Kenneth Cheung's Alpha Phi Omega Universe

I first published this essay in the scrapbook for Alpha Phi Omega as part of my personal page. This explains why I joined the fraternity in the first place.

Tranquility

            After transferring to San Jose State University, one of my initial goals was to join a club, any club. I have been joining clubs in other schools in the past, so it is not very unusual for me. I join clubs so that I could have something to do in my free time and so I do not feel left out. I also like to do community service work because it improves the community and makes them feel good. It makes me feel good knowing that other people feel good, and that is why I volunteer. Besides, it is easier to do volunteer work than get a job.

            I was walking around campus during club week and was looking for a club to join. Since Universities have fraternities, I could join one of those. However, I was very skeptical of fraternities and sororities because of the negative image portrayed by the media. Then, one person, who I later learned his name to be Richwood Borja, approached me and gave me a flyer about the Alpha Phi Omega fraternity. I thought that I would give it a try. Unfortunately, I have no excuse for skipping the first info night in September 2. Lucky for me (or them), there was a second info night.

When I attended the second info night, the meeting gave me many impressions about the fraternity. The first thing I noticed was the size of the club, there were a lot of people and it seemed like one big happy family. All the members seemed to know each other well. It felt like a very close community and they seemed to have lot of fun.

I had many reservations when I first saw this club. I do not like big crowds so I felt a little uncomfortable. The membership fee was stratospheric and I almost quit because of it. However, I would not quit unless I had another reason in addition to that. Also, I heard that members must meet certain requirements to stay. I was not sure of the details at that time, but it was not very inviting to me. Then I attended the first pledge meeting. I did not even understand what pledge meant and I was going to a meeting about it. At the meeting, the officials presented this large list of requirements in order to pledge for the club. One thing that can prevent me from joining clubs is the list of requirements. The list I received at the meeting was the largest I have ever seen. I thought that this was ridiculous: I did not come here to be part of a complicated bureaucracy. If I wanted to do that I could have worked for city hall or some other government office. I could not believe that they categorized volunteer service, as if one service should be treated differently than another. This onslaught of articles made me think very seriously and I faced a critical decision of whether to stay or go.

Since I am writing this at this point, it appears that I decided to continue the pledging process to stay in the club. Why did I do this? Based on what I stated earlier, there were general reasons to stay and specific reasons to leave. I do not like complaining about specific things. Instead, I prefer come with solutions. Thus, I can solve my own problems when they come up and prevent future problems from occurring. The members said that this fraternity teaches leadership skills. Well, I already knew how to lead people anyways, but I guess I could some more. I knew I could learn a bunch of other stuff that could be useful later in life. The members were also very nice people who had good intentions. I did not think that they were doing anything illegal. Some of these people may need my assistance, and I am always willing to help. Nothing satisfies me more than to see a bunch of people smile. Also, I could use more allies, for they would be helpful in many situations. There are also certain people who make me feel so special and every time I see them, my heart fills with joy. Such loving people are difficult to find in the big city, and I am glad I found them

In order to get my $95 worth, I continued to work with everyone. On the other hand, the experience that I will gain from this club is really worth any money. A list of requirements forces people to learn and lead, and that is what this club is all about. Okay, it is also about friendship and service, but I do not worry about that. Followers will find leaders, and leaders will find followers: it is how people organize themselves. And the friends that I gain will last a lifetime.

Oh, and to answer the question as to why joined Alpha Phi Omega, this is the response that I gave to everyone else: it gives me something to do to keep me off the streets. 

01.08.2004