Hokies all the way baby...
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College comes and goes, but the friends you make can last a lifetime.
I made many friends during my 5 year program at Virginia Tech. Over those years, I did lots
of fun things: camping, canoeing, martial arts, community band, wargaming, and many, many other
things.
The first year was probably the most interesting. Everything was new. New school, dorm life, new roommate, all new friends... just a completely new lifestyle. My freshman year was the only year I lived in the dorms. Greg was my roommate. We got along most of the time with some major disagreements thrown in there every now and then. He had women problems and then he became addicted to computer games. Very much the anti-socialist. So I had to look elsewhere for my source of friends. I met a few in classes and a few more through different online bulletin board systems. What actually became of it was the Aerobie Club. Jason (Galen) can be blamed with the start of it. It was just a matter of getting some friends out on the Drillfield and thowing a LOT of Aerobies around. Through this gathering I met Jen, Aron, Jason, Andy, Alex, Trina and lots of others. We went on a few hiking trips along the way. It was a few years later that Alex passed away due to cancer. It made us all realize that things can change pretty quickly in life.
Run down of a few photos: | 
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| It was at the end of my freshman year that I moved off campus. I landed a co-op job around the campus, so I found a townhouse I could stay at for cheap. Colin was the landlord and he was a riot. He was into computers, but was a business major. I met a few other people through him. Skipper, the other roommate is on the left in this picture. They were serious sci-fi fanatics (if you couldn't tell). Skipper majored in interior design but never actually used those skills while he was in the house. I also met Matt (a.k.a. Gunney) at the townhouse. I don't know where he is now, but he and Colin managed to run into me at Defcon in Vegas one year, just by random chance. Funny times. This picture was worth posting. :) |
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It was during my second semester that I started into Tae Kwon Do. I had
some prior experience, but had never tried teaching. Well, I tried it and I liked it. I started helping
out the instructor that first summer and kept helping as the years went by. I met so many people
through that club and eventually it became my life. That club would be the one thing that shaped
me the most in my life.
Every semester we had to say goodbye to some people and welcome in a whole bunch of new ones. Being a new instructor, I was in charge of the beginner classes and it was a riot! I remember the one semester where we attracted 70 new students and tried to make them fit into the dance room of the gym. Impossible! But with 4 other assistant instructors to help, it was the most fun I've ever had. Eventually the class shrank to a manageable size and we kept the club going over the years. If you go through the rest of my photo pages, you'll see all the fun things that we did as a club. No way can I remember everything that happened. Somehow the club became the social center for lots of people and the Halloween parties evolved to something beyond fun. The friends I made from there can look back and go "remember those Halloween parties?" Most of them would have to say "No" because they were a little too tipsy... but that's no altogether a bad thing at times. Several of the friends I made through the club have lasted far beyond college.
Run down of a few photos: | 
 
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Ok, so martial arts wasn't the only thing I was into. Being a
Computer Engineer also led into some pretty geeky pastimes. I played lots of computer games
and collected them as well. As the games progressed, they became more and more multiplayer. At
this time, the internet was still too slow to use for gaming, so everything had to be done
by grabbing a whole bunch of computers and people and getting together at someone's house. This
was done on occasion and made for a long day of sore eyes and hands, but lots of fun.
These pictures came from a day with Alex, Dan and several others. My brother and I also used to play games online at times, but those days are few and far between with our working lifestyles. At least the games keep getting better. |
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It is just amazing how many different types of people you meet and
who you find you really have something in common with. Steve is someone that I started working
with at the first job I had. He was a real quiet person and I didn't really get to know him then.
A few years laters, I run into him again through another friend who is in the same major. Steve and I
end up becoming good friends and I end up teaching his girl Rhonda in TKD. He and Rhonda are
now married and living in CA, and things seem to be going well for them.
Jeff was another fellow I met through TKD. He started out as a new student in the club and quickly became a leader. He ended up taking over a major portion of the club after I left. But during the years that I was there, we got along so well that I ended up getting to know his family quite well. They showed up for his black belt testing and I will never forget the looks on his mom's face when he had to enter the ring for his 4 on 1 sparring trial. Jeff and I still stay in touch now that he's (finally) graduated and moved on to do some work for his fraternity. Friends of friends... or in this case, roommates of friends. I met Matt when he was living with Jeff. He's a pretty awesome guy. Always up for a conversation about the human mind. He and Jenny started dating when I was there and now they're probably off to get married sometime soon. I had the chance to see them on a New Year's Eve not too long ago.
Who's who: | 
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| It was during my time at VT that David picked up his kitten, Jedi. Later on, David became my roommate and Jedi thought he was in charge of the house. So I looked around to find a pet that would be able to keep Jedi under control. Since he was all black, I had to find one that was all white. (This way, no color of clothing was safe!) And so I found & adopted the Schmoo! He's been my companion for a while now and grown as fat and lazy as I have. Such a rough life for a cat! |
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Sometimes there's this need to get away from Raleigh and visit
some of my VT friends. Chris and Kelly live in D.C. and they're really cool people. Chris
is pictured above in the breaking photo and Kelly is here. They are both into martial arts
of all kinds. We've done some 4-wheeling together and plenty of other dangerous things.
When they got married, I was able to muddy up their getaway vehicle and get a few pictures
that can be found around on the site. They're just awesome friends.
Here's some photo's from the recent trip I took up to visit them. Alan (roommate) was also able to join me and have some fun walking around DC:
1. D.C.'s Chinatown. | 
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