This entry is dedicated to an individual who has had nothing less than the highest of expectations for my blog. Daniel Petrie '07 was one of the first brothers of Beta I met on Freshmen Saturday. Oh, I remember that day well. I walked into my new home, the 2nd Floor Bar, and there was this burly looking senior tossing boxes and clothes around his bedroom. It was a few seconds before he noticed my mom and I standing in the door way. However, once he noticed us, he was prompt to introduce himself, Donald, as he was called at the time. He welcomed me into his room and told me I could "toss my crap" on the desk by the door.
Living with Petrie was an eye-opening experience. He was always highly critical. If you followed my blog from freshmen year, you might remember some of my woes: pledgeship, French class, girl trouble, pledge brother trouble, just to name a few. Whenever I seemed upset, Petrie always had some witty/sacarstic remark. Usually, his message was, "you're a freshmen. None of this will matter in two years." As much as this pains me to say it, he was actually right. Pledgeship wasn't so bad; I wish I could go back in time to do it again. I made an A- in French, both semesters. I've dated a few girls since freshmen. And, my pledgebrothers and I are closer than ever. All that stress was for nothing.
Even more, Petrie was not only highly critical of my personal life, but he was highly critical of my blog. He was extremely intrigued that the administration gave a freshmen the license to write whatever he wanted on the school's website. Freshmen year, he followed my blog more closely than any other Brother in our house. I know this because he always would criticize my grammatical errors. I would argue that some grammatical errors are intentional; my blog was supposed to be conversational. He would argue, "Conversational or not, you need to go back and edit this sh*t."
Now, I dont want you to get the wrong idea about Daniel. I believe he was so critical of my work because he believed in my writing ability. He once told me that I was one of the most talented freshmen writers he had ever seen. So, I place his harsh critiques not the fact that he got pleasure for tearing my work apart (which he probably did), but I place it on the fact that he wanted me to succeed.
Even after Petrie has graduated from Wabash, he still takes the time to criticize my work. Just recently, he corrected a grammatical mistake on my blog. Even 45 miles away, his sarcasm still reaches me all the way from Indy.
I would like to take this time to thank Donald. If anything, his criticism keeps me on my toes. At least I know that I have one reader who wont accept dangling participles or mispelled words, especially simple ones like "donor."
Because of his critiques, I really take the time to consider what I post on my blog. I try to make the content interesting, and I try to make sure it's easy and pleasurable to read.
Again, to probably the biggest a-hole I have ever met: thank you.
