANTHROPY "In my junior year of high school we went to Central L.A. for a week. It is a tough area. We worked in the food bank preparing, serving and packing food; we gathered clothes for the homeless, and we worked in a gang rehabilitation center. This was eye opening for me. It was easy for me to give from my personal time and give something good to these people. It made me feel good. I realized that, sure, I can do this for Central L.A., but I can also take this home and apply it to Seattle. Since, I have worked with a food bank in Seattle where we do cooking and prepping. I like that we get to eat with the people and not separated from them. Community is not just the charity part, but also the connection. "I like that philanthropy plays a very active role in our fraternity. I think that while it is a great catalyst to bring the Greek System together, it is also working for a good community cause. The philanthropic aspect of what we do helps the Greek System think about something good that builds the community and our society. ON THE FUTURE "As I move towards my career, I am inspired by Elon Musk because of the great innovator he is. I think he is basically going against the grain and trying to create new practices. I like that way of innovat- ing. As I've said, even if something is good, it can always be better. I like people that look at things and see all possibilities. I like figur- ing things out and coming up with something better and new. "I will always look towards what works best for people. Going into computer sciences will help me do that. It's about connecting with people. I have always worked at jobs where you are working one-on-one regardless if it is a consumer or a co-worker. We are all connected and it is important that we think about each other. "Faith is important to my life. It has always been there. I think that at this stage of my life where I am taking these giant steps forward, that it is nice to have something to lean back on that is always telling me that everything is going to be okay."

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