Spring Semester..
Well, I promised you guys I would post everything about my spring semester, well here it goes, from what I can remember. Disclaimer**-my fall semester was fun, but spring equaled more time for going out and more lost memories from various nights, so bare with me.
My first memory from Spring semester would have to be the first Thursday night we got back from break. We had an exchange at Tiger Bar with DZ. Tiger Bar was PACKED from WALL to WALL. Dukes of Hazzard was also filming in Baton Rouge, so there were always surprise visits by celebrities. Well tonight, I just so happened to run into one of these famed celebrities. None other than Mr. "jackass" Johnny Knoxville. I was drunk and decided hey, ill buy him a beer. Well he accepted and later had something in return for me. After we finished the beer, he said let me buy you a drink. Well little did I know a drink, was an round of every entire shot the bar had to offer. I acceptted, and boy did I pay for it in the morning. I missed class, and was going to a Benji Davis concert that night with some old friends, lets just say, I ended up buying the drinks because my head still felt like it was about to explode. At this point in the year, my time with Student Government was to take a rise, I deicded I would take part in running for office on the InFocus ticket. I had met Heath through rush, and felt he would be a good candidate to support. At this time, my responsibility with FEC grew. It was our job to host Ball a Palooza and my job in Public Relations to find ways for Freshmen to come. We had a committe and it consisted of myself, Cassie,Chrislyn, Cooney and one other. Every one in this committe would become best friends to me through the remainder of the year in Student Government. Chrislyn is one of my closest friends, Cooney is my room mate and Cassie is a fellow Senator in UCFY. This was early January and we had till Mid Feb. so we werent worried one bit. The month of January was very slow paced, but would lead up to the greatest and busiest two to three months of my life. On my first day of math class, I had Aimee again, and i signed up for this class because it was supposidly the easy one, elementary ed. I walked in the first day and couldnt have been happier. It was literally thirty girls and ME. I was in heaven. Alot of these girls became good friends of mine, the greatest being Ms. Lindsay. I have spent quite some time with her over the summer and did alot with her and her friends throughout the school year. January was slow paced but was lots of fun. I remember our first exchange with Phi Mu, as well as my first weeks as an active member of my fraternity. So much better than being a pledge. Mardi Gras was early this year and was the next big thing of my entire year. My entire life, Mardi Gras has been a family event. My brothers got to ride in Bacchus, and I was left in the dark, so this year would be my year. It couldnt have been a better theme either. Everyoyne who knows me my favorite movie is RUDY. Well this years king was Sean Astin, the actor who played Rudy. All of the floats had a football theme, my bears had one too, even though I live in Louisiana, I love the Chicago Bears, lets just say they were my childhood team. Well the week before the parade Jim and I attended the Open house and enjoyed free food and drinks then visited Hooch on the way out. The night before this was incredible. I was my good friend Jennifers date to her ball, she was a returning maid, and she looked beautiful. I say everything is incredible, but the night was extravagent, the krewe did a good job, and the company of friends and the dancing skills of Jenn and I made the party worth while. The way home was just as fun as the actual bar. Dru was passed out drunk and his girlfriend Haley, had fun yelling at a worker at Jack In the Box. We managed to get Dru back to his room and the night ended in complete success. The next week was even more fun. I studied some from what I remember and then left class early friday and got a ride with Danny and Caliva to uptown New Orleans. We made it to New Orleans and hit up Buds Broiler. We had a few burgers and talked about the upcoming weekend. After we walked up and down St. Charles waiting for Pat, Dannys brother to show up with the goods (the Uhaul full of kegs for the weekend) We chilled and guarded the spot and finally around 7 people began showing up for the party. We watched Hermes and De'tat and then headed to Jimmys. It was good to see everyone at Jimmys, but I got bored and very tired. Corey was kicked out of the bar for stupid reasons and so I decided I drive around with him till he sobered up. We went to Popeyes, and eventually I dropped myself off at the hotel until I knew he was Ok to drive home. The next morning I chilled and waited for Kernion to pick me up for Endymion. I have never been to Endymion so it was quite different. We threw a huge party. Acacia and Fiji side by side. It went very well and the turn out was incredible. After the parade we went back to Clints truck, and it had been broken into. Everything from the wood grain to the stereo system was stolen. Not good. We started driving and I needed to get back downtown so I decided to bail with Cameron and we began a very very long walk down Orleans Avenue. Pizza never tasted so good. I finally made it to my hotel after getting lost downtown and I passed out, fast. The next morning was Bacchus Sunday and I was ready for my ride. When I arrived at the convention center, there were people waiting on us hand and foot to get our costumes on. This year the costumes were incredible, the lit up, and the theme was football so each costume looked like a jersey (see my livejournal pic) After gettin dressed, I ate some poboys, drank a lil and prepared to load the float. Over the loud speaker I heard one of my favorite lines from my favorite movie and knew rite then, Sean Astin has arrived. He was very inibriated, but managed to remember his lines from his famous RUDY speech. Over my shoulder, I heard a lil voice saying excuse me, excuse me...It was Elijah Wood. This kid was tiny. He was literally 5'2"..I thought I was short, but he was very cool and took a few pictures and talked about how much he loved New Orleans. After all this, I headed to the float, which was a good ten blocks from where we were getting dressed. I was riding on the famous Bacchagator. The Bacchagator is one of the largest and most photogenic floats in Carnival. I rode on the tail with my cousin, his step father, and some of their friends from Boston. We drove down Tchopetulias(spelling?) and enjoyed the sites and sounds of the Super Bowl on a small television. When we arrived to the start of the route it was incredible. Emeril Lagase was hosting a show and providing food to all of his fellow riders. After about two hours, we finally got the call to roll. I boarded up, put my mask on and the second we turned the corner there was a roar that wouldnt stop until the parade was over. The parade route was interesting, but I was saving all my goods for my fraternity friends and my closest friends in the Convention Center. I told the tractor driver to please stop in front of where my fraternity was, and he did..but I was too far back. When he began to move, the float broke down RITE IN FRONT of them. I WAS GOING NUTS, chunking beads, cuups and everything I could at them. I had friends find me on the float and I made sure they got what they wanted Bacchus wise. I couldnt have asked for anything better. After spending thirty minutes in front of the Acacia spot, the float began to roll again. The greatest part and party was yet to come. The Convention Center. I have seen nothing more incredible and festive in my life than a 200 ft. float arriving into a building with blaring sirons and bands making their way around the center. Mr. Blane Kern was the narrator and I will never forget him screaming when our float arrived. I got on the big screen, and slowly found all of my friends. I saw Meredith and Jill first, then Alexis and Kearny. By the time I got to them I was out of beads and Kearny wanted something so I threw him my hat that lit up during the parade. When I got off the float I was greeted by all my friends and my date, Katie. Katie is a good friend of mine from Senior year. Jim, Robin, Jen, Alexis, Gracie, Brittany and her boyfriend were just a few of my guests that made the night INCREDIBLE. In the middle of the night, poor Jen chipped her tooth when we toasted to an awesome evening of fun and friends. She was OK though, she still has a beautiful and contagious smile. We danced the night away, and never have I become so tired at a ball. I was worn out, but that didnt stop me. After the ball, me, Jim, Alexis and Cassie M. headed to Bourbon st. A very tiring walk, but was well worth the trip. The next morning was spent resting followed by the annual family crawfish, lobster, seafood fest at my grandparents house. We ate and played flag football in the front yard. My cousin brought some of my high school friends with her, it was good to catch up on old times. Monday I decided to stay for the night with Morgan to catch another night of partying with the fraternity. We headed to Jimmys afterwards, of course, but the night ended early when Morgan wanted to head home. Its all good though, it was an incredible weekend well spent with my closest friends. The weeks after Mardi Gras are what we like to call "recovery weeks" When I got back to campus the following week, the campaign for SG began in full force. We held our first meeting with the InFocus krewe, and at the time I only knew a small handful, but for the remainder of the year this group of people would become my closest group of friends. About a week after this I attended Empower 2005. Empower is the Greek Leadership Retreat at LSU. This was incredible. I go to catch up on good times with old and new friends alike. I met people, who to this day I am very close to and will continue to be for the rest of my life. I brought Remy along with me, instead of Graham or Anthony like they were suppost to (long story, bus trip or Empower, lucky me got stuck with Empower, but Im glad I did.) My group leaders were Big Snacks and Emily Burris. I was in the zebras group and learned alot about the rest of the LSU Greek Community and the Black Fraternites at LSU. I would have to say the highlight of the week besides spending time with friends was the high ropes course. I enjoyed it. At the end, you go down a zip line, and goofy me decided hell, you only live once, so I went down the zip line upside down. I got a few laughs, but it was worth the fun. Upon coming home, me, Corrin, Chrislyn and Christine hit up AM MART. This was the first time Id eaten here, and it was incredible. It really is the best deal in town with some incredible sandwiches. When we got back to campus, the offical start of campaigning was the following Wedeseday. We decided not to go out for some apparent reasons, but I could tell after the very first day, this would be a tough race, but an incredible time. I supported InFocus and all of my friends that Id known previously were on the other ticket. So I spent alot of time in the middle. After all, this is the best ways of doing things, Im not going to hate my best friend because he/she supports something that I dont. Its life..LIVE IT..The next weeks of my life consisted of school, work and a new to do: CAMPAIGN. I spent a majority of my days talking to people outside of free speech alley getting the word out to vote. I met so many people doing this, though we may have been annoying to most I found it as a great way to make friends and meet new people. Through the next weeks I grew really close to Cooney, Peterson, Katie Nally and Amanda Collura. As I said earlier, Cooney is my room mate and Peterson and I are very close friends as well as Katie and Amanda. The next big stop on the campaign was Groovin on the Grounds. I had been to Groovin many times before, but never had I been on the student side of it. When the morning came, Cooney and I begged Megan O and Lindsey L for backstage passes to meet Better than Ezra. We gave in, worked a little, but instead of a backstage pass, got a slice of pizza. I find this funny, because Cooney is now the Director of Students on Target. We ended the campaigning and ate at the Magnolia Room. There I made new friends with Theresea and others. It was a very fun conversation amongst friends and about what else? Student Government at LSU. I got tired, went to the fraternity house and rested for a while until I met up with friends for the big show. Corrin and I of course campaigned while we were out there, but we mostly were there to enjoy the show. I ended up chillin with Chrislyn, Jordan and some other DGs. We saw, Jamie O'Neal the Ying Yang Twins and the fianle for me BTE. After the incredible show, I jumped the fence bc I could not stand to hear Ryan Cabrera. Lindsey had a ball telling me she should get me in trouble, but in the end it was all fun and games. The next day or week later, I went to the St. Patricks Day Parade with Chrislyn and Brittany. The parade was fun. It is one of the many Baton Rouge traditions that is a must see. I met up with Ella and chilled with her and her family then walked around and looked for various people I was friends with from High school. After the parade, I headed home and watched LSU ALMOST beat UK in the SEC semi finals. That night I was Shannons date to Zetas Grub. This was a fun night for very many reasons, the greatest being I got to spend time with Shannon and one of my closest friend Ol Fontaine. We met up and ate at Walk Ons then headed to the bar. When we got there, it was like an old person bar and not many people were there. So we began to drink. In the corner of my eye I saw Hooch. Hooch was Jim and I's Confirmation sponsor. so we of course ran up to him, beer in hand to heckle him. Little did I know, he was with the entire administration from my high school. Did I feel like an ass, I had alcohal and everything and Im shaking hands with my beer in my hand of people who preached to me not to drink. It was funny though, to this day Hooch messes with me about it. Jim decided we need to drink our sorrows away, so instead of beer he gave me his card and we ran up the tab on Crown and Sprite..did we get drunk? NO..WE GOT TRASHED..I hadnt been that drunk in a while bc I had been so busy with school and the campaign. All I can remember was punching a tree, hurting my hand, and poor Shannon rubbing my hair before I passed out. What a fun night. Well all I can remember was prepping for election day. I do remember planning on going on Spring Break, but lucky old me came down with mono and was bed ridden for most of the week. The next week was election week. I dont remember sleeping. I remember getting up at 6 am and going to the quad to begin one of the longest days of my life. I wore a blazer and a collared shirt, still with mono slowing me down, I got out in the quad and fought for votes. Never have I had so much fun, but seen so much competition in my entire life. It was awesome but fierce at the same time. I remember it started to rain, and I almost passed out but managed to stay alive. I also remember DC and Chaz playing raquetball in the quad to make people laugh. It kind of made me laugh myself. That night, I remember being dead and scared shitless bc my doctor called and said, If i didnt sit down and rest I could die. My liver had grown three times its normal size. I went to Dean Os with the Infocus krewe but was in no mood to have a good time. Maybe it was the rain, maybe it was the mono, i dont know, but at the end of the day I felt like pure crap, but I felt accomplished. I had done all I could to get votes and hopefully I could pull off a win. The next day seemead like an eternity as we waited for 7 o clock to hear the election results. I remember being excited seeing all my friends waiting to see if their hard work payed off. When the announcemnt came for UCFY Senate, my name was the first name called. I thought that was a good thing. I was wrong, dead wrong. We did not win and for the first time in my life I felt like I failed. I worked so incredibly hard and produced no results. Thats an understatement. I made incredible friendships and memories that I will hold forever. The one thing I remember most about that night was my good friend DC coming up to me, seeing that I was upset and telling me, "Remson, just to let you know, the greatest SG President lost his first three elections, Dont give up." Those words are words I hold with me to this day, and I learned alot hearing that. Though I didnt win, I learned alot about myself, this university and the people who go to school here. That being said, I put SG aside until I got the opportunity to speak with Les Miles. I had applied for exec staff and an appointment but was denied both, so hope was seemingly getting smaller. He had said he wanted to sing the alma matta with the students win or lose after a game and said he was seeking the help of Student Leaders to get the job done. That being said, I took it upon myself to talk to Les and tell him how to get in touch with SG and its respective members. I wrote Michelle that night as well, and got a response I was glad to hear. Though I wasnt a part of her administration, she said she had something for me that Id be interested in. That being said, I waited for her get back to me. The following week I went to DGs formal with all of my friends and had an incredible time... But for the next two weeks my life would take a dramatic turn for the good and the worse. The entire next week, I worked on setting up for my fraternitys signature party: Nite on the Nile. It took hours to set it up, but it looked incredible. Our house was turned into an Egyptian Oasis and I couldnt wait for the party to get started. At this point I am still recovering from Mono, but needed to drink some for the party. ( I sound like an alcoholic, but honestly Im not)The night seemed to last forever. Friend after friend of mine arrived and we enjoyed the sounds of LAZy K. At the end of the night, I busted my foot pretty badly running down the street in search of Katie N. I waas so drunk I didnt care, until Rachel G. came to my rescue. She took care of my foot and for the rest of the night, she made me grilled cheese sandwiches and acted like an incredible friend. The next morning however, would be one Ill never forget. I woke up and walked to the house for the parents crawfish boil. I finally got the opportunity to show my parents the house and what Acacia is all about. It was good to hear some of my families stories about their greek days at LSU and good to relax a little. I decided to check my messages and heard a girl crying asking me to call her. My phone had broke the night before so I had no clue who it was, so I called who else Chrislyn. Well it turns out that girl was her, while I was on the phone with her I was also checking my email and noticed that I had a message from facebook asking for me to join the group Never To Be Forgotten. Right when I clicked it a picture of DC appeared and words I will never forget came stumbling out of Chrislyns mouth. DC had been killed in a freak accident crossing Nicholson Dr. and was hit by a car. I was devestated. DC was a beakoning light for every person he met and knew, and was there everytime I needed him, and constantly gave me support while I was running for office, even when I had lost. I had lost someone though I only knew a short while, I felt I had known my entire life. This kid had dreams and he wasnt scared to share them with anybody. He passed on his life to all he knew, and taught me a lesson I hold to this day. Life is too short to have worries..just live it. For the remainder of the night, I went to Nile, but I wasnt myself. I chilled and drank a lil and just stared at the moon hoping he was OK. I had told my friends to come bc I wanted the company, and they did. The next day I went and saw the body, and even though he was there in front of me, I didnt want to believe it. That night, I knew he was allright. I got a message. I was driving home from the dorms and all of the sudden my radio went out and when I turned it back, the DJ said and this song is called Dream Big. I broke down, Ive never done that before. It was like DC was talking to me through a song. When I got on the internet to find the song, it didnt exist. Just recently have I discovered it and hold it close to me this day to serve as a reminder to Dream Big. The next night was his funeral, it was something you knew he was there for. The preacher tryed to get us to clap to his song and we were ALL offbeat. It was beautiful but hard to hold in at the same time. I would guess there were over a thousand students to see him there that night. That night, Michelle got a hold of me and told me there was an appointment position open for Senate and that I should give it a shot. This made me excited. I still have a shot to be a part of something Incredible. About a week later, UCFY hosted appointments and interviews to see who would be best for the job. I felt weird, bc even though all my friends were doing the judging
i was horrible and nervous. I had never been so nervous in my entire life. I was given a second chance at something, like life and I had believed I messed it up. When they called my name, I had learned that I had gotten the job. I had never been so excited in my entire life. I had to rush immediatley to the Union and begin my first night in session as a Senator. It was incredible. This is what I want to do with my life. Help others in the public eye. After the meeting I had a huge paper write, so I wasnt able to go to the Sine Die party for the end of the years session. The next weeks, I discovered a new favorite to do on Tuesday nights. the Mellow Mushroom. It is open mic night and the people at the bar are just down to earth and incredible. I hung out that night with Katie, Ryan, Murat, Peterson and others. For the remainder of the year this was were you would find me on any given night. I also had become closer to all who lived in my dorm. Murat, from Turkey, Cody, and Josh made my experience in the Lavilles home. I do remember two more big nights, first off the night me, cooney, and peterson decided to play a prank on Heath and Cooney got his ass stuck in the window. It was lots of fun. I also took Murat out to his first bar in Baton Rouge, I introduced him to my friend the darling of LSU, Ms. Natalie. The next night, my friend Cody and I started a new tradition. Drunk football on the parade grounds. We gathered as many people as possible from the dorms, got a case of beer and let it all loose on the parade grounds. We called ourselves MVP: the oaks, because the oaks did more tackling than we did. Great fun and incredible memories. My semester was slowly coming to a close and I had so many projects to complete. My favorite was the Pro Iraq mock trial we had to set up and win. My group was of course, against it, I had to play devils advocate. It was fun. I made new friends and we did an incredible job. I ended my statement comparing the Sudis and Shiites to the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. It got some laughs. In closing Cinco De Mayo, was a fun night. We celebrated all day, bc it was Lindsays bday and I had been studying with her for the longest times. We went from Serranos to Reggies to Bogies, then ended up at my place. The following week consisted of exams..study study study..The following week was hard telling everyone good bye, but the closer I get to the fall the more excited I am to see them. I packed up my dorm and Kearny and I kissed the 108 goodbye. Some great memories spent within the room and in the Lavilles. but my semester wasnt over yet. The next part of the semester would bring me to where I am today..I attended Leadershape with about 50 other LSU students and it was an experience I will never forget. I made incredible friends and learned alot about the issues we face at LSU and learned alot about what I need to do to succede in my future. Because of Leadershape, I ended my job at Graphic Services and got a new one here at Recruiting Services with my facilitator and boss. He took me in, and this job has been nothing less than incredible. So for all of you wondering about my time at LSU, THIS HAS WHAT IT HAS BEEN THUS FAR AND IM ONLY LOOKING FORWARD TO IT GETTING BETTER. I HOPE TO SEE ALL YOU GUYS IN THE FALL AND CANT WAIT TO MAKE MANY MORE MEMORIES.
-ForeverLSU
My first memory from Spring semester would have to be the first Thursday night we got back from break. We had an exchange at Tiger Bar with DZ. Tiger Bar was PACKED from WALL to WALL. Dukes of Hazzard was also filming in Baton Rouge, so there were always surprise visits by celebrities. Well tonight, I just so happened to run into one of these famed celebrities. None other than Mr. "jackass" Johnny Knoxville. I was drunk and decided hey, ill buy him a beer. Well he accepted and later had something in return for me. After we finished the beer, he said let me buy you a drink. Well little did I know a drink, was an round of every entire shot the bar had to offer. I acceptted, and boy did I pay for it in the morning. I missed class, and was going to a Benji Davis concert that night with some old friends, lets just say, I ended up buying the drinks because my head still felt like it was about to explode. At this point in the year, my time with Student Government was to take a rise, I deicded I would take part in running for office on the InFocus ticket. I had met Heath through rush, and felt he would be a good candidate to support. At this time, my responsibility with FEC grew. It was our job to host Ball a Palooza and my job in Public Relations to find ways for Freshmen to come. We had a committe and it consisted of myself, Cassie,Chrislyn, Cooney and one other. Every one in this committe would become best friends to me through the remainder of the year in Student Government. Chrislyn is one of my closest friends, Cooney is my room mate and Cassie is a fellow Senator in UCFY. This was early January and we had till Mid Feb. so we werent worried one bit. The month of January was very slow paced, but would lead up to the greatest and busiest two to three months of my life. On my first day of math class, I had Aimee again, and i signed up for this class because it was supposidly the easy one, elementary ed. I walked in the first day and couldnt have been happier. It was literally thirty girls and ME. I was in heaven. Alot of these girls became good friends of mine, the greatest being Ms. Lindsay. I have spent quite some time with her over the summer and did alot with her and her friends throughout the school year. January was slow paced but was lots of fun. I remember our first exchange with Phi Mu, as well as my first weeks as an active member of my fraternity. So much better than being a pledge. Mardi Gras was early this year and was the next big thing of my entire year. My entire life, Mardi Gras has been a family event. My brothers got to ride in Bacchus, and I was left in the dark, so this year would be my year. It couldnt have been a better theme either. Everyoyne who knows me my favorite movie is RUDY. Well this years king was Sean Astin, the actor who played Rudy. All of the floats had a football theme, my bears had one too, even though I live in Louisiana, I love the Chicago Bears, lets just say they were my childhood team. Well the week before the parade Jim and I attended the Open house and enjoyed free food and drinks then visited Hooch on the way out. The night before this was incredible. I was my good friend Jennifers date to her ball, she was a returning maid, and she looked beautiful. I say everything is incredible, but the night was extravagent, the krewe did a good job, and the company of friends and the dancing skills of Jenn and I made the party worth while. The way home was just as fun as the actual bar. Dru was passed out drunk and his girlfriend Haley, had fun yelling at a worker at Jack In the Box. We managed to get Dru back to his room and the night ended in complete success. The next week was even more fun. I studied some from what I remember and then left class early friday and got a ride with Danny and Caliva to uptown New Orleans. We made it to New Orleans and hit up Buds Broiler. We had a few burgers and talked about the upcoming weekend. After we walked up and down St. Charles waiting for Pat, Dannys brother to show up with the goods (the Uhaul full of kegs for the weekend) We chilled and guarded the spot and finally around 7 people began showing up for the party. We watched Hermes and De'tat and then headed to Jimmys. It was good to see everyone at Jimmys, but I got bored and very tired. Corey was kicked out of the bar for stupid reasons and so I decided I drive around with him till he sobered up. We went to Popeyes, and eventually I dropped myself off at the hotel until I knew he was Ok to drive home. The next morning I chilled and waited for Kernion to pick me up for Endymion. I have never been to Endymion so it was quite different. We threw a huge party. Acacia and Fiji side by side. It went very well and the turn out was incredible. After the parade we went back to Clints truck, and it had been broken into. Everything from the wood grain to the stereo system was stolen. Not good. We started driving and I needed to get back downtown so I decided to bail with Cameron and we began a very very long walk down Orleans Avenue. Pizza never tasted so good. I finally made it to my hotel after getting lost downtown and I passed out, fast. The next morning was Bacchus Sunday and I was ready for my ride. When I arrived at the convention center, there were people waiting on us hand and foot to get our costumes on. This year the costumes were incredible, the lit up, and the theme was football so each costume looked like a jersey (see my livejournal pic) After gettin dressed, I ate some poboys, drank a lil and prepared to load the float. Over the loud speaker I heard one of my favorite lines from my favorite movie and knew rite then, Sean Astin has arrived. He was very inibriated, but managed to remember his lines from his famous RUDY speech. Over my shoulder, I heard a lil voice saying excuse me, excuse me...It was Elijah Wood. This kid was tiny. He was literally 5'2"..I thought I was short, but he was very cool and took a few pictures and talked about how much he loved New Orleans. After all this, I headed to the float, which was a good ten blocks from where we were getting dressed. I was riding on the famous Bacchagator. The Bacchagator is one of the largest and most photogenic floats in Carnival. I rode on the tail with my cousin, his step father, and some of their friends from Boston. We drove down Tchopetulias(spelling?) and enjoyed the sites and sounds of the Super Bowl on a small television. When we arrived to the start of the route it was incredible. Emeril Lagase was hosting a show and providing food to all of his fellow riders. After about two hours, we finally got the call to roll. I boarded up, put my mask on and the second we turned the corner there was a roar that wouldnt stop until the parade was over. The parade route was interesting, but I was saving all my goods for my fraternity friends and my closest friends in the Convention Center. I told the tractor driver to please stop in front of where my fraternity was, and he did..but I was too far back. When he began to move, the float broke down RITE IN FRONT of them. I WAS GOING NUTS, chunking beads, cuups and everything I could at them. I had friends find me on the float and I made sure they got what they wanted Bacchus wise. I couldnt have asked for anything better. After spending thirty minutes in front of the Acacia spot, the float began to roll again. The greatest part and party was yet to come. The Convention Center. I have seen nothing more incredible and festive in my life than a 200 ft. float arriving into a building with blaring sirons and bands making their way around the center. Mr. Blane Kern was the narrator and I will never forget him screaming when our float arrived. I got on the big screen, and slowly found all of my friends. I saw Meredith and Jill first, then Alexis and Kearny. By the time I got to them I was out of beads and Kearny wanted something so I threw him my hat that lit up during the parade. When I got off the float I was greeted by all my friends and my date, Katie. Katie is a good friend of mine from Senior year. Jim, Robin, Jen, Alexis, Gracie, Brittany and her boyfriend were just a few of my guests that made the night INCREDIBLE. In the middle of the night, poor Jen chipped her tooth when we toasted to an awesome evening of fun and friends. She was OK though, she still has a beautiful and contagious smile. We danced the night away, and never have I become so tired at a ball. I was worn out, but that didnt stop me. After the ball, me, Jim, Alexis and Cassie M. headed to Bourbon st. A very tiring walk, but was well worth the trip. The next morning was spent resting followed by the annual family crawfish, lobster, seafood fest at my grandparents house. We ate and played flag football in the front yard. My cousin brought some of my high school friends with her, it was good to catch up on old times. Monday I decided to stay for the night with Morgan to catch another night of partying with the fraternity. We headed to Jimmys afterwards, of course, but the night ended early when Morgan wanted to head home. Its all good though, it was an incredible weekend well spent with my closest friends. The weeks after Mardi Gras are what we like to call "recovery weeks" When I got back to campus the following week, the campaign for SG began in full force. We held our first meeting with the InFocus krewe, and at the time I only knew a small handful, but for the remainder of the year this group of people would become my closest group of friends. About a week after this I attended Empower 2005. Empower is the Greek Leadership Retreat at LSU. This was incredible. I go to catch up on good times with old and new friends alike. I met people, who to this day I am very close to and will continue to be for the rest of my life. I brought Remy along with me, instead of Graham or Anthony like they were suppost to (long story, bus trip or Empower, lucky me got stuck with Empower, but Im glad I did.) My group leaders were Big Snacks and Emily Burris. I was in the zebras group and learned alot about the rest of the LSU Greek Community and the Black Fraternites at LSU. I would have to say the highlight of the week besides spending time with friends was the high ropes course. I enjoyed it. At the end, you go down a zip line, and goofy me decided hell, you only live once, so I went down the zip line upside down. I got a few laughs, but it was worth the fun. Upon coming home, me, Corrin, Chrislyn and Christine hit up AM MART. This was the first time Id eaten here, and it was incredible. It really is the best deal in town with some incredible sandwiches. When we got back to campus, the offical start of campaigning was the following Wedeseday. We decided not to go out for some apparent reasons, but I could tell after the very first day, this would be a tough race, but an incredible time. I supported InFocus and all of my friends that Id known previously were on the other ticket. So I spent alot of time in the middle. After all, this is the best ways of doing things, Im not going to hate my best friend because he/she supports something that I dont. Its life..LIVE IT..The next weeks of my life consisted of school, work and a new to do: CAMPAIGN. I spent a majority of my days talking to people outside of free speech alley getting the word out to vote. I met so many people doing this, though we may have been annoying to most I found it as a great way to make friends and meet new people. Through the next weeks I grew really close to Cooney, Peterson, Katie Nally and Amanda Collura. As I said earlier, Cooney is my room mate and Peterson and I are very close friends as well as Katie and Amanda. The next big stop on the campaign was Groovin on the Grounds. I had been to Groovin many times before, but never had I been on the student side of it. When the morning came, Cooney and I begged Megan O and Lindsey L for backstage passes to meet Better than Ezra. We gave in, worked a little, but instead of a backstage pass, got a slice of pizza. I find this funny, because Cooney is now the Director of Students on Target. We ended the campaigning and ate at the Magnolia Room. There I made new friends with Theresea and others. It was a very fun conversation amongst friends and about what else? Student Government at LSU. I got tired, went to the fraternity house and rested for a while until I met up with friends for the big show. Corrin and I of course campaigned while we were out there, but we mostly were there to enjoy the show. I ended up chillin with Chrislyn, Jordan and some other DGs. We saw, Jamie O'Neal the Ying Yang Twins and the fianle for me BTE. After the incredible show, I jumped the fence bc I could not stand to hear Ryan Cabrera. Lindsey had a ball telling me she should get me in trouble, but in the end it was all fun and games. The next day or week later, I went to the St. Patricks Day Parade with Chrislyn and Brittany. The parade was fun. It is one of the many Baton Rouge traditions that is a must see. I met up with Ella and chilled with her and her family then walked around and looked for various people I was friends with from High school. After the parade, I headed home and watched LSU ALMOST beat UK in the SEC semi finals. That night I was Shannons date to Zetas Grub. This was a fun night for very many reasons, the greatest being I got to spend time with Shannon and one of my closest friend Ol Fontaine. We met up and ate at Walk Ons then headed to the bar. When we got there, it was like an old person bar and not many people were there. So we began to drink. In the corner of my eye I saw Hooch. Hooch was Jim and I's Confirmation sponsor. so we of course ran up to him, beer in hand to heckle him. Little did I know, he was with the entire administration from my high school. Did I feel like an ass, I had alcohal and everything and Im shaking hands with my beer in my hand of people who preached to me not to drink. It was funny though, to this day Hooch messes with me about it. Jim decided we need to drink our sorrows away, so instead of beer he gave me his card and we ran up the tab on Crown and Sprite..did we get drunk? NO..WE GOT TRASHED..I hadnt been that drunk in a while bc I had been so busy with school and the campaign. All I can remember was punching a tree, hurting my hand, and poor Shannon rubbing my hair before I passed out. What a fun night. Well all I can remember was prepping for election day. I do remember planning on going on Spring Break, but lucky old me came down with mono and was bed ridden for most of the week. The next week was election week. I dont remember sleeping. I remember getting up at 6 am and going to the quad to begin one of the longest days of my life. I wore a blazer and a collared shirt, still with mono slowing me down, I got out in the quad and fought for votes. Never have I had so much fun, but seen so much competition in my entire life. It was awesome but fierce at the same time. I remember it started to rain, and I almost passed out but managed to stay alive. I also remember DC and Chaz playing raquetball in the quad to make people laugh. It kind of made me laugh myself. That night, I remember being dead and scared shitless bc my doctor called and said, If i didnt sit down and rest I could die. My liver had grown three times its normal size. I went to Dean Os with the Infocus krewe but was in no mood to have a good time. Maybe it was the rain, maybe it was the mono, i dont know, but at the end of the day I felt like pure crap, but I felt accomplished. I had done all I could to get votes and hopefully I could pull off a win. The next day seemead like an eternity as we waited for 7 o clock to hear the election results. I remember being excited seeing all my friends waiting to see if their hard work payed off. When the announcemnt came for UCFY Senate, my name was the first name called. I thought that was a good thing. I was wrong, dead wrong. We did not win and for the first time in my life I felt like I failed. I worked so incredibly hard and produced no results. Thats an understatement. I made incredible friendships and memories that I will hold forever. The one thing I remember most about that night was my good friend DC coming up to me, seeing that I was upset and telling me, "Remson, just to let you know, the greatest SG President lost his first three elections, Dont give up." Those words are words I hold with me to this day, and I learned alot hearing that. Though I didnt win, I learned alot about myself, this university and the people who go to school here. That being said, I put SG aside until I got the opportunity to speak with Les Miles. I had applied for exec staff and an appointment but was denied both, so hope was seemingly getting smaller. He had said he wanted to sing the alma matta with the students win or lose after a game and said he was seeking the help of Student Leaders to get the job done. That being said, I took it upon myself to talk to Les and tell him how to get in touch with SG and its respective members. I wrote Michelle that night as well, and got a response I was glad to hear. Though I wasnt a part of her administration, she said she had something for me that Id be interested in. That being said, I waited for her get back to me. The following week I went to DGs formal with all of my friends and had an incredible time... But for the next two weeks my life would take a dramatic turn for the good and the worse. The entire next week, I worked on setting up for my fraternitys signature party: Nite on the Nile. It took hours to set it up, but it looked incredible. Our house was turned into an Egyptian Oasis and I couldnt wait for the party to get started. At this point I am still recovering from Mono, but needed to drink some for the party. ( I sound like an alcoholic, but honestly Im not)The night seemed to last forever. Friend after friend of mine arrived and we enjoyed the sounds of LAZy K. At the end of the night, I busted my foot pretty badly running down the street in search of Katie N. I waas so drunk I didnt care, until Rachel G. came to my rescue. She took care of my foot and for the rest of the night, she made me grilled cheese sandwiches and acted like an incredible friend. The next morning however, would be one Ill never forget. I woke up and walked to the house for the parents crawfish boil. I finally got the opportunity to show my parents the house and what Acacia is all about. It was good to hear some of my families stories about their greek days at LSU and good to relax a little. I decided to check my messages and heard a girl crying asking me to call her. My phone had broke the night before so I had no clue who it was, so I called who else Chrislyn. Well it turns out that girl was her, while I was on the phone with her I was also checking my email and noticed that I had a message from facebook asking for me to join the group Never To Be Forgotten. Right when I clicked it a picture of DC appeared and words I will never forget came stumbling out of Chrislyns mouth. DC had been killed in a freak accident crossing Nicholson Dr. and was hit by a car. I was devestated. DC was a beakoning light for every person he met and knew, and was there everytime I needed him, and constantly gave me support while I was running for office, even when I had lost. I had lost someone though I only knew a short while, I felt I had known my entire life. This kid had dreams and he wasnt scared to share them with anybody. He passed on his life to all he knew, and taught me a lesson I hold to this day. Life is too short to have worries..just live it. For the remainder of the night, I went to Nile, but I wasnt myself. I chilled and drank a lil and just stared at the moon hoping he was OK. I had told my friends to come bc I wanted the company, and they did. The next day I went and saw the body, and even though he was there in front of me, I didnt want to believe it. That night, I knew he was allright. I got a message. I was driving home from the dorms and all of the sudden my radio went out and when I turned it back, the DJ said and this song is called Dream Big. I broke down, Ive never done that before. It was like DC was talking to me through a song. When I got on the internet to find the song, it didnt exist. Just recently have I discovered it and hold it close to me this day to serve as a reminder to Dream Big. The next night was his funeral, it was something you knew he was there for. The preacher tryed to get us to clap to his song and we were ALL offbeat. It was beautiful but hard to hold in at the same time. I would guess there were over a thousand students to see him there that night. That night, Michelle got a hold of me and told me there was an appointment position open for Senate and that I should give it a shot. This made me excited. I still have a shot to be a part of something Incredible. About a week later, UCFY hosted appointments and interviews to see who would be best for the job. I felt weird, bc even though all my friends were doing the judging
i was horrible and nervous. I had never been so nervous in my entire life. I was given a second chance at something, like life and I had believed I messed it up. When they called my name, I had learned that I had gotten the job. I had never been so excited in my entire life. I had to rush immediatley to the Union and begin my first night in session as a Senator. It was incredible. This is what I want to do with my life. Help others in the public eye. After the meeting I had a huge paper write, so I wasnt able to go to the Sine Die party for the end of the years session. The next weeks, I discovered a new favorite to do on Tuesday nights. the Mellow Mushroom. It is open mic night and the people at the bar are just down to earth and incredible. I hung out that night with Katie, Ryan, Murat, Peterson and others. For the remainder of the year this was were you would find me on any given night. I also had become closer to all who lived in my dorm. Murat, from Turkey, Cody, and Josh made my experience in the Lavilles home. I do remember two more big nights, first off the night me, cooney, and peterson decided to play a prank on Heath and Cooney got his ass stuck in the window. It was lots of fun. I also took Murat out to his first bar in Baton Rouge, I introduced him to my friend the darling of LSU, Ms. Natalie. The next night, my friend Cody and I started a new tradition. Drunk football on the parade grounds. We gathered as many people as possible from the dorms, got a case of beer and let it all loose on the parade grounds. We called ourselves MVP: the oaks, because the oaks did more tackling than we did. Great fun and incredible memories. My semester was slowly coming to a close and I had so many projects to complete. My favorite was the Pro Iraq mock trial we had to set up and win. My group was of course, against it, I had to play devils advocate. It was fun. I made new friends and we did an incredible job. I ended my statement comparing the Sudis and Shiites to the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. It got some laughs. In closing Cinco De Mayo, was a fun night. We celebrated all day, bc it was Lindsays bday and I had been studying with her for the longest times. We went from Serranos to Reggies to Bogies, then ended up at my place. The following week consisted of exams..study study study..The following week was hard telling everyone good bye, but the closer I get to the fall the more excited I am to see them. I packed up my dorm and Kearny and I kissed the 108 goodbye. Some great memories spent within the room and in the Lavilles. but my semester wasnt over yet. The next part of the semester would bring me to where I am today..I attended Leadershape with about 50 other LSU students and it was an experience I will never forget. I made incredible friends and learned alot about the issues we face at LSU and learned alot about what I need to do to succede in my future. Because of Leadershape, I ended my job at Graphic Services and got a new one here at Recruiting Services with my facilitator and boss. He took me in, and this job has been nothing less than incredible. So for all of you wondering about my time at LSU, THIS HAS WHAT IT HAS BEEN THUS FAR AND IM ONLY LOOKING FORWARD TO IT GETTING BETTER. I HOPE TO SEE ALL YOU GUYS IN THE FALL AND CANT WAIT TO MAKE MANY MORE MEMORIES.
-ForeverLSU