“Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for ’tis better to be alone than in bad company.”
- George Washington

My friend John and I have known each other since 2nd grade. We went to St. Alphonsus grade school together in Greendale, Wi. We then both attended Pius XI high School together in Milwaukee, WI and now we both attend the University of St. Thomas. It is funny how we have followed a very similar path but did with a style and passion all our own. I thought this was appropriate to write about as this week both John and I were selected to be Tommie Award Candidates. This is a great honor and is very humbling.

John and I have a lot of similarities. We are both Eagle Scouts, we both were Co-Captains of our high school football teams we are both nerds when it comes to Star Wars or the Lord of the Rings and now we both are Tommie Award candidates. It has been a long journey with John and it looks like a very bright future. My mother always told me that you are judged by the company you keep and I am proud to call John my friend. It is funny how you can change and grow up and yet still find things in common with your best friends. It is coincidence that we happened to attend the same institution for the majority of our schooling together, however now we choose to be friends.

 To be honest some days I am amazed at all that we have been through together. Numerous Boy Scout campouts, long football practices, a canoe trip in Canda, and many classes together. I can honestly say that I am a better person for knowing him. I think it is rare and important to recognize your friends and those in your life that truly have helped you grow up and allowed you to make mistakes but always knew you would find the right path. It is strange as I am getting older to become more nostalgic to my freshman year in high school or first Prom or first day I moved into Brady Hall at the University of St. Thomas. As I start to realize that this is my last year at St. Thomas I am working on trying to really appreciate all the many blessings I have in my life.

I have been blessed with many friends throughout my short life experiences. I currently live with most of the friends I met in the residence halls my freshman year. My freshman year room mate, Sam and I lived together my Junior year and we still talk at least once a week. He is a huge WISCONSIN sports fan (see previous Blog). Living in the residence hall my freshman year by far has been one of the best things I have done while at St. Thomas. In fact a few of us from 4th floor Brady were talking about how now we all live in houses and apartments that we wish we could go back to our freshman year and all live on the same floor again.

My only wish is that I have been as good a friend as others have been to me.  John and I were Mock Trial nerds for a while in high school and it is where we really developed a passion for learning. John is a very quiet person but when he speaks everyone listens because when he does speak it is always profound. John has taught me a lot of life lessons and we have really truly grownup together.  

“Never shall i forget the days i spent with you . continue to be my friend, as you will always find me yours.”
-Ludwig Van Beethoven

 Moral of the story. Appreciate your friends and those in your life that challenge you to be better. If you have a friend you have not talked to in a while reach out to them. If you happen to see John walking through the quad make sure you congratulate him on being a Tommie of the Year nominee!!! Only one more week until THANKSGIVING!!! I can not wait! Gun Deer Season opener this Saturday in Wisconsin and then three days of classes until a glorious day of epic food and another PACKERS VICTORY!!

Over the past few years, the amount of St. Thomas students from Wisconsin have increased. It may have something to do with winning a Superbowl or being undefeated this season but I have seen more Green and Yellow on campus than ever before. It is FANTASTIC. It has been a growing trend that has been welcomed by many students from the dairy-land. A few years ago my good friend Brady wrote a blog about the Wisconsin Tommie invasion here in the Scroll. Bring on the Cheeseheads!!

There are few things in life that can bring people together like sports and more specifically pro football. It brings people together it creates rivalry’s with your classmates in the Residence halls or even the people you live with. It is something that everyone is talking about on Monday after the Sunday games and is something that bridges race, class and socio-econimc status unlike any other topic.  In some rare cases it can save your life. Bleed Green and Yellow here is a story about an amazing Packer fan, who by being a die hard PACKER fan actually save his life.

In the recent years you have heard such sad stories from Ohio State, Penn State, USC the NBA Lockout, LeBron leaving Clevland  and many other schools and teams with horrible things that have occured with their sports teams. When coaches, players and fans forget about sportsmanship, ethics and  the love we have for football and sports scnadals happen.  Athlecits is a place where the strongest, most prepared, driven team wins. There is a certain fairness and competitiveness that always exists with sports. It doesn’t matter how good someone is on paper it is all about playing four hard quarters. It is about the upsets and the big rivilaries, I love football. They say you can tell a lot about a persons character by how they carry themselves on the field. I truly believe that is true; however sometimes its hard in today’s society to separate the player on the field from who he or she is off the field.  When we fail to see the connection of who the athlete is on and off the field, we have scandals like we have seen in the past few years. That is why it is so important that St. Thomas in their pursuit of truth prepares us as students through academics, athletics and other organizations to be principled leaders upon graduation.

I know St. Thomas has made me into a better person and a better leader and that through my professors, coaches and other mentors I have met and worked with while here at St. Thomas. They have all tried to teach me how to be a leader who thinks critically, acts wisely and and works skillfully to advance the common good. If more sports team owners and coaches worked on developing those kind of principled leaders, we would have less of these scandals.

I digress. The PACKERS ARE UNDEFEATED which is fantastic. So to all my Wisconsin Tommies out there wear your green and yellow proud and to all those perspective WISCO students you will be welcomed by other Tommies from Wisconsin when you arrive on campus. For all those Minnesota students and “Vikings Fans” out there, better luck next year. Hey look at it this way you should have a pretty good draft pick. GO PACK GO