Bro Code and Strike

Blatant violation of the bro code.

True violations are hard to come by. There are the minor ones that you can just brush off your shoulders. Every guy has these invisible laws known as the "bro code" engraved in their minds as they grow up.

My roommate and I were at the gym. He was playing volleyball and I was playing basketball. As we are being kicked out of the gym, I look outside and it's raining. I had no hood and no umbrella. Awesome. My roommate drove. I double check with him to see if he drove.

"Sorry, I promised the girls I'd drive them home."

My mind was trying to scramble for appropriate words to say. I made a joking effort to get a ride to no avail. In the end, I had nothing to say and turned away. Don't get me wrong. I think it's proper to escort girls back home if you have a car. But I'm one guy. A guy who is going to exact same place as the driver. Unless he was trying to drive the women's lacrosse team in one trip, I don't see how I couldn't have fit in the ride.

This goes beyond the bro code. This should be classified as roommate code.

I get home soaking wet. I check my phone which I left at home to charge. One text message from said roommate. "Do you want to go to Price Choppers?" I literally stared at this message in disbelief. If you are going to bring me to do some grocery shopping, wouldn't it have made sense to drive me back from the gym so you wouldn't have to wait for me to walk home in the rain?

I'm too tired to be upset. I have an 8:30 AM class in the morning and I haven't done the assignment yet.

That's strike 1, roommate.

Vision and Weakness

What a blessing last week has been. It's been three days since I've come back from Vision Conference. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go when my friend told me about it two months ago. But I am so glad that I went.

The conference featured two amazing pastors, Rick James and Peter Ahn. Rick James blessed us with biblical context which we could apply to our every day lives. Peter Ahn wasn't afraid to show his transparency and shared with us personal stories that rocked our souls. He also shared a lesson in evangelism that answered so many of my questions about the topic. It seemed like both pastors somehow directly answered questions everyone was holding in their hearts which I find to be mind blowing. Every plenary that the pastors spoke at left me amazed at how questions I've long had have been answered.

What's the most important thing I can take out of this conference?

It's that I shouldn't be afraid to be broken and weak. I shouldn't be afraid to rely on God for the times I'm down. I've been a very independent person. Whenever I face an obstacle in my path, I only use my own power to hurdle it. I've only relied on God a few times and those were things that weren't in my control.

There's so much that I've experienced and learned at Vision Conference that I cannot possibly put them down in one blog entry.

The lone bad thing about conference was the lack of campus representation. Most of the people at the conference were there with people from their college campus. There were three people from Syracuse there. I'm all for going back next year at the moment. But I hope more Cuse people will be there next year. Gotta start up a Syracuse group there.

More Highlights and Anticipations

Unlike last year, my end to the year wasn't so memorable. It's not like it was bad by any means, but I don't have the same emotional high as last year. I'm still teetering on whether I should make a resolutions list this year or not. Hopefully I'll get an answer as I type this out.

Highlights of 2011 include:

• Getting into VPA.
• Seeing Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy.
• Got my learner permit (about time).
• KCS 2011 retreat.
• Got into the Shift Dance Crew.
• Ddukboogies '11.
• Going to Stony Brook for spring break.
• Working at the summer day camp at my church over the summer.
• "The Rapture" (it was nice for jokes and giggles).
• Living in an apartment this semester.
• Cutting off a small chunk of my left index finger on the last day of finals.

It's not that noticeable from far away, but you can (well at least I can) see it when you look closely.

The list of highlights have sure extended from what I had last year. Then again, having a blog and a new Facebook timeline helps in keeping track of the events that transpired. I'm probably still missing things. But as I said last year, if I don't remember it, then it does not merit being a highlight.

Well the new year is here and I'm still adamant on not having resolutions. I still stand by what I've been saying. I don't need a specific day to announce to myself how to improve my own well being.

Instead, I'll do...(drum rolls please)...another list! I'll list out things I'm looking forward to this year.

• Vision Conference in three days.
• A whole bunch of movies (The Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers, The Amazing Spider-man, Snow White and the Huntsman (yep), The Hunger Games).
• World of Dance: New York (they are moving to a new venue this year. Goodbye hot and stuffy Brooklyn Tech auditorium).
• Spring semester (I have a feeling it's going to be a fun semester).
• Hopefully a summer internship.
• Hopefully my driver's license this summer.
• December 21, 2012 (I love it when doomsday predictions don't pan out).

May more things spring up as the year goes on.